Barefoot Bay, Florida: Community Guide

Barefoot Bay is an unincorporated manufactured home community in southern Brevard County with a fishing pier on the Indian River, and its nearest commercial area is the City of Sebastian across the county line in Indian River County.

The Barefoot Bay Recreation District describes the community as the largest unincorporated, deed-restricted manufactured home community and recreation district, located in southern Brevard County, and names Sebastian as the nearest commercial area (Barefoot Bay Recreation District). The district office is at 625 Barefoot Blvd., Barefoot Bay, FL 32976, phone 772-664-3141, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (District Manager page). The Census Bureau geocoder places that address inside Micco CDP in Brevard County, so Census figures for the area are published under the Micco name (Census geocoder result). The district's US1 Gateway Landscaping plans are complete and materials are being bought, with completion expected in 2026 (district projects page).

Mail addresses are a common source of confusion. Several Barefoot Bay district facilities list a Sebastian, FL 32976 mailing address even though they sit in Brevard County: the community pools at 895 Falcon Drive (Barefoot Bay pools page) and the Barefoot Bay Golf Course at 1225 Barefoot Blvd. (golf course page). A Sebastian mailing address in Barefoot Bay does not mean Indian River County services; county government for Barefoot Bay is Brevard County, whose Board of County Commissioners sits at 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way in Viera (Brevard County).

The Barefoot Bay Recreation District reports a 2020 Census population of 9,212, but the Census Bureau publishes no separate Barefoot Bay place, so the closest Census figure is the ACS 2020-2024 estimate of 8,896 people for Micco CDP, which contains the district office.

The district's About page states that the population reported from the 2020 United States Census was 9,212 (About Barefoot Bay). The Census Bureau's 2020 list of Florida place codes has no Barefoot Bay entry; it does list Micco CDP in Brevard County (Census 2020 Florida place codes), and the American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates put Micco CDP at 8,896 people, plus or minus 801 (ACS 2020-2024 B01003, Micco CDP), with a median age of 68.2 years (ACS 2020-2024 B01002, Micco CDP). Neither the district figure nor the Micco estimate is a Census count for Barefoot Bay alone.

Who lives in Barefoot Bay is set by its deed restrictions and its history as a manufactured home park. In 1968 the Gulf Acceptance Corporation bought the original one thousand acres for what began as a recreational vehicle vacation resort, the Polynesian-style clubhouse opened in June 1971 with 40 families in residence, and by 1973 buyers had purchased 256 homes for a Barefoot Bay population of 400 (Barefoot Bay history). Every residential property in Barefoot Bay is privately owned, and the district does not advertise rentals (Barefoot Bay FAQs). The Barefoot Bay real estate section covers the deed restrictions and the ARCC review that apply to every lot.

Barefoot Bay has no city government: Brevard County provides county services, and the elected Board of Trustees of the Barefoot Bay Recreation District runs the community's recreation facilities from 625 Barefoot Blvd. (772-664-3141).

Florida law lets a county create a mobile home park recreation district limited to the boundaries of a mobile home park, by an ordinance approved by the voters living in it, and that ordinance becomes the district charter (Section 418.30, Florida Statutes). Barefoot Bay became a special recreation district with its own charter authorized by the Brevard County Commissioners in 1984, when the Board of Trustees was created (About Barefoot Bay). A 2022 special act let Brevard County amend the charter, if district voters approved it in November 2022, to lengthen and stagger trustee terms, and it states that a trustee may not serve more than 6 consecutive years (Chapter 2022-234, Laws of Florida).

The district's Board of Trustees page lists five trustees: Elaine Van Berschot (chairwoman), Joseph Klosky, Bruce Amoss, Ed Haslam and Jeff Grunow (Board of Trustees). Kent Cichon is District Manager (District Manager page). Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the Barefoot Bay Recreation District website. There is no homeowners association in Barefoot Bay; instead an annual assessment collected by Brevard County with the property tax bill funds the district, and new owners pay a one-time Social Membership fee for a non-transferable homeowner badge (Barefoot Bay FAQs).

Every amount in that table comes from the district's FY27 fee schedule (Barefoot Bay FY27 fee schedule), and the FY27 adopted budget confirms it is built on an assessment rate of $1,028.18 per year per lot, with total revenues and sources of $9,595,784 (FY27 Adopted Budget). The Barefoot Bay government section has guides to the recreation district, assessments and fees, budgets and audits, and trustee elections.

Barefoot Bay life centers on district amenities: three community pools, an 18-hole executive golf course, a fishing pier over the Indian River, tennis, pickleball and shuffleboard courts, and a 2.3-acre Barefoot Bay beach park on the ocean side of A1A.

The district lists fishing, swimming, golf, tennis, pickleball, bocce, handball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, lawn bowling, softball, billiards, eateries and live entertainment as the main Barefoot Bay activities (Barefoot Bay FAQs). The original amenities included a 776-foot-long lit fishing pier over the Indian River, and today the community has three pools, a lounge and the 19th Hole sports bar and restaurant (About Barefoot Bay).

The district FAQ notes that the pools run on a seasonal schedule, so posted hours can change. The pool hours come from the Barefoot Bay pools page (Community Pools), the golf figures from the golf course page (Barefoot Bay Golf Course) and the beach details from the district beaches page, which lists Barefoot Bay Beach as 24 miles away and points to Sebastian Inlet State Park, 19 miles away, as a nearby beach (Barefoot Bay beaches page). The Barefoot Bay recreation section has guides to the golf course, the pools and the full list of district amenities.

In Barefoot Bay, trustee seats are on the November 3, 2026 ballot, the FY27 assessment of $1,028.18 per lot takes effect, and the district is working through a list of building, parking and landscaping projects due by fall 2026.

The district's election page says the 2026 Barefoot Bay election is for one trustee seat with a three-year term, with qualifying from June 8 to June 12 and voting at Building A, 625 Barefoot Blvd. (Barefoot Bay election information). The Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, which runs the race, lists the Barefoot Bay Recreation District Trustee contest with 2 seats available (Brevard Supervisor of Elections 2026 candidates). The district's own Board of Trustees page shows two terms, those of Elaine Van Berschot and Bruce Amoss, expiring in January 2027 (Board of Trustees), which matches the county's 2 seats, so the one-seat wording on the election page is out of date. Early voting for the November 3, 2026 election runs Monday, October 19 through Saturday, October 31, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends (Brevard early voting).

The Barefoot Bay projects page reports that replacement doors at the golf pro shop and a shade structure at Pool #2 were completed in July 2026, and lists work still due in fall 2026, including a replacement HVAC pair for Building D/E, new doors at the 19th Hole and the shopping center and a flag display at the Veterans Gathering Center, with the US1 Gateway Landscaping due in 2026; a guard rail to keep golf carts out of the Egret Circle cul-de-sac is expected in winter 2026/2027, and Phase 2 of the fishing pier railing board replacement is underway (Barefoot Bay district projects).

Because Barefoot Bay homes are manufactured homes, state emergency guidance tells their residents to follow all evacuation orders, and Brevard County's AlertBrevard system, run by Brevard County Emergency Management (321-637-6670), sends those orders to registered phones and email addresses.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management says people in an ordered evacuation zone, a low-lying flood area or a mobile home should follow all evacuation orders (Florida Division of Emergency Management). For Barefoot Bay that means watching Brevard County orders rather than Indian River County ones, despite the Sebastian mailing addresses. Brevard County Emergency Management, at 1751 Huntington Lane in Rockledge, runs AlertBrevard, which sends evacuation orders, shelter-in-place notices and boil-water notices to the phone numbers and email addresses a resident registers, based on the address provided (Brevard County Emergency Management).

Flood insurance for Barefoot Bay falls under unincorporated Brevard County in FEMA's records. FEMA lists Brevard County (community 125092) at Community Rating System class 8 since October 1, 2024, worth a 10 percent premium discount inside the special flood hazard area and 5 percent outside it, with flood maps effective January 29, 2021 (FEMA NFIP community status, Brevard County). That class belongs to Brevard County's unincorporated area as a whole, not to the recreation district.

Barefoot Bay has three topic sections on Digital Towns, government, recreation and real estate, and this table sends the usual Barefoot Bay questions to a short answer and the right section.

For county services that the Barefoot Bay Recreation District does not provide, such as property taxes, elections and emergency management, the Brevard County guides apply, and the Sebastian guides cover the nearest commercial area.