Indialantic Boardwalk Visitor Guide for Melbourne Beachgoers

The Indialantic Boardwalk sits at the end of Fifth Avenue next to Nance Park in the Town of Indialantic, a separate town between the Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean.

Indialantic has its own Town Hall at 216 5th Avenue, Indialantic, FL 32903, phone (321) 723-2242, and its own parks: Nance Park, Lily Park, Douglas Park, Orlando Park, Ernest Kouwen-Hoven Riverside Park and Sunrise Park (Town of Indialantic). Parking, permits and park bookings at the boardwalk, the Wavecrest Avenue frontage and Nance Park run through Indialantic, not Melbourne City Hall.

The State Road 192 Causeway crosses the Indian River from the Melbourne side, and the state manatee rule sets slow speed waters within 500 feet of it (Fla. Admin. Code R. 68C-22.006). On the island, FDOT announced in a May 13, 2025 notice that it plans to resurface State Road A1A from Oak Street to U.S. 192, a work zone of more than 3 miles through the City of Melbourne, the Town of Indialantic and the Town of Melbourne Beach (Town of Melbourne Beach, relaying FDOT).

The town is frank about what the place is today. In the mayor's message on the Boardwalk Reimagination Project page, outside a small boardwalk area the Boardwalk and Wavecrest Ave. section is described as primarily an oceanfront parking lot, and Nance Park as mostly a utilitarian parking lot (Town of Indialantic).

Beach parking at the Indialantic Boardwalk is paid through the town's designated parking apps, unless the car carries an annual Indialantic permit, which costs $50 a year or $40 if issued June 1 or later.

The Town of Indialantic says an annual permit lets the holder park at designated locations on Wave Crest Avenue, Watson Drive, Tampa Avenue, Sixth Avenue and James H. Nance Park without buying parking time through the designated parking apps (Town of Indialantic parking page). Permits run January 1 through December 31. A current vehicle registration must be shown at purchase, each permit is tied to one registered vehicle, and permits are sold in person at Indialantic Town Hall, 216 Fifth Ave, for cash, check or card (card purchases carry a processing fee).

The permit is not a pass on every rule. The town states that posted parking regulations, restrictions and permitted parking hours stay in effect for permit holders (Town of Indialantic). Those posted hours are the only hours the town publishes for the beach lots: the town parks page does not list opening and closing times for Nance Park (Town of Indialantic parks page), so the signs at the Indialantic lots are the rule to follow.

Tickets can be paid by mail, in person at 216 Fifth Avenue or online, and a hearing request must be made at Indialantic Town Hall within 10 days of the citation (Town of Indialantic). The town page notes that choosing a hearing waives the right to simply pay the fine, and a County Court judge may then impose up to $100 plus court costs.

Brevard County's current full-time lifeguard list does not include the Indialantic Boardwalk; the only Indialantic tower it names is Paradise/Futch Park in North Indialantic, staffed daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Brevard County Ocean Rescue lists five full-time towers operating daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM: Cocoa Beach Pier, Shepard Park, Lori Wilson Park and Minutemen Causeway in Cocoa Beach, and Paradise/Futch Park in North Indialantic (Brevard County Ocean Rescue). Seasonal towers open on weekends starting the last week of May, run daily from Memorial Day to the first week of August, then return to weekends only until Labor Day, also 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The county page does not say which beaches get seasonal towers.

The county says its program runs year-round with about 90 part-time lifeguards, 26 full-time lifeguards and 3 full-time supervisors, and it describes its mission as safe swimming in designated areas of unincorporated Brevard County (Brevard County Ocean Rescue). The Town of Indialantic is incorporated, and the county page does not name a seasonal tower at the boardwalk. The same county page points beachgoers to the Florida Division of Emergency Management rip current map before heading to the beach.

Nance Park, beside the Indialantic Boardwalk, holds a beach parking lot, the Mikey Goodwin Playground, a rentable pavilion and the bathroom building, on the site of the 1923 Indialantic Casino.

The town's concept plan lists the Mikey Goodwin Playground and the existing bathroom building in Nance Park (Town of Indialantic). Groups can book space through the Nance Park Pavilion Rental Application on the town forms page, and the same page carries a Beach Fire Permit form and a Special Event Permit (Town of Indialantic forms).

A Florida Department of State marker at 201 North Miramar Avenue records that the Indialantic Casino was built on the site in 1923 and opened on December 22, 1923, with shops, an Olympic-size saltwater pool, a tall diving tower and wading pools (Florida Department of State marker), and the town describes the old casino as having occupied Nance Park (Town of Indialantic). It hosted the Miss Melbourne and Miss Florida pageants of 1925, and its pool was used to train World War II personnel from the Banana River Naval Station.

Karl Abbott bought the casino in 1944 and renamed it the Bahama Beach Club; it was an exclusive private club from 1949 until the Town of Indialantic purchased it in 1967, and the building was razed in 1970 (Florida Department of State). The Indialantic mayor's message says a future community center on the site would pay homage to that casino (Town of Indialantic).

Indialantic has a concept plan, not a funded project, to rebuild the boardwalk and Nance Park, while Brevard County expects South Reach beach nourishment south of Flug Avenue to be completed between November 2026 and March 2027.

The town selected Land Design through a request for proposals to draw a vision for Nance Park and the boardwalk, held a first public open house in August and showed vision boards at a December open house; the posted workshop minutes are dated 08-27-2025 (Town of Indialantic). The concept consolidates parking, adds 2 sport courts, a pavilion and an event lawn, keeps the Mikey Goodwin Playground, and replaces the bathroom building with a community center that includes public bathrooms for beachgoers.

On Wavecrest the plan repaves the stretch in front of two businesses, Bizzarro's and Surfinista, with pavers, a plaza and removable bollards, so the street can close for farmers market style events, and adds a boardwalk the full length of Wavecrest for ocean viewing. That boardwalk would be elevated so nesting sea turtles can pass beneath it and routed around the sea grapes to protect the dune. The mayor states plainly that a funding source has not been identified, and that design work so far has been paid from parking revenue (Town of Indialantic).

On the sand, Brevard County splits its federal shore protection project at Flug Avenue, Indialantic: the 7.6 mile Mid Reach runs north from there to Patrick Space Force Base, and the 3.8 mile South Reach runs south to Spessard Holland Park North (Brevard County Beach Management Program). Mid Reach work was completed in 2024-2025, with no restoration expected there in 2026. The South Reach was contracted for December 2025 to April 2026, missed that window because of the contractor's equipment problems, and is now expected to be completed between November 2026 and March 2027; the contractor, Dutra Group, continues to stage equipment between Spessard Holland North and South Parks.

Sea turtles nest along the Indialantic beach at Wavecrest, which the town's boardwalk plan is designed around, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission lighting guidance applies until nesting season ends on October 31.

FWC guidance says decorative lights that serve no safety purpose should not be turned on until after sea turtle nesting season ends, October 31, and that lights should be shielded from all areas on the beach (FWC sea turtle lighting). The Indialantic plan for an elevated Wavecrest boardwalk, designed so turtles can crawl underneath, was supported by the Sea Turtle Preservation Society, which the town says will keep being consulted if the project moves forward (Town of Indialantic).

Florida law separately bars anyone from knowingly disturbing or harassing marine turtles, hatchlings, eggs or nests (Florida Statutes 379.2431), including nests on the Indialantic beach.

Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the Town of Indialantic website.