Why is it called Cocoa Beach?

It takes its name from Cocoa, the mainland town across the Indian River lagoon, which grew up in the 1880s. The usual explanation is the cocoa palms planted by early residents, though several versions of the story circulate locally.

When was Cocoa Beach founded?

The town of Cocoa Beach was established on 5 June 1925, three years after the first bridge from the mainland opened in 1922. It was incorporated as a city on 29 June 1957.

What did Cocoa Beach have to do with the space program?

Almost everything in the 1950s and 1960s. Patrick Air Force Base, just north of town, ran the missile ranges, and when John Glenn orbited in February 1962 tens of thousands of people watched from this beach. The town's hotels and restaurants filled with the engineers and press working on the program.

Why is Cocoa Beach called the surf capital of the East Coast?

Because of its forgiving, consistent sandbar breaks and the surfers and shops they produced: Ron Jon from 1959, Dick Catri's surfboard business from the early 1960s, and Kelly Slater, born here in 1972 and eleven times world champion.

Was Kelly Slater born in Cocoa Beach?

Yes. Slater was born in Cocoa Beach in 1972 and learned to surf on these breaks, going on to win eleven world championships — the most in the sport's history.

Cocoa Beach History | Native Dunes, the Space Race & Surfing

The History of Cocoa Beach: From Dunes to the Space AgeHow Cocoa Beach went from Ais Indian dunes and a 1922 causeway to the space-age boomtown that launched East Coast surfing — the pier, Ron Jon and Kelly Slater.Surf lessons