Find your own spot of paradise to set up your beach towel along the area’s spacious beaches. But, if sunbathing isn’t your thing, there are many beach activities to keep the whole family occupied. Cycling along the hard-packed sand is a wonderful way to explore the coastline. Alternatively, enjoy a water activity – fishing, boating, surfing, paddleboarding and kayaking are all available in Daytona Beach. The area offers so much more besides the beautiful beach to fulfil an array of interests, from motor-racing, arts and culture to family attractions complimented by a wonderful selection of dining options. From endless activities to calm and quiet days spent sunbathing, visitors will find just what they’re looking for in a Florida holiday along the 23-mile world-famous shores of Daytona Beach. With more hotel, attraction, dining and shopping options than ever, 2024 and 2025 will be the perfect time to experience all that Daytona Beach has to offer.
What's New at the World's Most Famous Beach
The Daytona Aquarium & Rainforest Adventure
The Daytona Aquarium and Rainforest Adventure is now open in Daytona Beach and is the destination’s first aquarium offering and provides an interactive educational experience featuring animals from both land and sea. The aquarium has 40 separate tanks including a 110,000-gallon shark tank and a 12,000-gallong stingray touch pool. There is also habitats for alligators and crocodiles, frogs and lizards. The indoor rainforest will be coming in phase 2 in 2025 and will have animals like sloths, armadillos, tamarins, toucans and other various types of birds.
The Marine Science Center renovation
Located in Ponce Inlet, the Marine Science Center opened a new Raptor Education and Conservation Exhibit, which is dedicated to the permanent raptor residents of the center, who, due to injuries, cannot be returned to the wild. The carefully crafted habitat provides a safe and enriching environment for these majestic birds. Additionally, the center will soon complete a renovation of their exhibit that pays tribute to the history of the Volusia County’s Artificial Coral Reef program and educates visitors about its importance. Vital marine habitats are created by placing the remains of ships, barges, culverts, airplanes, concrete utility poles and other large items on the seafloor. The exhibit is an artificial reef modeled after a real ship – the 150-foot Lady Philomena – that began serving as a man-made habitat off county shores in June 2018.
The new Riverfront Esplanade
The new Riverfront Esplanade spans a mile of the Intracoastal Waterway. There is more than a mile of paths with benches and swings overlooking the Halifax River. There is also a dog park and a state-of-the-art splash pad. Visitors will discover walkways that run through a creek with waterfalls, gardens with flowers, plants and trees and picnic tables that overlook the water.
Explore Daytona Beach
Explore the world-famous Daytona International Speedway, the Museum of Arts and Sciences, the Cici & Hyatt Brown Museum of Art and dozens of other museums and galleries, the iconic Daytona Beach Boardwalk & Pier and numerous family attractions including Daytona Lagoon which offers thrill slides and chill pools to go-karts and laser tag.
Head south to explore the Ponce Inlet, a stunning naturally beautiful area that is home to Florida’s tallest lighthouse – which visitors can climb to the top for spectacular 360-degree views of the beach and inlet. Visit the Marine Science Center to see sea turtles up-close at the rehabilitation facility and stroke stingrays. Manatees and dolphins can often be seen right from the beach or you can spot them by climbing aboard an eco-cruise for a scenic excursion.
Discover an interesting array of themed trails that cover everything from motorsports and monuments to craft brews, hiking and biking. Racing fans are sure to get revved up about the Motorsports Trail , which highlights the area’s storied auto-racing heritage. The Daytona Beach Ale Trail is home to hundreds of craft flavours served up by more than 20 watering holes, whilst Daytona Beach’s hiking and biking trails offer more than 70 miles of scenic paved paths, singletrack, footpaths and more to explore.
New places to eat
There has been an explosion of fantastic new dining options with Billy’s Tap Room, one of the original restaurants of Ormond Beach with a history dating back to 1922 scheduled for reopening in 2024. The 44-room Streamline Hotel, a historic beachside art deco-style boutique hotel that once hosted the meeting that launched NASCAR, has opened a new restaurant named Victory Lane. New to the list of dining options in the area also include Madeline’s Wine Bar, offering a curated selection of wines and champagnes paired with a top-tier fare and Mama Foo Foo, which has craft cocktails and fresh sharable plates from around the world set in an elegant marina environment.
Places to stay
Visitors will be spoilt for choice when choosing where to stay. Expected to open in 2024, the Renaissance by Marriott Daytona Beach Oceanfront will offer a modern hotel with private balconies, high-end seafood restaurant and amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean. The Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach, a 200-room beachfront resort has recently completed a multi-million renovation with a focus on the popular pool deck, refreshed guestrooms and youth club. Other recent upscale arrivals to the destination include the 12-story oceanfront Max Beach Resort which recently opened with 72 spacious one, two and three-bedroom residence-style suites. The Daytona Grande oceanfront luxury resort offers coastal inspired design with floor to ceiling windows offering dramatic views of the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway and the only infinity pool in Daytona Beach.
With a $2bn investment in the area over five years, which has included new and renovated hotels, a transformation of the iconic Daytona International Speedway into a world-class motorsports facility, and the opening of ONE DAYTONA–the area’s premier retail, dining and entertainment complex, there has never been a better time to visit Daytona Beach.
