Around Daytona

YES! You can drive onto the beach at Daytona. Find a nice place and park for the day and enjoy the sand and surf. The original Daytona races were held on the firmly packed sand at Daytona Beach.

BIKE WEEK at Daytona Beach

Most of you already know about the famous 23 mile long white sandy beaches around the Daytona area, but did you know about the Sea turtles that return to the same location every single year? Between March and the end of October the females lay there eggs in the sand and the baby turtles hatch and struggle their way through many obstacles to reach the ocean, alive! The Sea turtles are among the many endangered species that are indigenous of Florida! Many times I have observed the return of these huge sea inhabitants and their preparations for their eggs. Each female may lay as many as 100 eggs or more, each year! They look exactly like a wet ping-pong ball in size and shape. Very few of the hatchlings survive to become an adult due to predators and humans. As I was growing up, I heard that you could tell if a bad hurricane season was coming by how high up the sand bank/dunes the turtles deposited their eggs!

Click Here Sea Turtle Library

"It isn't wise to extrapolate and say that the same thing will happen to Atlantic ridleys. No one has been studying sea turtles long enough to know whether there are big cycles in their breeding populations. But if Lepidochelys kempi, or any other sea turtle, for that matter, becomes extinct in a few years, it really won't be missed by the business executive in Los Angeles or the factory worker in Detroit. The housewife in Chicago won't know it's gone, and the shrimper may scratch his head and say, "You know, I ain't seen one of them turtles in years." When the person who bought the fashionable wallet made out of genuine turtle hide wears out his novelty and looks to replace it, he may be annoyed that he'll have to go back to one made of cowhide. The timeless turtle will look on as man works feverishly to develop destructive nuclear weapons that will blow the world apart many times over. And perhaps one day when he pops his head up from the sea, he'll see a world empty of man, with barnacles growing on the ruins of the cities and buildings. And somewhere, perhaps on a Mexican beach, a handful of Kemp's ridleys filled with eggs will crawl out on the sand, unmolested and free." Author:Jack Rudloe "Time of the Turtle" p. 105-106 1979, Penguin Books

Did you know that just a short drive from Daytona is a wonderful place called Blue Springs? A natural Florida preserve and most facsinating, the winter home of the gentle manatees! From November through February these huge sea cows reside in the moderate temperatures of this crystal-clear spring surrounded by natural habitat. Another one of Florida's endangered species, many are killed or maimed every year by boaters. When the manatees are in residence at Blue Springs, they are protected. The park also offers nature walks, canoeing, swimmng and picnicing.

Blue Springs Park Information> CLICK HERE

Have you ever wanted to visit a real lighthouse?

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse South Daytona Beach

Lighthouse Info "CLICK HERE"


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