Melbourne to St Augustine

dagerman · #1 (**permalink**) 12-21-2003

Planning a trip up the ICW in May. Anyone have any favorite hangouts between Melbourne and St. Augustine? Our plan at this point, wx depending, is to take the ICW to Ponce Inlet and then offshore to St. Augustine. Looking for good places to drop the hook and enjoy scenery restaraunts and bars along the way.

WHOOSH · #2 (**permalink**) 12-22-2003

Dagerman:

If you come in at St. Augustine - or if you''d consider coming in a far better entrance not much further north - than I''d recommend you consider an extended stay at Cumberland Is., on the N side of the St. Mary''s River (which is wide, deep and has buoyage for the nuke boats transiting in/out of Kings Bay). Cumberland is a treasure, (mostly) unoccupied except for daytrippers, there are several walking tours done by the National Parks personnel, the old Carnegie Mansion is there to prowl around, and the wild horses on the beach are a treat to watch. The anchorage is usually well protected, offers water at the floating dinghy dock, and it''s a blissful place to spend some time.

Jack

dpierce · #3 (**permalink**) 12-31-2003

Dagerman,

I agree with Whoosh. I just made the trip from Melbourne to HHI, and am glad I did not miss Cumberland Island and the other areas of the Georgia Coast (St. Simons in particular). The coastal marshes and barrier islands as seen from the ICW have some great scenery.

Don''t even think about doing the ICW from Jax Beach to St. Augustine. It is the ugliest stretch of "water" I''ve ever seen - a dead straight ditch dug through scrub pine woodlands, filled with black water. Boring beyond belief!

Dave...