Daytona Beach

The ocean-front metropolitan area in central east Florida, stretching 23 miles (37km) along beaches south from Ormond Beach, is known as Daytona Beach, America's favourite family beach holiday destination. Greater Daytona encompasses the towns of Holly Hill, South Daytona, Port Orange, Ponce Inlet, Daytona Beach Shores, and all of Volusia and Flagler Counties. Without moving from the Daytona Beach you can surf, jet ski, go boating, parasailing, feast on hot dogs and cotton candy, go fishing, bicycling, fly a kite, and even take a drive in a hired beach buggy. Daytona's hard-packed sands have provided fun for speedsters ever since the early 20th century, when daredevils like Sir Malcolm Campbell set and broke records motoring on the beach. Today beach-cruising is still permitted along an 18-mile (29km) section of the beach during daylight, but the speed limit is a strict 10 miles per hour (16km/h). Speeding is reserved for the world-famous Daytona International Speedway where the annual Daytona 500 Nascar race is held.With so much to do on the beach, it is difficult to find the time and motivation to move off it. Those who do are greeted with numerous recreational facilities and attractions in the string of towns along the intracoastal waterway and on the mainland. From archaeological sites to mini-golf, museums to haunted houses, and planetariums to chocolate factories, there is never a dull moment in Daytona Beach. Best of all, Daytona Beach is within easy day-trip distance of Orlando with its thrilling Walt Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, and Epcot Center, to name only a few of the city's world-famous attractions. Also just an hour's drive away is the Kennedy Space Center. Little wonder that this versatile vacation hub receives an estimated eight million visitors a year.