Drawn by the soothing grace of the ocean's rhythm, folks flock to water's edge in Jacksonville Beach, to get away from it all. Oily sunbathers pack the sands like anchovies in a tin on weekends and holidays, and blanket space can be at a premium. But it never gets Coney Island crazy. Don't kick sand and all will be well. On less crowded days, a tourist unfamiliar with local tides can set up their "beach stuff" a hundred yards from the water, go for a two-mile walk, and return to find the beach stuff was claimed by the sea.
The quarter-mile-long fishing pier was a place of exciting fast action way out at the end, on the "T." Salty sportsmen reeled in king mackerel, crevalle jacks, barracuda, and sharks. But the pier was mostly destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, and now it's but a sad—Look! Behold the pink, blistered tourist kids squealing with mock fear (which is to say delight) as they dash for shore, away from the tiny wall of whitewater inching toward their ankles.