New Smyrna Beach

Atlantic Center for the Arts

Founded by local artist Doris "Doc" Leeper, this tranquil artist seminary plays hosts to artists worldwide, and invites them to come and create art at the center. The center itself is an architectural marvel in the modern architectural style, but in an area that feels surprisingly remote for an arts center, hidden inside the rainforest. Exhibits are always coming and going.

Open until 4PM·Donations are accepted, but admission is free

Bistro 424

Italian-American cuisine with less seafood than most local restaurants. Has both indoor and outdoor seating; the outdoor seating looks out onto a lake and fountain.

Blackbeards

Popular restaurant with a large menu, with its emphasis on seafood and steak. For quantity at lower prices, this is the place to come, as you'll get the opportunity to self-serve soup or salad and you'll receive some snacks along with your main course, probably the prime rib the restaurant is best known for. Parking is limited to the immdiate surrounds of the restaurant. The restaurant's main positives are that it has a lively atmosphere, especially in the evenings, and provides a good example of American cuisine. It's not walkable from Canal St but is easily visible by car from US-1.

Cafe Paradiso (formerly Heavenly)

A health foods restaurant with sandwiches, wraps and ice cream.

Chases on the Beach

Florida seafood and luscious tropical drinks. Listen to live music while laying around the pool and sipping on a special cocktail.

Corkscrew

Canal Street's main attraction, with beautiful tropical foliage surrounding the restaurant's modern, urban-style interior design in a dimly-lit but atmospheric environment. Upscale American cuisine is served here. There are outdoor and indoor options for seating, although it's often quite busy, so you can't trust that the option for outdoor seating (or indoor seating, for that matter) will be available.

Detwiler Park Tennis Center

Offers five hard tennis courts in a predominantly residential neighborhood south of Flagler Ave.

Free

Disappearing Island

One of the most beautiful sites in NSB, the islet is tidal and accessible only by boat. Local travel agencies organize tours of the island, while locals who are familiar with the tides and waterways come on their own boats. At low tide the islet, which is covered by low shrubs and beaches, offers beautiful views of Ponce Inlet to the east and the Intracoastal Waterway to the north and south.

Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve (County)

This secluded wildlife preserve offers miles of lonely trails that lead to 60 ft sand cliffs that slope gracefully into Spruce Creek. These sand bluffs are among the largest in Florida. The trail signs tend to be confusing, so use a GPS such as your smartphone on satellite view to keep track of where you are.

Flagler Avenue Park

A popular beachfront park where Flagler Ave meets the ocean. The park offers unpaved parking space for the surrounding shops and restaurants on Flagler Ave, while a raised walkway and benches provide view of the beach and the Atlantic. It is one of the various points in New Smyrna that offers public beach access, including to vehicles.

Galleria di Vetro

Galleria di Vetro, a unique experience in glass is a thriving gallery and working studio. The Galleria specializes in architectural installations for both commercial and residential spaces, as well as custom pieces in any form. Featuring live glassblowing demonstrations, classes for all ages and world famous and local artists such as Hans Godo-Frabel, John Blazy, Shane Fero, Kyle Carni and many more.

Half Wall Brewery

The old Gilley's Pub has changed hands many times. It is now owned locally and operates as the "Half Wall Brewery", featuring a wide selection of craft beer and locally brewed favorites.

Heath's Natural Foods

Health food store that offers wonderful organic prepared food to grab 'n' go. Delicious smoothies, wheat grass and vegetable juices available daily. The store also has a full array of grocery items, organic produce, gluten-free products and organic meats.

8:30AM-7PM

Hidden Lakes Golf Course

Small golf course south of Turnbull Bay and the NSB sports complex.

Hiles Boat Ramp

Hiles Boat Ramp is a concrete single boat ramp off of Hiles Boulevard.

Jason's Corner

Serves meals around the day; the best time to come is around breakfast/lunch, although there is also a dinner menu. There is limited outdoor seating along with a larger dining area indoors.

Marine Discovery Center

Small aquarium and tour agency. Tours launch from the marina on North Causeway, not the site of the aquarium.

New Smyrna Municipal Golf Course

A larger golf course and Italian restaurant south of Hidden Lakes; the main golf course in the city.

New Smyrna Museum of History

The museum includes artifacts dating from pre-Columbian times through to the modern era, with an emphasis on the Turnbull settlement. Among the most notable historical artifacts are thousand-year-old Native American tools and a Byzantine Christian medal discovered at one of the Turnbull colony residences. In addition, the museum includes drawn plans and maps of the city demonstrating land grants and geographical features of the region.

Tue–Sat 10AM–4PM

Norwoods

An institution in New Smyrna Beach that successfully made the change from fans, screen doors and smoked mullet to fine dining, wines, and air conditioning. It serves American cuisine, such as burgers and fries, but also has an upstairs treehouse, where there is a bar and therefore does not permit kids and teenagers.

Old Fort

The Old Fort, a former house of unknown origin that was converted into a quasi-fort during the Civil War, existed near the intersection of Riverside and Canal Street; but today, only a stone foundation remains. You can see the fort from the road, but it's also open as a park and the surroundings are walkable. Due to erosion, the foundation is well below the structural level and it is therefore impossible to navigate deep into the pit to reach the rooms, although they can be viewed from above. Around the mansion are several trees and a lawn.

Preserve at Turnbull Bay

Golf course at Turnbull Estates, a residential community on the west side of Turnbull Bay.

Riverview

Offers fine dining with a great view of the Intracoastal Waterway (Indian River). There is a hotel next to the restaurant.

$30 per person

Rookery Island

Popular with bird watchers, the islet is one of the primary landmarks of the New Smyrna harbor. The mangroves and scrub covering the islet attract various species of local birds. However, boaters should view from a distance and avoid the islet itself and surrounding sandbanks in order to respect the local wildlife.

Sea Dogs Dive Center Guide & Services

Provides a 42 ft custom Newton Dive Vessel, New Smyrna Beach's only U.S. Coast Guard Certified dive vessel. Relaxing SCUBA diving for up to 16, with a divemaster or instructor on every trip. Full service PADI dive center, NITROX Fill station, spearfishing specialists, and a full range of PADI certifications. There are beautiful reefs, along with wrecks, and some of the largest lobsters on the east coast of U.S.

Smyrna Dunes Park (County)

Open daily sunrise to sunset. Perched on 250 acres of sand dunes at the northern tip of the New Smyrna Beach peninsula, the area is surrounded by water on three sides, as it's where the Ponce Inlet, the Intracoastal Waterway, and the Atlantic Ocean meet. The park consists of five ecosystems (ocean, river, dunes, scrub zone, saltwater marsh).

$3.50 per vehicle, $1 per person for vehicles with more than eight passengers

Spanish River Grill

Tapas bar and restaurant, which offers Spanish (Basque) and American cuisine. Most options on the menu are in the low double digits in price.

Sugar Mill Ruins

Circa 1830 this sugar mill was built by colonists with slaves performing the brutal manual labor. The mill quickly proved difficult to sustain, as its operation took place amid the Seminole Wars, and the colonial settlement proved strategic to the conflict. Successful counterattacks by the Seminole Tribe captured the site and it was subsequently burned, although being constructed by coquina stone these fires had relatively little impact on the structure itself, much of which still stands. The site was subsequently abandoned and forgotten for decades before being rediscovered and thought to have been a much older site built by missionaries or even Columbus himself. Large pots and other tools related to the production of sugar remain in the building, in addition to the impressive mill, which was constructed with arches, halls, and furnaces.

The Breakers

This place is a beach bar/restaurant, far from fancy, with the oceanfront setting and great cheeseburgers.

The Garlic

Ambience is unbeatable at the upscale Garlic, featuring savory Tuscan music, Al Fresco dining, and live music most nights. Surrounding the restaurant is a beautiful garden, with lush plants all around it, despite being close to the South Causeway Road.

From $30 per person