When Amelia Island visitors are in the mood to make the most of their time on the shoreline, the options are vast and endlessly appealing!
Boasting 13 miles of pristine coastline, Amelia Island has no shortage of beautiful beaches to explore! Spend the day lounging by the water, take up paddleboarding, or ride the waves on your surfboard. The beaches even have horseback riding!
On the beaches of Amelia Island, this is how the day begins...
The sun rises majestically over the horizon. The wildlife gracefully stirs, embracing a renewed sense of curiosity. Your footprints create one-of-a-kind impressions as you stroll along the shore. And your pace, without realizing, keeps time to the rhythm of the sea. 
Seaside Beach
Main Beach
Amelia Island State Park
Fort Clinch State Park
Peters Point
North Beach
Burney park
Take to the saddle and experience the beach like never before
Amelia Island is the only Florida state park that offers horseback riding on its beaches.
Riding the beach at Amelia Island has been a favourite pastime of visitors for years.
Guests get to experience trotting and cantering on the waters edge.
Private rides, sunrise rides, sunset rides, day rides and even proposal rides are all available - contact us for more details
Here come the turtles !
As the gentle giants of the sea return to our shores for their annual nesting season (May – October), let’s delve into the fascinating world of these magnificent creatures and learn how we can play a role in their conservation efforts.
Join us as we explore everything you need to know about the nesting, hatching, safety, and protection of these endangered marine marvels – because it’s sea turtle time on Amelia Island!
Lighting near the shore can cause hatchlings to become disoriented and wander inland, where they often die of dehydration or predations. Hatchlings have an innate instinct that leads them in the brightest directions, which normally is the moonlight reflecting off the ocean. Excess lighting from the nearshore buildings and streets draw hatchlings toward land, where they may be eaten, run over, or drown in swimming pools. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, coastal communities enacted lighting ordinances to restrict artificial beachfront lighting to combat the negative effects on sea turtles and hatchlings.
Attend a nest excavation conducted by Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch, dedicated to preserving and protecting the endangered sea turtles that are a valuable part of the natural heritage of Amelia Island. Three days after a nest has emerged and hatchlings have crawled to the sea, permitted volunteers from AISTW “excavate” the nest. This is simply an inventory of all the remaining nest contents: unhatched eggs, shards (empty egg shells), dead hatchlings, and yes, sometimes even live hatchlings. If live hatchlings are found, they will release them for you to see. Everything else is returned to the nest to be left as it was. Excavations begin in early-mid July and continue until all the nests have hatched and emerged. While there is no guarantee that you will see a hatchling, you will come away with new information and an appreciation for this natural wonder.
