Cost of beach parking

[Crunchyhippo]

The weekly, not to mention monthly, cost of beach parking is killing me here. I pay anywhere from $3.50/hr to $6.00/hr to park at the beach, depending on the beach and the time of day. I'm typically at the beach 4 times a week at least, and at a minimum of two hours a pop, so do the math. The closest beach is 15-20 minutes away, and it's in-city traffic the entire way with seemingly 50 red lights between me and the water. I've asked my wife to take me, then pick me up, which saves on both the parking fees and on having to find a parking spot, but it's a royal pain-in-the-neck for her to do so, which I understand. There's one beach not far away with *gasp* free parking - but it's not heavily frequented and I've never found much there. I wish I could find a spot where I could pay by the month or the year.

Are beach parking rates the same with everyone else?

 

[cudamark]

City of San Diego beaches don't have a parking fee.....so far. Some nearby cities do though, such as Oceanside, Carlsbad, and some parts of Del Mar. Commercial areas will sometimes have meters, but, off the main roads and in most residential areas you can usually find free parking.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

The weekly, not to mention monthly, cost of beach parking is killing me here. I pay anywhere from $3.50/hr to $6.00/hr to park at the beach, depending on the beach and the time of day. I'm typically at the beach 4 times a week at least, and at a minimum of two hours a pop, so do the math. The closest beach is 15-20 minutes away, and it's in-city traffic the entire way with seemingly 50 red lights between me and the water. I've asked my wife to take me, then pick me up, which saves on both the parking fees and on having to find a parking spot, but it's a royal pain-in-the-neck for her to do so, which I understand. There's one beach not far away with *gasp* free parking - but it's not heavily frequented and I've never found much there. I wish I could find a spot where I could pay by the month or the year.

Are beach parking rates the same with everyone else?

Why not look into an adult tricycle or bike with cart for equipment..

Parking has gotten expensive during the day, another reason to night hunt parking usually free after 7pm.

Daytona Beach / New Smyrna is $30 a day to park on beach unless you are a county resident or handicap. Street meters are $1.25 hour 9am-11pm.

Cocoa Beach
Pier parking $15-$20
Parking lots and street meters about $3.50 hr or $25 day.

 

[OBN]

That would add up quick and not bad if your finding gold or something worthy.

In a in direct way I have the same issue, I hunt older beaches that are closed and private. Unless you have permission to cross over someones land you won't be hunting unless you go in by boat. And the problem there is all of the boat ramps except two in AA Co are private. They sell yearly passes for some or a daily launch fee of 25 dollars. Crazy. I end up buying the yearly pass for most. By end of summer I'll have 300.+70+50 then the one is 350 which I'll just do the 25 per launch. Luckily I do find gold.

 

[Knight_of_Excalibur_II]

I try to make it a point to go to free beaches more often than ones with paid parking. Ironically, I usually find better quality targets at the free beaches, though I've yet to search Miami beaches which I'm sure are a strong outlier. I'm lucky that I live near an area with free beaches, but I also travel a lot when I go on outings, since I like to try out new beaches half of the time for research. I find it's a lot more worthwhile to be selective when and where you go out vs hitting the same beaches almost every day of the week. Some days are very obviously skunk days per weather patterns, foot traffic, and erosion (lack thereof) - I avoid those days.

 

[mtdoramike]

Why not look into an adult tricycle or bike with cart for equipment..

Parking has gotten expensive during the day, another reason to night hunt parking usually free after 7pm.

Daytona Beach / New Smyrna is $30 a day to park on beach unless you are a county resident or handicap. Street meters are $1.25 hour 9am-11pm.

Cocoa Beach
Pier parking $15-$20
Parking lots and street meters about $3.50 hr or $25 day.

WOW, I didn't realize parking had jumped up that much over on the east coast. Usually my wife and I would just grab a hotel room for the night when we go.

 

[Crunchyhippo]

Why not look into an adult tricycle or bike with cart for equipment..

Parking has gotten expensive during the day, another reason to night hunt parking usually free after 7pm.

Daytona Beach / New Smyrna is $30 a day to park on beach unless you are a county resident or handicap. Street meters are $1.25 hour 9am-11pm.

Unfortunately, it's too far from my house (six miles), and the traffic is WAY too heavy for a trike with a cart. Also unfortunately, Clearwater Beach parking rates don't go down between daylight and dark. The city rakes in too much money to let go of any of it. Count your blessings if you only pay $1.25/hr, too.

 

[Crunchyhippo]

That would add up quick and not bad if your finding gold or something worthy.

In a in direct way I have the same issue, I hunt older beaches that are closed and private. Unless you have permission to cross over someones land you won't be hunting unless you go in by boat. And the problem there is all of the boat ramps except two in AA Co are private. They sell yearly passes for some or a daily launch fee of 25 dollars. Crazy. I end up buying the yearly pass for most. By end of summer I'll have 300.+70+50 then the one is 350 which I'll just do the 25 per launch. Luckily I do find gold.

Yes, you do have a comparible problem, and finding gold would easily offset your parking fees, so problem solved. Unfortunately, I've never found gold, so my fees are never offset.

 

[cudamark]

Looks like you need to find friends that lives at the beach so you can park on their property!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Looks like you need to find friends that lives at the beach so you can park on their property!

Another suggestion, you can also try talking to local businesses. In Daytona Beach I paid a business 1 block from beach $5.00 to park in the back of their parking lot.

 

[Digger54]

We used to go every spring to the County Pier in Panama City Beach but they started to charge a parking fee. Unless you had some sort of special pay app on a smart phone there was no other option to pay short of buying a year round pier pass from the city recreation dept. Doom on the older generation.

 

[Crunchyhippo]

Another suggestion, you can also try talking to local businesses. In Daytona Beach I paid a business 1 block from beach $5.00 to park in the back of their parking lot.

I had considered that. Who did you talk to? The manager/owner? I can't imagine a lowly drone employee could authorize something like that. And I would think the manager of a chain business like, say, Walgreens or Hooters, would just boredly parrot corporate policy about no parking in their lot. Was this business you got permission from a local one? If I could swing a deal, I could probably come out ahead by paying them monthly. Hmm - but everyone at that business would have to know about the deal; otherwise some teen employee who was never told would see your "unauthorized" car in their lot and have you towed.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I had considered that. Who did you talk to? The manager/owner? I can't imagine a lowly drone employee could authorize something like that. And I would think the manager of a chain business like, say, Walgreens or Hooters, would just boredly parrot corporate policy about no parking in their lot. Was this business you got permission from a local one? If I could swing a deal, I could probably come out ahead by paying them monthly. Hmm - but everyone at that business would have to know about the deal; otherwise some teen employee who was never told would see your "unauthorized" car in their lot and have you towed.

I went in and asked the person working sales counter, then I asked " are you sure I want get towed" I was told no one gets towed unless they call. He wrote my name and description of vehicle on paper.

Parked there many times, never had issue.

 

[mtdoramike]

I went in and asked the person working sales counter, then I asked " are you sure I want get towed" I was told no one gets towed unless they call. He wrote my name and description of vehicle on paper.

Parked there many times, never had issue.

The only problem with that is if there is a shift change.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

The only problem with that is if there is a shift change.

I always ask how long will they be working, and if there is a change, that the new shift is aware of parking arrangement. I have done so many times in past in Daytona Beach over the years, never had an issue.

 

[Crunchyhippo]

I went in and asked the person working sales counter, then I asked " are you sure I want get towed" I was told no one gets towed unless they call. He wrote my name and description of vehicle on paper.

Parked there many times, never had issue.

Nice. I'll definitely have to check it out. Did you offer to pay them, or did you just ask if you could park there with no mention of money?

 

[cudamark]

Another option if you qualify (at least here in Ca) is getting a disabled plaque to park at pay lots free.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Nice. I'll definitely have to check it out. Did you offer to pay them, or did you just ask if you could park there with no mention of money?

Oh, I offered $5.00 off the bat, it is what I paid. It want work on small lots, I usually ask at the local tourist's stores that had lot of parking, and it always helps to be polite.

 

[newnan man]

We go to Pass a grille beach when we visit the West Coast of Florida. It's around 5 bucks an hour. My wife got a temporary (6 months) handicap sticker because she had foot surgery so it's free parking. 6 months is better than nothing.

 

[Cutty]

The weekly, not to mention monthly, cost of beach parking is killing me here. I pay anywhere from $3.50/hr to $6.00/hr to park at the beach, depending on the beach and the time of day. I'm typically at the beach 4 times a week at least, and at a minimum of two hours a pop, so do the math. The closest beach is 15-20 minutes away, and it's in-city traffic the entire way with seemingly 50 red lights between me and the water. I've asked my wife to take me, then pick me up, which saves on both the parking fees and on having to find a parking spot, but it's a royal pain-in-the-neck for her to do so, which I understand. There's one beach not far away with *gasp* free parking - but it's not heavily frequented and I've never found much there. I wish I could find a spot where I could pay by the month or the year.

Are beach parking rates the same with everyone else?

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