Jacksonville Beach

The City of Jacksonville Beach is not home to any private country club properties. However, very short drives to the north, south, and west will put you at the gates of some great clubs worthy of consideration.

Atlantic Beach Country Club

• Atlantic Beach Country Club prides itself on a casual approach to country club living. A favorite among its members is the club’s 18-hole championship golf course redesigned in 2014 by Erik Larson. Other amenities include 7 Har-Tru clay tennis courts, Fitness Center, and junior Olympic size lap pool with a zero entry beach area. Its 16,000 square foot modern coastal-style club house hosts family friendly dining opportunities. A robust social calendar includes trivia nights, happy hours, themed dinners, pool parties, wine tastings, holiday celebrations and much more.

Jacksonville Golf and Country Club

• Jacksonville Golf and Country Club is a private member owned club and community offering both equity membership and non-equity membership opportunities. Their unique plantation style clubhouse is home to four separate dining venues serving up gourmet cuisine and traditional favorites. Having earned the title of 2019 Jax Best Golf Course, the club’s 18-hole championship golf course was designed by Clyde Johnston and Fuzzy Zoeller to be challenging yet enjoyable for golfers of all skill levels. The tennis facility features 10 Har-Tru courts with two stadium viewing areas and league play for levels A to D. Also on property is a Fitness Center, junior Olympic swimming pool, and spa.

Queens Harbour Yacht & Country Club

• Queens Harbour Yacht & Country Club offers memberships by invitation only to both residents and non-residents of Queens Harbor. Golf course designer Mark McCumber chiseled an 18-hole par 72 course out of 1,000 acres of natural woodlands and surrounding marsh. Hundred year old live oak trees laden with Spanish moss have seen Queens Harbor host a number of prestigious events such as the PGA Tour qualifier and the Mercedes Collegiate Championships. A 76-slip marina sits alongside the beautiful low country style clubhouse which houses the clubs dining facility. Two tennis courts and a pool round out the offerings of this exclusive yacht and country club.

Seafood takes center stage in Jacksonville Beach, with more establishments serving up local caught seafood dishes than any other type of food. Its food scene is a mix of casual elegance and classic southern comfort served in all types of eateries from upscale bistros to rustic fish camps.

Jacksonville Beach does not have any large indoor or outdoor shopping malls within city limits. What it does have is a small mix of beach boutiques, coastal furnishings, and gift stores. Luckily for residents here, Jacksonville just to the west is a major U.S. city and with that comes major retail centers such as the St. Johns Town Center.

The St. Johns Town Center is the foremost shopping destination in the greater Jacksonville area. This outdoor mall is home to more than 175 stores such as Dillard’s, Apple, Pottery Barn, Ann Taylor and many more. The palm lined Luxury Collection area features high end shopping destinations like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., and Mayors.

The Beaches Town Center is a pedestrian friendly area that offers many boutiques, fitness centers, and restaurants.

Cottage by the Sea offers a vast selection of coastal-inspired home furnishings including hand-painted, reclaimed, and distressed wood pieces. In addition to hand-crafted furniture, they also offer a wide range of chandeliers, lamps, artwork, and decorative elements, along with unique gifts

Atlantic Beach Arts Market is a 5,000 square foot creative space featuring more than 90 local artists and vendors, a learning studio, and a vintage market. Items for sale here include paintings, wall art, jewelry, pottery, vintage items, glass, and fine art.

Jacksonville Beach is a younger, hipper, more commercial, and more lively area than its neighbor to the south, Ponte Vedra. Most of the action takes place around the Jacksonville Beach Pier. This area is generally buzzing with activity along the beach and in the many bars and eateries around it. Also keep in mind one of the largest cities in the state, Jacksonville, lies just to the west. This opens up many additional recreational and cultural activities to enjoy.

Players by the Sea Theatre produces and performs live and innovative theatre that has been entertaining the community for over 50 years. Its 150-seat mainstage theatre and intimate 80-seat theatre play host to a variety of large Broadway musicals, contemporary plays, and common classics. Players by the Sea also trains students ages 5-18 in acting, musical theatre, and dance.

As the go to beaches for the residents of the City of Jacksonville lying just to the west, the sandy shorelines of Jacksonville Beach can see some heavier traffic at times especially at the pier. That being said, more often than not, these beaches are less crowded than one would think being adjacent to one of Florida’s major metropolitan cities. Jacksonville Beach can attract younger beachgoers with its central location and decent bar scene. If you are looking for more upscale and peaceful shorelines, try Atlantic or Neptune Beach just minutes to the north. This area has very fine sand and decent shelling opportunities at low tide. The closer to the water you get, the flatter and more compact the sand becomes which is perfect for beachfront bike riding and jogging. As with other Northeast Florida beaches, you can have shallow tidal streams and pools form on an outgoing tide which younger children love to splash around in. The water color in this area of Florida is typically a dark blue/green to turbid brown not uncommon to other shorelines up and down the east coast of the United States.

Less popular than the beach, but a staple activity for many local residents is boating. The Intracoastal Waterway along Jacksonville Beach lies on the city’s western edge and separates it from the mainland metro Jacksonville Area. The Intracoastal cuts through wide expanses of tidal marsh with numerous offshoots of snaking creeks. Fluctuating between around 700 – 1,000 foot wide the waterway offers good cruising opportunities with almost exclusively natural shoreline. A 7 mile boat ride up the Intracoastal to the north will put you in the more expansive waters of the St. Johns River which leads either east to the Atlantic Ocean or west through the heart of the city of Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Beach has decent inshore fishing. It is possible to find flounder, spotted seatrout, redfish, and sheepshead in the Intracoastal. Your best bet is to fish the natural shoreline throughout the area and the many winding tidal creeks. Fishing from shore is very limited here and you really need a boat with trolling motor to properly fish these waters. Out in the Atlantic Ocean good catches of cobia, grouper, snapper, mahi mahi, wahoo, and more can be had. Ocean access is done through the St. Johns River Inlet 8 miles to the north. Long runs are necessary for targeting certain offshore species and 100 foot depths can be found around 32 miles offshore of the inlet. The ledge is around 60 miles out from the coast as is the Gulf Stream Current.

Jacksonville Beach schools are controlled by Duvall County Public Schools. Niche.com gives the school district a B- rating and has it as the 43rd ranked school district in the state. Duval County Public School District has 129,479 students in grades PK, K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 18 to 1. According to state test scores, 57% of students are at least proficient in math and 48% in reading. Several notable private schools include Beaches Episcopal School (Episcopal) and St. Paul Catholic School (Roman Catholic).

The City of Jacksonville Beach has only 1 golf course. Within a short 20 mile drive you will find another 35 courses of which 11 are public and 4 municipal.

The lone golf course in Jacksonville Beach is a municipal course located at the Jax Beach Golf Club. What started out as a 9-hole facility grew into 18-holes after the city acquired the facility. Harrison Minchew redesigned the course in 2018 to be a fun, playable, yet interesting design.

While there may be only one golf facility in Jacksonville Beach don’t let that discourage you as there are many options just to the north, south, and west of the coastal city. One of the more famous offerings would be TPC Sawgrass just a 15 minute drive to the south. A short ride up the coast will put you near both Windy Harbor Golf Club and Hidden Hills Golf Club. And just over the Intracoastal Waterway to the west are Windsor Parke Golf Club and the esteemed Pablo Creek Club.