If you're looking for fun you'll find it at Port Canaveral, the Port has many great restaurants and clubs, this place is a blast. You'll also find thrilling activities like fishing, boating and gaming opportunities. If relaxing in the sun and being by the water sounds like a plan try one of the public parks within the Port or enjoy one of the bike paths. Port Canaveral also hosts several festivals and tours of visiting vessels throughout the year. Port Canaveral is only a forty-five minute drive from
Orlando International Airport (MCO) and is just north of
Cape Canaveral and
Cocoa Beach.
Nightlife and Dining
The Cove at Port Canaveral is home to a variety of restaurants, night clubs and bars. Seafood is a specialty with the day's catch going directly from the deck of the fishing boat to the restaurant kitchen.
Rusty's Seafood & Oyster Bar and
Grills Restaurant & Tiki Bar are two of the local favorites; you'd be hard pressed to find a tastier grilled Mahi sandwich anywhere than Grills. One of the newest Places, fast becoming a local favorite, is
Milliken’s Reef. Their menu offers seafood, of course, steak and chicken options, they have a happy hour but the biggest draw here is their sand covered tikibar. On the weekends they have live music and any time during the week you can enjoy the view of the Port or watch the sunset from their deck. Another local favorite at the Port is
Fishlips. This place is a three story boat load of fun. They serve everything from fresh seafood to burgers and their bar drinks are great, I recommend the Rum Runners on the rocks.
Port Canaveral Cruise Lines
Port Canaveral is the second busiest cruise port in the world with 4.6 million cruise passengers sailing with Carnival, Disney, Royal Caribbean, and the Norwegian Cruise Lines which all dock regularly at one of six cruise terminals. The Norwegian Gem is the only ship from the Norwegian line to come into Port Canaveral as a port of call.
Cruise Ships Sailing from Port Canaveral »
Fishing and Marinas
Fishing at Port Canaveral is a very popular and productive. There are many charter fishing boats and head boats. Offshore fishing at Port Canaveral is fantastic for kingfish, cobia, snapper, grouper, wahoo and dolphin (mahi mahi). Fishing is also great at
Jetty Park for snook, spanish mackerel, red drum and more.
Because the Gulf Stream is relatively close and the Cape is a natural fish attractor, several fishing tournaments at Port Canaveral featuring great prizes are held annually. The Annual Florida Sport Fishing Association's Offshore Tournament is the largest single-day fishing tournament in the world and attracts nationally known anglers.
If you bring your own boat, public boat launching ramps are ample and located at Port's End Park and Freddie Patrick Park. The fishing is also great right at the Port, Malcolm E. McLouth fishing pier at Jetty Park allows you to pursue snook, spanish mackerel, red drum and more.
There are three marinas at the Port, offering wet and dry boat storage slips and boat chartering services. For charters they have half and full-day as well as night-fishing excursions. See the
Canaveral Charter Captains Association website for information on charter boats that operate in the area.
International Cargo Shipping and Space Program Support
Over three million tons of bulk cargo passes through this world class deep water port every year. Commonly shipped cargo includes cement, petroleum and aggregate. The port is also used by NASA at
Kennedy Space Center to retrieve the Solid Rocket Boosters after Space Shuttle launches and to transport Delta and Atlas Rocket Boosters. Find out more from the
Port Canaveral Website.
