Merritt Island

Merritt Island does not have any private country clubs located within its boundaries. In fact, there is only one country club located in any of the nearby cities adjacent to it.

Rockledge Country Club

• Rockledge Country Club is a private golf and country club located just five miles to the west of Merritt Island in Rockledge, Florida. The club has an 18-hole golf course, clubhouse, bar and grill, pool and two tennis courts.

There is a large presence of national chain restaurants in Merritt Island compared to local one off establishments. Truth be told, overall better dining is found just across the bridge in Cocoa Village. But this little island still serves up some great food at some of its best local hot spots.

The City of Merritt Island does have an indoor mall called Merritt Square. However, like many malls across America it is not what it used to be and has been losing retailers. There are some small boutiques and artsy stores on the island but for the most part the best shopping is going to be in Orlando about an hour’s drive to the west.

The NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex is a fascinating place where you can see the actual space shuttle Atlantis, touch moon rock, and meet NASA Astronauts. At the complex visitors also get to tour a NASA spaceflight facility and get an up-close view of a Saturn V moon rocket.

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is 140,000 acres surrounding NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center which is home to more endangered species than anywhere else in America. The refuge covers a range of habitats from coastal dunes, saltwater marshes, scrub, pine flatwoods, and hardwood hammocks.

There are no beaches in Merritt Island but a quick five mile drive over the West Cocoa Beach Causeway Bridge will get you to the exciting shores of Cocoa Beach. As Orlando’s closest beaches they can be a bit touristy. They do however provide excellent surfing opportunities and that is a huge influence on the beach scene here. Many professional surfers grew up on these beaches. The water here will be turbid blue to brownish color as the clear waters of the Gulf Stream current are way offshore and there are no Bahamas islands to block the swell.

Boaters in the Merritt Island area have easy access to the Indian River Lagoon, Banana River and Atlantic Ocean waters surrounding the island. There are plenty of different boat ramp facilities in and around the Merritt Island area and the Cape Canaveral Locks provide ocean access through Port Canaveral. Wide waterways in this area offer easy cruising opportunities here and there are some excellent protected natural shorelines just to the north in both the Indian River Lagoon and Banana River.

Merritt Island is known for its inshore fishing. Some of the best Redfishing in the state happens in the waters that surround the island. Trout, Flounder, Black Drum, Sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper and others can all be caught inshore year round. This is about the northernmost limits for targeting Snook as they are susceptible to die offs if the water gets too cold. On the Atlantic Ocean side of things along the beaches you will find good numbers of tarpon, kingfish, Spanish mackerel and cobia and further out will be wahoo, mahi mahi, sailfish, and tuna. It is just about a 21 mile run out to 100 foot depths and 35 miles to where the bottom really starts to drop off. Big bottom dwellers like snapper and grouper reside off the coast here on the many reefs and ledges offshore.

Merritt Island schools are controlled by the Brevard County School District. Niche.com gives the school district a B+ rating and has it as the 10th best school district in the state. Brevard County School District has 73,444 students in grades PK, K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 15 to 1. According to state test scores, 60% of students are at least proficient in math and 61% in reading. Several notable private schools include Divine Mercy Catholic Academy (Roman Catholic), Merritt Island Christian School (Baptist), and Brevard Private Academy.

The City of Merritt Island has a total of 1 golf course. Within a short 20 mile drive you will find another 17 courses of which 8 are public and 5 municipal. The city’s only golf course can be found at Savannahs Golf Club.

Savannahs Golf Club was designed by architect Gordon Lewis. The course is a 6,450 yard par 72 with challenging shot-making opportunities.