Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach drive: Distance, time & attractions

The distance from Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach by car is 65 miles, with a 1h15m minute driving time. The best stops on the Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach drive are Indian River Village, Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral.

Finding the best things to do between Kissimmee and Cocoa Beach

The Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach drive takes you Central Florida to the most attractive spot on the Space Coast.

Effectively a southern suburb of Orlando, family-friendly Kissimmee goes its own way. The Old Town Entertainment District, full of restaurants, bars and fairground-esque attractions, is the centerpiece.

Good Kissimmee experiences include airboat swamp tours, self-guided lakefront tours on an electrified adult trike and scenic helicopter flights over Florida’s theme parks.

Perhaps best of all, though, is a two hour eco-kayaking tour. This heads through the cypress forest on Shingle Creek – the headwaters of the Everglades.

Reliably good Kissimmee hotels include the Banana Bay Resort and the affordably retro Hotel Monte Carlo.

Cocoa Beach is an attractive beach town on Florida’s Space Coast. It’s a great base for visiting the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, or for enjoying the long barrier island beaches.

It is also one of the best places in the US to go kayaking. For a kayak tour, choose between seeing dolphins and manatees in the mangroves and paddling through bioluminescent waters at night. There are also sunset tours.

Other great Cocoa Beach experiences include dolphin tours on the Banana River, happy hour bar crawls, multi-stop food tours and tiki boat cruises.

For Cocoa Beach accommodation options, plump for the beachfront Hilton Garden Inn or the well-located Hampton Inn.

Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach is 65 miles. You can expect a driving time of around one hour and 15 minutes. The quickest route is mainly along the FL-258.

The best stops to add to a Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach road trip itinerary are Indian River Village, Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral.

Best stops between Kissimmee and Cocoa Beach: Indian River Village

Indian River Village on Merritt Island is home to a couple of enjoyable tours. Tiki Cruises runs hour-long dolphin and manatee-spotting boat trips along the Indian River, complete with music, drinks and hammocks. Meanwhile, Three Brothers Adventure Tours takes visitors out to see the local wildlife in kayaks or on paddleboards.

Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach road trip attractions: Merritt Island

Merritt Island is flanked by the Indian River and Banana, and has become something of a wildlife haven. You can see the dolphins and manatees on a boat cruise or kayaking tour.

For something spectacular, try night kayaking through the bioluminescence – the water lights up as your paddle glides through it.

Kissimmee to Cocoa Beach drive: Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral has wetlands and beautiful beaches, but that’s not why people come here. This Florida outpost has played a massively outsized part in space exploration, and the Kennedy Space Center is one of the very best attractions in the US.

Here, you can see a space shuttle and Saturn V rocket up close, get absorbed in video presentations about mission launches and learn about NASA’s future plans. The Behind The Gates bus tour, meanwhile, heads out towards the launch complexes and the gargantuan Vehicle Assembly Building.

An admission ticket is pricy, but well worth it.

For Cape Canaveral accommodation picks, take a look at the Shorewood and the Cape Canaveral Beach Resort.