COCOA BEACH, Fla. – Central Florida’s most anticipated holiday event, possibly the largest of its kind globally, is making its festive return on Christmas Eve, accompanied by stricter parking regulations.
Authorities in Cocoa Beach are advising attendees of the Surfing Santas event, scheduled for Wednesday morning, to avoid parking on residential streets. Violators risk receiving tickets or having their vehicles towed.
Mason Sapp, the executive director of the Florida Surf Museum, which receives funding from Surfing Santas, mentioned that additional police officers will be on duty to enforce these rules.
Every year, downtown parking spaces are quickly occupied, leaving latecomers scrambling for spots.
[WATCH: 2024 Surfing Santas in Cocoa Beach]
In a new move to alleviate parking issues, Sapp announced that Surfing Santas will offer a shuttle service for those parking at designated off-site locations. These include Fischer Park, Lori Wilson Park, Freedom 7 Elementary School, both Hilton hotels in Cocoa Beach, and Club Zion Church.
Sapp said some neighbors complained over the years about having their driveways blocked.
“It’s clear, it is a small beach town,” he said. “There’s not a lot of available parking.”
One of the closest neighborhoods to the event is Sunset Drive, where resident Doug Sonosky told Cocoa Beach Community Correspondent James Sparvero, parking has been a problem on Christmas Eve.
“Each year, progressively worse, more and more cars,” Sonosky said.
With warm weather forecasted for Wednesday, Sonosky said he thinks the crowd could be a record-breaker, and that makes him happy police aren’t allowing people to park on his street.
“I think it’s a good thing because they could block people in from getting out of their own homes, or if they’re parked on both sides, definitely would be rough for emergency vehicles,” he said.
A firefighter told Sparvero that last Christmas Eve, firefighters couldn’t get down a street because cars were blocking their truck.
The Surfing Santas website has parking information, along with information about free shuttles.
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