Daytona Hotel Guide

The 23-mile long beach that hugs the Daytona Beach coastline has a unique distinction. Sixteen miles of the sand is hard enough to allow vehicles to drive on it during daylight hours.

The beach facing the Atlantic Ocean is wide -- as much as 500 feet at low tide. It was this unusual quality of the beach that caught the eye of some early automobile pioneers in search of a location to test high powered engines they were developing for their cars.

Early winter residents of the Daytona area were John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil) and Random Olds (Oldsmobile). Just after 1900, they encouraged the use of the hard-packed sand beach as an ideal place to break vehicle land speed records.

It was the start of an annual race on the beach where efforts were made to break existing speed records. The race continued until 1935, but during that time land speed records were broken nearly every year. With a history of auto racing developing in the Daytona area, it was not surprising that others interested in the sport were attracted to the area, thus introducing to the area a flood of annual tourists.

The first Daytona 500 race was run on February 22, 1959 before 45,000 spectators at the Daytona Beach International Speedway.

For those visiting Daytona to take in a race, there are plenty of lodging options around the speedway. Click here to find out more.

While the beach was an early attraction for the daring young men in their motor cars, it also is a magnet for vacationers who want to enjoy the sun and surf of the Atlantic.

The Daytona area offers more than 400 hotels and motels with over 13,000 rooms, a great majority of them on or near the beach. Atlantic Avenue and Highway A1A runs north and south and hugs the beach area. Besides the accommodations, the beach side is the site for restaurants, offering visitors a variety of menus and attractions.

One of the newer developments is Adventure Landing, a Caribbean-themed water park. Located just west of the Ocean Center is Daytona’s convention complex. Adventure Landing offers miniature golf, a go-cart track, an arcade and a waterpark that includes a leisurely inner-tube ride.

A block away from Adventure Landing is the Boardwalk Amusement area, Oceanfront Bandshell and Main Street Pier. Each Saturday night from May through September, a fireworks display lights the sky and can be enjoyed from the Boardwalk.

Daytona and surrounding communities are geographically defined by the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The Halifax River and the Intracoastal Waterway divide the beach area from the mainland.

Six bridges and causeways - from Daytona Beach Shores to the south and Ormond Beach to the north - connect the beach side and mainland.

The major shopping centers and the business district of Daytona Beach are on the mainland side located near U.S. 92, U.S. 1 and Nova Road. I-95 and I-4 are the main connecting routes to the north and south (I-95) and to the southwest (I-4).

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