Things to Do in Cocoa

Sheri’s enthusiasm for creating vivid illustrations began long before she founded Bali Studios in 2007. As a little girl, she used to wile away the time drawing mermaids and turtles—a passion that continued into her adulthood and led her to pursue a dual degree in art and elementary education. Today, Sheri opens the doors to her oceanfront studio for arts and crafters of all skill levels and ages, spurring their imaginations during easygoing classes and events that yield hangable and wearable pieces of artwork. Bali's various painting classes encourage participants to strew colors over blank canvases to form sea-inspired portraits of whales, pelicans, ocean scenery, and banana boats sunk by prickly fish. For those looking to festoon their footwear, Sheri also paints fetching designs—such as budding flowers, frothy waves, and soaring birds—over shoes and boots that visitors bring in.

David Lane and his business partner started their sports-rental shop inside a cramped garage filled with surfboards, kayaks, and paddleboards—items they used for sports they practiced themselves. Lane’s favorite part of his job is “helping people participate in the activities I enjoy,” and his business has grown to a full-size store that stocks paddleboards, surfboards, and bicycles and leads guided excursions. Inside, displays house surfboards adorned with sunsets, beaches, and coconut trees hand-painted by a local artist, alongside similarly painted canvases to display at home galleries or hang on monochromatic surfers. The owners also deliver rentals free of charge to customers, dropping off surfboards at the beach, taking kayaks to watery trails, or delivering bicycles to cruise ships’ port of call for passenger day trips.

Additionally, the store offers excursions and lessons, including surfing lessons, guided kayak trips, and adventurous surf-fishing trips to hook ocean creatures from tarpon to 9-foot sharks, which the store has helped tag for a research project with NOAA Apex Predators Program.

The Loughman Lake Beer and Food Fest, formerly known as the Titusville Craft Beer Festival, sets a spread of up to 70 domestic and craft beers for festival-goers to sample amidst the scenic vista at Loughman Lake. Since 2012, the festival has been a destination for fun lovers of all stripes: guests can chew the fat about their favorite baseball teams or play full-contact chess in the sports lounge, toast digital gladiators in the video-game area, or rock out to live music played throughout the day. Thanks to the new venue, the festival also offers a chance to jet across the wetlands on an airboat with reservations through the lakeside lodge.