9 of the Best Wheelchair Accessible Beaches in Florida

Many of the most popular Florida beaches now offer wheelchair access. With the use of Mobi-mats, beach wheelchairs, motorized beach wheelchairs, and paved boardwalks, visitors can explore the sand and the waves at the 9 wheelchair accessible beaches in Florida below. Some beaches offer additional wheelchair accessible features like a kayak launch and campsites to extend the fun and explore beyond the popular spots. 

Wheelchair accessibility features that beaches may provide:

• Mobi-mats: these are non-slip mats that connect to create a path over the sand to the shoreline. Many visitors use these to provide a more stable walking surface and wheelchairs can roll on the mats.

• Manual beach wheelchairs: these are wheelchairs designed to handle the uneven terrain of the sand. Typically, they have large wheels and require the wheelchair user to be pushed by another person.

• Motorized beach wheelchairs: these are similar to manual beach wheelchairs in terms of the design, but they provide the wheelchair user full independence on the sand with hand controls, similar to a motorized wheelchair.

• Boardwalks: these are the paved or planked walkways nearest to the beach access. Many locations have a promenade, boardwalk, or parkway that caters to the pedestrian traffic in the area.

Wheelchair Accessible Beaches in Florida

1: Pensacola Beach 

Pensacola Beach is one of the best wheelchair accessible beaches in Florida because the sugar-white sands are accessible to wheelchair users in a few ways. Pensacola Beach has installed 5 different Mobi-mat paths on five separate beaches, giving visitors and residents access. 

The beaches that have Mobi-mats include:

• Casino Beach: located near the Public Safety Building, another near The Dock Bar
• Park West: located near the pavilions on the Sound side of the beach
• Moms Beach: a quiet water beach with mats near the lifeguard tower
• Boardwalk Beach: located near Quietwater Beach shell
• Baby Beach: located near Avenida 18 on the sound side 

Beach wheelchairs are available for rent from a few vendors along the beach. Rentals include both manual beach wheelchairs and motorized beach wheelchairs. Access Mobility of Pensacola is a great option for renting a motorized beach wheelchair, as they offer a discount if you rent for more than one day. Choosing a motorized beach wheelchair in Pensacola offers lots of independence and opportunity to explore during your stay. During my past couple trips to Pensacola, I’ve found the motorized beach wheelchair easy to use on the sand and it allowed for a wonderful day at the beach.

2: Panama City Beach 

The best way to explore Panama City Beach is with a motorized beach wheelchair. Choosing to rent a motorized beach wheelchair will give you the most freedom and flexibility to explore the whole area. Many visitors stay close to the water, so you’ll be able to navigate from the hotel to the beach and throughout the shops. 

One of the best options for renting a motorized beach wheelchair is the company Beach Powered Mobility. Renting from this vendor is perfect if you’d like the chair delivered to your door so you can head out and get exploring. The Beach Cruiser chair is ideal for the sandy surfaces on the beach. If you’re going to be exploring the nature trails and doing some camping while in Panama City, you may want to rent the all-terrain power trail wheelchair to handle the trails, as well as fishing spots and other outdoorsy activities.

3: Clearwater Beach 

For a classic Florida beach vacation, consider Clearwater Beach. Named after the idyllic clear waters of the coast, this sandy beach is a common destination for vacationers. Clearwater Beach is also one of the wheelchair accessible beaches in Florida that offers free manual beach wheelchair rentals on a first come, first serve basis. 

The best way to ensure you’ll have a beach wheelchair for your day is to go to the Clearwater Beach lifeguard building, which is in the north corner of the Pier 60 parking lot. Rentals are available starting at 10AM and need to be returned by 4PM. Rentals do require a driver’s license or credit card to be left as security. 

If you’d like to rent a motorized beach wheelchair, the company Sand Helper serves the Clearwater area. Chairs can be delivered to your location in Clearwater and offer an all-terrain beach experience. They can be rented for 1 day to upwards of a full week. 

4: Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach is another fun wheelchair accessible beach because the sand at some of the beaches is hard packed. This means that it’s possible to drive your own vehicle on the beach. Many wheelchairs can manage through the sand here too, as it is more hard-packed compared to the other natural sandy beaches. 

If you would rather rent a beach wheelchair to explore the beach in Daytona, there are manual beach wheelchairs available at four different beach locations. The beach wheelchairs are available at no rental cost and are offered first come, first serve. Each rental is available for a few hours depending on the waiting list. This beach does use a waiting list, which is different from other Florida beaches, but can’t guarantee you’ll receive a beach wheelchair at your visit. 

The Daytona beach locations with beach wheelchairs are:

• At Daytona Beach Headquarters
• Dunlawton Avenue at Daytona Beach Shores
• Cardinal Avenue at Daytona Beach

5: Siesta Key Beach

Another beach that offers Mobi-mats is Siesta Key Beach. While these mats don’t reach the water, they do offer a great opportunity to get close to the water and enjoy the beach itself. If you’d like to rent a beach wheelchair to get in the sand and reach the water’s edge, Siesta Beach offers manual beach wheelchairs at the beach concessionaire every day from 9AM to 5PM.  

There is also an opportunity to borrow a manual beach wheelchair outside of this time frame if you call ahead or email the Sarasota ADA Coordinator three days before your visit.

If you want to explore beyond the beach for water activities, Oscar Scherer State Park has a range of wheelchair accessible amenities including a barrier free trail with an accessible fishing pier, a canoe and kayak launch, and lake access. Manual beach wheelchairs are also available in the state park for use within the park itself.

6: Hollywood Beach 

Hollywood Beach was actually the first beach in Florida to start using Mobi-mats, in order to offer convenient access to the beach for everyone. Since the initial Mobi-mat was installed, there are now 8 different locations with mats to provide wheelchair accessible paths through the sand. These 8 locations are denoted by the street that provides access and are as follows:

• Carolina Street
• Connecticut Street via Charnow Park
• Johnson Street near the Bandshell
• New York Street
• The ADA ramp between Tyler Street and Harrison Street
• Harrison Street
• Oregon Street
• Magnolia Terrace

If you’d like to borrow a manual beach wheelchair, they are available on a first come, first serve basis. Chairs are rented from the Hollywood Fire Rescue / Beach Safety Division. To reserve a beach wheelchair, it’s best to call ahead. Rentals are offered free of charge.

7: Miami Beach

Miami Beach is a great destination for wheelchair accessible beaches because it offers multiple Mobi-mat paths and has free rentals of both manual beach wheelchairs and motorized beach wheelchairs. Several beach entrances have Mobi-mats to provide a smooth surface for moving through the sand. 

The best locations for renting a beach wheelchair are at 1001 Ocean Drive and South Pointe Park. In order to borrow either a manual or a motorized beach wheelchair, you will have to leave something valuable while you borrow, either a driver’s license or maybe even your daily use wheelchair, which will be returned when you return the beach wheelchair. To borrow a beach wheelchair, see a lifeguard for assistance. Rentals are available from 9AM to 4PM, with 6PM returns in the summer months. 

Manual beach wheelchairs require the assistance of a friend to move through the sand and can withstand up to 6 inches of water, meaning you can take these chairs into the water. Motorized beach wheelchairs are perfect for exploring the sand, but cannot be taken into the water at all.

8: Grayton Beach

Another wheelchair accessible State Park in Florida is Grayton Beach State Park. This park has beach Mobi-mats as well as manual beach wheelchairs, giving everyone access to the water. A great feature about this park beyond the beach is the accessible cabins and accessible campsites, giving wheelchair users a nice place to spend a weekend enjoying Florida’s natural landscape. The picnic pavilions and tables are also accessible. 

While many Florida beaches are accessible and many state parks are accessible, getting both in one park is a great opportunity, as being able to stay in an accessible cabin and having the opportunity to visit the beach all in the same park gives you the best of both all in one trip.

9: Fernandina Beach 

Lastly, for those venturing to Amelia Island, the Main Beach has a beach walkover and the accessible beach path offers an accessible viewing area, with space for up to 8 wheelchairs to sit together on the beach and enjoy a clear view of the surf. Additional walkovers are planned for construction to provide more beach opportunity to everyone. Fernandina Beach has also implemented Mobi-mats for wheelchair beach access. These Mobi-mats extend from the Main Beach boardwalk access ramp into the sandy beach.  

Manual beach wheelchairsare available to rent, but are in a limited supply. Rentals can be secured at the Atlantic Recreation Center. A $100 refundable deposit is required to rent a manual beach wheelchair, as well as a current driver’s license. It’s best to call ahead to verify availability and reservations.

It’s clear that Florida has a variety of wheelchair accessible beaches, and these 9 are some of the best in Florida because they have more than one opportunity to enjoy the beach. Getting to use Mobi-mats with a manual or motorized wheelchair is great, but having the ability to rent a manual beach wheelchair or motorized beach wheelchair, sometimes for free, to really get to enjoy a day at the beach is perfection. So many beaches in Florida are wheelchair accessible, and you should consider including a beach day or two in your next trip. 

.

.