The Intracoastal Waterway

Ever wonder why every coastal town in Florida has bridge that leads to the seashore? In order to reach the beach in the Sunshine State, travelers have to cross the Intracoastal Waterway from the mainland. The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000 mile waterway that starts in the Jersey shore, goes down the Eastern Seaboard and continues to the Gulf of Mexico along Florida's west coast and Panhandle all the way to Brownsville, Texas.

The Intracoastal Waterway is used by recreational boaters as well as for commercial use, especially when rough seas make traveling to Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico too hazardous. The waterway was constructed in 1919 and is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Some canals are manmade, but many areas of the ICW are natural inlets, rivers and other of bodies of water that separate the mainland from the barrier islands that have some of Florida's most popular vacation spots.

Some of the natural bodies of water that make up Florida's stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway are Biscayne Bay by Miami, Tampa Bay and Pensacola Bay. And while many of the causeways used to traverse the ICW are popular hangouts for fishing and other water sports, the causeways in the Florida Space Coast--such as the Bennett Causeway linking the city of Cocoa to Cocoa Beach--also serve as viewing locations for space shuttle launches.