Extending over 56 acres (23 hectares), Brevard Zoo is home to more than 480 animals of 130 species from Florida, Latin America, Asia and Australia.

The range of wildlife, such as alligators, giant anteaters, marmoset, jaguar, eagles, river otters, kangaroos and kookaburras, all live in superbly recreated natural habitats.

Wildlife habitat areas include: Flying Fox Forest with orchid garden and babbling brook, muntjac, fruit bats and exotic birds; Africa Habitat; Paws On, a multilevel interactive area incorporating Animal Encounters Petting Zoo; and the Wetlands Outpost observation deck overlooking the zoo's restored wetlands.

From Cocoa Beach take Route A1A south to just beyond Patrick Air Force Base before heading west to the Brevard Zoo on North Wickham Road in Melbourne.

The F I T Botanical Gardennique on West University Boulevard on the Florida Institute of Technology's Melbourne Campus contains a superb collection of around 300 species of palms, ferns and exotic plants and also Brevard County's oldest one-room schoolhouse dating from 1883.

From Melbourne, head north on Highway 1 to Cocoa. The Astronaut Memorial Hall and Planetarium on Clearlake Road has some interesting science exhibits as well as large pieces of spacecraft in Space Shuttle Park.

Return toward Cocoa Beach on Route 520 east. Half a mile (one kilometer) north on Route A1A is Cocoa Beach Pier, an historic landmark extending 840 feet (256 meters) out in the Atlantic Ocean with a range of restaurants, boutiques and souvenir shops.