WANDERGUIDE

Countryside Citrus Beach Store

The family that owns this Ocean Drive farm store has been growing citrus in Indian River County since the late 1880s. The quaint shop sells everything from honeybells and mandarins to grapefruit and red navels by the bag or the bushel, as well as homemade citrus-based ice cream and slushies.

Casey’s Place

This classic burger joint with a retro-style takeout window has been a Vero Beach institution since 1981. The open-air community tables make each visit a chance to get to know a local over a char-broiled cheeseburger or a side order of chili cheese fries that are a meal in itself.

Orchid Island Brewery

“From Indian River groves to glass” – that’s the motto of this three-barrel brewhouse that specializes in beers treated with local citrus. Its 12-tap tasting room tucked inside an Ocean Drive courtyard rotates regularly, dependent upon what citrus is available for the current roster of beers. Order a Star Ruby, an IPA zested with ruby red grapefruit, and pair it with farm-to-table cuisine from Michael's Table, a restaurant located inside the bewery.

Patisserie Vero Beach

Behind the counter of this small French bakery, serving soups and sandwiches, are racks upon racks of the area’s best handmade ciabattas, focaccias, and baguettes. Baked daily using as many local and organic ingredients as possible in a steam-filled oven, the results are breads that can’t be beat: hard crusts and soft, dense, chewy interiors.

Feature Adventure: Take a Dive

No scuba lessons needed to dive The Breconshire wreck – just basic snorkel gear and a sense of adventure. Located 400 yards from Vero Beach in 10 to 15 feet deep water (sometimes, you can even see the boat’s bow in low tide), the British steamship that sunk in 1894 after striking a reef is the area’s most accessible dive. And with much of the algae-lined structure intact, it serves as a hidden city of angelfish, eels, rays, spiny lobsters, and nurse sharks. Costa d’Este provides snorkel gear, fins, and a kayak during their Saturday 11 a.m. tours to the wreck.

TAKE TO THE SKY | TREASURE COAST SEAPLANES

With the ability to take off from both runways and the water, this amphibious seaplane lets visitors experience the most unique eco-tour in the state, viewing Florida from land, air, and the water while learning all about the natural history of the Treasure Coast.

PADDLES BY THE SEA

KAYAKING INDIAN RIVER LAGOON | PADDLES BY THE SEA

Enjoy the Indian River Lagoon by paddle board or kayak with a guided tour. Certified instructors will show you the wonders of the water way we loving refer to as The River. The trip starts at the dock in the marina with a quick lesson and review of the “float plan”, then off to find dolphin, manatee and otter.

SURFING SEBASTIAN INLET | SEBASTIAN INLET SURF SHOP

Sandy-bottomed jetty with several consistent breaks; find the biggest waves at First Peak, less-intense and less-crowded breaks to the north. Need a board? Sebastian Inlet Surf and Sport has you covered with killer deals on soft tops, longboards, and stand-up paddleboards. They also offer a two-day surf experience to jump-start your path to surfing stardom.

AIRBOAT TOURS | GATOR BAIT AIRBOAT ADVENTURE TOURS

See live alligators on Gator Bait Airboat Adventure's one-hour tours aboard a 24-foot-long airboat. These boats travel through the Blue Cypress Conservation Area marsh, home to alligators and swamp waterfowl. They guarantee you'll see a gator, and if you're lucky, you'll get to meet one of the local monsters, Big Bubba, King Kong or Wally Gator.

Treasure Coast Wine & Ale Trail

This self-guided tour encourages visitors to taste the best of the Treasure Coast. Follow the map to eight breweries and a winery, sampling as you go. At each location, you receive a “gold doubloon” sticker stamp for your trail map. Collect all nine stickers and turn into the bartender at your final location to receive a prize, typically a commemorative pint glass.

Grind + Grape

This ocean-side coffee, dessert, and wine bar satisfies from sun up to sun down. In the morning, expect French-pressed coffees, espressos, and lattes, along with breakfast pastries; come evening, it serves small bites, flatbreads, cheese, and charcuterie, plus 100 varieties of wines and champagnes, 25 different bottled beer, and six drafts. Live music is also offered on their patio every night of the week.

Vero Beach Museum of Art’s “Selfie Spots”

While photography is usually frowned upon in museums, this neoclassical-styled venue encourages it. Posted on the floor in certain spots across the galleries hosting regional, state, and national art exhibits, you’ll find white vinyl dots inscribed with “#VBMA, Selfie Spot.” Indicating prime spots to take a snapshot, they invite visitors to see themselves inside the collection – and to promote it via social media.

Farmer's Market Oceanside

Look no further than this Saturday market at Humiston Park for nearly any and everything you would need as a local or vacationer. Offering produce, baked good, fresh fish and beef, orchids and air plants, locally grown kombucha, coffee, treats (for humans and dogs alike), and live music, it’s a great way to spend the morning before you spend your afternoon lounging beachside at Costa d'Este.

Friday

7:30 p.m. | Laugh out Loud at Riverside Theater

An evening out doesn’t get any livelier than the Comedy Zone at the area’s only professional theater. Just a five-minute drive east of Costa d’Este, the night of laughs comes complete with dinner and drinks. Come early to experience the live music outdoors and to take advantage of the full lineup of comedians.

Saturday

6 a.m. | Sunrise Adventure

Every Saturday, the hotel offers a special paddleboard or kayak excursion for guests who are able to make it out of bed and to the front desk before sunrise. As you paddle around the shoreline, you might be lucky enough to spot turtles crawling back to the ocean or dolphins catching their morning meal. The experience ends with breakfast on the beach.

11 a.m. | Stroll McKee Botanical Garden

Sadly, only 18 acres of what used to be an 80-acre tropical jungle garden in the 1940s remains in this hidden Vero Beach gem. Still, it feels like a little slice right out of the Amazon: wildly twisting trees with elaborate root systems stand guard among the paths, accented with little ponds, and 10,000 native and tropical plants.

3 p.m. | Shop Ocean Drive & Dinner

The stretch of Ocean Drive from Humiston Park north to where it intersects with Banyan Road has some great boutique shopping (and within easy walking distance of Costa d’Este), including Simon Pearce pottery at Veranda and Lily Pulitzer in The Lazy Daisy on Azalea Lane. Most of the stores close down by 5 p.m., so explore for a couple hours and then grab dinner on your way back at Ocean Grill, a historic 1941 wooden building perched precariously over the Atlantic.

9 p.m. | Drinks around the Fire

If you haven’t taken advantage of your complimentary “check in” mojito at Costa d’Este’s Cabana bar, now’s the time. Enjoy it at the bar’s new patio-based fire pit, surrounded by lounge chairs beside the beach.

Sunday

11 a.m. | Brunch at Costa d’Este’s The Wave Kitchen & Bar

The creative Cuban flair that makes this chic restaurant’s dinner menu so popular is also found at brunch. Try the paella de pollo, dulce de leche–stuffed French toast, or empanada de pollo. Bottomless bloody Marys made from a homemade tomato juice mix come garnished with a pickled shrimp.