The Pier Is Due Back by Month's End. Pier Park's Holiday Season Isn't Waiting for It.

The St. Johns County Ocean and Fishing Pier has been closed since May 13 for piling repairs. The county's target for finishing is the end of November. In the same weeks, the four-acre park around it at 350 A1A Beach Blvd hosts the 25th annual Surf Illumination tree lighting, the city's 7th Annual Beach Art Walk and the 7th Annual Holiday Market.

Those events take place in the park, and the repair work has changed three things around them: the beach access, the parking near the pavilion and the water near the pilings. For most of this holiday season, the reopening date matters less than how the park works while the fences are still up.

What the county closed in May, and what it kept open

The repair goes back to an assessment the county posted on August 30, 2024. Beach renourishment had exposed the pier's support pillars, and maintenance workers saw what looked like decay in them. The county consulted a structural engineering firm and closed the end of the pier. The full closure that began this May is a project to repair and strengthen the pilings, not to replace the pier.

The county set these rules for the length of the work:

• The northern St. Augustine Beach access point is closed. Beachgoers use the south entrance.
• Access under the pier is restricted, and surfers and swimmers are asked to stay 500 feet from the pier.
• Parking near the pavilion area has what the county calls minor impacts, and visitors are asked to follow temporary traffic signs.
• The Pier Gift Shop stays open.
• Permitted events and activities at Ocean Pier Park go on as scheduled.

The 500-foot buffer is larger than usual. When the pier is open, the county keeps swimming and surfing out of a 400-foot zone around it. The extra 100 feet on each side is the construction margin, and it stays in place until the work ends.

The last rule on that list explains the holiday season. When the county announced the closure, it said the events at the park would go ahead, and the St. Augustine Record's report on the closure repeated that. The splash park and playground, picnic tables, restrooms, outdoor showers and lighted beach volleyball courts are part of the park the county lists alongside the pier.

The calendar at Pier Park, from now through Dec. 12

Christmas with Cops and Claus is the only event in that stretch that is not at the pier. The other four share the park's parking, and the county has flagged parking impacts near the pavilion for as long as the repair lasts.

Surf Illumination falls inside the closure

The pier is scheduled to stay closed through November, so the tree lighting on Sunday, Nov. 22, will take place beside a construction site. The county's Coastal Projects page, updated Nov. 2, says the pier "will be closed through November for repairs."

The St. Augustine Beach Civic Association has run the lighting for 25 years. The group is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit. This year's afternoon includes free photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus courtesy of Wayne Fusco Photography, plus a clown, "FoamStrom," balloon twisting, a glitter artist and a face painter. According to the association, all of the children's activities are free because volunteers and sponsors cover them. The Art Studio at Pier Park will be open for a holiday showcase during the event.

The event starts at 3:30 p.m., before sunset, and runs into the evening on a Sunday when the parking impacts near the pavilion are still in effect. For anyone planning to stay through the lighting, an early arrival helps more this year than in most.

The reopening target falls between the Art Walk and the Holiday Market

The county has said "by the end of November" since May. Its Beaches page repeated that wording on Oct. 15, and the Coastal Projects page did again in early November. The Record gave the end date as Nov. 30. On the county's own fishing piers page, the pier is marked "closed for repairs until further notice."

On that schedule, the Beach Art Walk on Saturday, Nov. 28, is the last big event inside the closure window, two days before the target. The Holiday Market on Saturday, Dec. 12, is the first of the big Pier Park events scheduled after it. If the pier reopens on time, the market could be the first large event this season with the north beach access back in use and the pavilion parking free of construction. If the work runs over, the market still goes ahead, because the county's commitment that permitted events at the park would continue applies for as long as the repair lasts.

Either way, the events stay on the calendar. The reopening decides whether a visitor goes to the sand by the north access or the south one, and whether the walk out onto the deck after browsing the vendors is open.

Wednesday mornings, and one Wednesday evening

The Wednesday Pier Farmers Market is the park's weekly fixture, and it has kept going through the repairs. It starts at 8 a.m. and is on its November through April schedule now. The county's pier page directs visitors to the market's own site or to [email protected] for details.

Dec. 9 is a Wednesday, so a family could go to the market that morning and to Christmas with Cops and Claus at 2300 A1A South that evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The two events are at different addresses and hours apart, so the pier parking does not affect the evening event.

The Pier Gift Shop has stayed open through the closure. It sells food, souvenirs and beach items, and the county lists the visitor center and gift shop phone as (904) 209-0326. If you want to know whether the deck has reopened before you drive over, that is the number to call.

Planning an event afternoon at Pier Park while the repairs continue

1. Allow extra time for parking. The county's parking impacts are near the pavilion area, and temporary signs direct the traffic.
2. Use the south entrance to the beach. The northern access point stays closed until the project is done.
3. Remind surfers in your group about the 500-foot buffer. It is 100 feet wider than the usual 400-foot zone and applies until the county ends construction.
4. Use what the park already has. The splash park, playground, picnic tables and outdoor showers are all part of the park, so children have options between the Santa photos and the face painting.
5. Check the county's pier page before Dec. 12. The fishing piers page is where the closure notice sits, and it is the place to watch for a reopening announcement before the Holiday Market weekend.

Our office is at 5401 A1A South, down the road from Pier Park. If you have a question about the beach side of the island, from the pier reopening to which beach accesses suit your stretch of A1A, the family at Lighthouse Realty is easy to reach seven days a week. Contact Us, and we'll tell you what we know.