Nor’easter winds, king tides chew through Vilano Beach shoreline, rebuilt twice since 2021

Nor’easter winds and king tides are chewing through the shoreline at Vilano Beach, a stretch that has been rebuilt twice since 2021 and is still washing away.

Since 2021, crews have pumped roughly 2.4 million cubic yards of sand onto this stretch, including a $20.2 million job in 2024 paid for entirely by the federal government.

The water crept up the sand all day, leaving a steep drop at the edge of what’s left of the dune. In some spots, the drop is well over a person’s head. Dunes stand three feet high, and in some places, they drop off more than five feet.

It’s a battle for the shoreline, one that’s desperately pushing back against high tide in a losing fight with beach erosion.

Still, beachgoers, natives and locals found some joy in the sand and chop.

“This is what it is. Nature making its course,” one beachgoer said.

“It’s pretty bad. I have friends up and down the coast, sending me pictures, and central Florida as well,” another said.

With the steep drop-offs, beachgoers walked Action News Jax through their best ways to get up and down the dunes. Ed showed how he’s mastered the step and slide.

“You gotta dig your way back up,” he said.

The Kopandis mastered the partner dune shuffle, while pets mastered the tip-toe shimmy down the sand. But not everyone was willing to make the trip. Asked whether they were going to venture down, one person simply said, “No.”

Across the inlet, St. Johns County did nab a win in the fight to protect its shoreline. Along Porpoise Point Drive and Genoa Road, the county this year completed a $524,000 mitigation project to keep salt water off properties amid beach erosion.

But the impacts are most evident along A1A, the very road these sand projects were built to protect.

With rough surf and a coastal flooding threat expected to hang around into the weekend, the beach could lose even more before the next rebuild.

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