Vilano Pier Webcam – Watch Sunsets Over St. Augustine

The Vilano Pier Webcam looks out from the waterfront deck of Beaches at Vilano, a restaurant on the Tolomato River in Vilano Beach, just north of downtown St. Augustine, Florida. The fishing pier runs out across the water on the left of the frame, under a blue arch topped with three leaping dolphin sculptures. To the right, floating docks with white-capped pilings sit in front of the Francis and Mary Usina Bridge, whose tall concrete arches curve away toward the mainland. The camera faces west-southwest, so the afternoon sun shines into the lens and sets over the far shore. Anglers come and go along the pier rails, charter boats tie up at the docks, and the tide rises and falls against the pilings through the day.

About Vilano Pier

Vilano Pier started out as part of a road. For decades, drivers reached Vilano Beach and the rest of the North Beach area over a drawbridge across the Tolomato River. Part of that bridge burned in 1938 and was rebuilt in 1948, and it stayed in service until 1995, when the high-level Francis and Mary Usina Bridge opened and took State Road A1A over the river instead. A section of the old drawbridge was kept as a public fishing and recreation pier, so the deck people fish from today once carried traffic between the island and the mainland. The pier is about 213 meters (700 feet) long.

The replacement bridge fills the right side of the frame. It runs about 1,170 meters (3,839 feet) on 27 main spans and stands about 20 meters (65 feet) tall over the Intracoastal Waterway. It is named after Francis E. and Mary Borum Usina, civic leaders from St. Augustine and North Beach. Opening it moved through traffic off Vilano Road, and the pier now sits in the Vilano Beach Town Center, a small shopping and dining district at the east end of the bridge.

On the Atlantic side of the peninsula, a state historical marker on Anahama Drive at Ferrol Road marks where the Vilano Beach Casino stood. Built in 1926 and 1927 as the centerpiece of a development planned by the St. Augustine and Atlantic Corporation, it hosted bands, vaudeville acts and dances until storms in 1938 and 1939 washed it into the sea. A public recreation area covers the site today.

Weather and Climate in Vilano Beach

Winters here are mild. Normals for the St. Augustine Light station across the inlet, covering 1991 to 2020, put January highs near 20°C (68°F) and lows near 9°C (48°F). Spring warms quickly: April averages 27°C (80°F) by day and 16°C (61°F) at night.

Summer is hot and humid, with July highs around 33°C (91°F) and nights near 23°C (74°F). August and September are the wettest months, each averaging about 182 millimeters (7.2 inches) of rain out of roughly 1,286 millimeters (50.6 inches) a year. October stays warm at about 28°C (82°F) by day and 19°C (67°F) at night. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. The last major hurricane to hit St. Augustine directly was Dora in 1964, although Hurricane Matthew flooded downtown in October 2016 while passing offshore to the east.

Things to Do Near Vilano Pier

The pier itself is the first stop. It is free and open to the public, Visit St. Augustine recommends it for fishing, sunset strolls and people-watching, and dolphins can be spotted in the river. Street parking is available nearby. Beaches at Vilano, the restaurant that hosts the camera, sits at the root of the pier, and 180 Vilano Grill and Pizza and Fire Wok are a short walk east along Vilano Road. A few minutes on foot to the northeast, the Vilano Beach Nature Boardwalk has a sea turtle display. Elsewhere in Vilano Beach, Cap’s On The Water serves local seafood on the waterfront, and Aunt Kate’s riverside setting has drawn diners for more than 100 years.

Across the Usina Bridge, downtown St. Augustine is a short drive. The Castillo de San Marcos guards the waterfront, St. George Street runs through the historic district as a pedestrian street, and the St. Augustine Lighthouse stands on Anastasia Island across the inlet. Boaters can launch from the Usina Boat Ramp in the Vilano Beach area, and kayakers can head north to the 6 Mile Landing ramp on the Guana River at 1700 Ponte Vedra Boulevard.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

Three more cameras on St. Augustine and Florida’s waterways:

• St. Augustine Lighthouse Webcam
• Castillo de San Marcos Webcam
• Aventura Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Vilano Pier located?

Vilano Pier is at the west end of Vilano Road in Vilano Beach, St. Johns County, Florida, on the Tolomato River just north of downtown St. Augustine. It sits just south of the eastern end of the Francis and Mary Usina Bridge, which carries State Road A1A between Vilano Beach and the St. Augustine mainland.

What can you see on the Vilano Pier Webcam?

The camera looks west-southwest across the Tolomato River from the deck of Beaches at Vilano. The fishing pier and its dolphin arch fill the left side, floating docks and moored charter boats sit in the middle, and the Usina Bridge curves across the right side toward the mainland, with marina boats and waterfront buildings showing through its arches. The restaurant’s railing, umbrellas and string lights line the bottom of the frame, and a bar across the top of the stream gives the local date and time.

Does this camera show Vilano Beach itself?

No. Despite the community’s name, the camera faces the river side of Vilano Beach, not the Atlantic. The ocean beach is on the Atlantic side of the peninsula and is not in view. The Castillo de San Marcos and the streets of the historic district are not in the shot either.

Was Vilano Pier part of the old Vilano bridge?

Yes. The pier is a surviving section of the drawbridge that carried traffic between St. Augustine and the North Beach area until the Francis and Mary Usina Bridge replaced it in 1995.

Is Vilano Pier free to visit and fish from?

Yes. The camera’s operator describes the pier as open to the public with no admission fee, and FishingBooker lists it as free and open 24 hours a day.

What is the weather like in Vilano Beach?

Winters are mild and summers are hot and wet. January highs average about 20°C (68°F) and July highs about 33°C (91°F), with the most rain in August and September and hurricane season from June through November.

Can you watch the sunset on the Vilano Pier Webcam?

Yes. Because the camera faces west-southwest over the river, the sun goes down in or near the frame on most evenings, swinging right toward the bridge in summer. After dark the deck’s string lights flare across the picture, and the bridge shows as a curving line of lights against the sky.

Source: See St. Augustine