Daytona Beach & Volusia County Locksmith

Parked on the sand when the keys go missing

Volusia is one of the few places in Florida where you can still drive onto the beach, through vehicle ramps in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet. Cars park on the seaward side of the conservation-zone posts, and driving hours depend on the tide. That combination makes for a particular kind of lockout: the key is lost somewhere in the sand or the surf, the car is sitting closer to the water than it was an hour ago, and the beach will close to vehicles at some point whether you're ready or not.

If that's you, call as soon as you know the key is gone, not after an hour of searching. Tell us which ramp you came in on and roughly how far north or south of it you parked. If the water is reaching the car, follow the beach safety staff and lifeguards: their instructions come first.

Race weeks and rally weeks

Daytona International Speedway pulls enormous crowds in the weeks around the Daytona 500, and the motorcycle rallies, Bike Week in early spring and Biketoberfest in the fall, fill Main Street, the beachside and roads across the county. Lots fill up, many visitors are driving rental cars, and plenty of people are on motorcycles with keys that work differently from a car's.

During those weeks, give very precise locations, expect heavy traffic and allow for it. If you're in a rental car, call the rental company's roadside number first; they may have their own arrangements for lockouts and lost keys.

Students, rentals and a college town inland

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Daytona Beach campus sits beside the airport, and Stetson University is in DeLand, so both ends of the county have off-campus rentals that change hands with the academic year. Landlords rekey between leases, and students locked out of an off-campus apartment can usually get help once they show a lease. Campus housing is handled by each university, not by an outside locksmith.

Deltona, DeLand and the neighborhoods west of I-95

Deltona started in 1962 as a planned development of affordable single-family homes and grew into the biggest city in the county, and its lock calls are mostly household ones: families rekeying after a move, a garage entry door that no longer latches, a key snapped off in an aging deadbolt. DeLand mixes older homes near downtown with newer subdivisions, and its downtown historic district along Woodland Boulevard is full of independent shops and restaurants with their own storefront hardware.