Can't decide...Clearwater or St Pete

[despina]

Going to Disney in July and would like to go to one of these two areas July 4th - July 7th. Going with husband and 3 girls 18, 13, and 10years old. Looking for a hotel/resort with some fun for them.
Also, we would be able to walk around with them in the evening to grab dinner, an ice cream, souveniers ( Pier 60 looked fun).

Is the beach the same from Clearwater down to St Pete, sand, calm water??

Budget, pricey weekend I know, I'm expected to pay around 300.00 a night ..yikes !! LOL (I checked Tradewinds in St Pete and SandPearl in Clearwater so far)

Confused...thanks for any advice

 

[mguedes]

You can see Winter (the Dolphin) in Clearwater if your girls like it.

 

[BarbO]

The water extends all the way up the coast. I am from St Pete but I've heard Clearwater beaches are nicer.....St Pete and Clearwater are right next to each other. If you are driving you can travel anywhere up and down Gulf Blvd....if not, Clearwater might be best bet. The Tradewinds resort has lots of stuff to do right there and most tourist spots are within walking distance in these areas.

Don't know about calm waters...June to November is hurricane season. Although most hurricanes are around sept.....you can never predict a tropical storm. You should be ok in July, but make reservations asap as this is height of tourist season.

 

[JeRmS]

St. Pete is definitely the nicer of the two areas in my opinion. We are local and when we decide to go to the beach ... St. Pete is where we go!

Clearwater is more "touristy" but there is plenty to do in the St. Pete area as well.

Between the two though (Gulf Blvd.) is LOADED with Restaurants and Shopping and Entertainment so even if you stay at St. Pete ... you could potentially find yourself driving up towards Clearwater and vice versa.

To answer your question about the water ... the Gulf Coast is obviously on the Gulf of Mexico, the waters are "calm" in the sense that you won't be seeing the waves you would see if you were to visit the Atlantic ocean side of the state. Although this is not to say the water is "Lake Calm" .... there is still small waves, and there is definitely a risk of rip currents and Tide Changes.

July 4th on the beach is AWESOME though, at night you can see Fireworks all up and down the coast line!

Have a good time

 

[Ametista]

A less expensive (and classier in my opinion) option would be Indian Rocks Beach, in between St Pete and Clearwater. It is a short drive to Clearwater or there is plenty to do at Indian Rocks too. We have stayed at Clearwater and IRB and liked them both, but IRB is soooo much less crowded/less expensive and also has better restaurants, like Keegan's. We had a hard time finding a decent restaurant at Clearwater beach that didn't seem like a meat market if you know what I mean.

 

[summerrluvv]

Indian Rocks doesn't have the nice soft flour like sand that Clearwater beach has. Not sure about St. Pete, as we didn't trek over there. We loved Clearwater beach!

 

[dennise]

We have stayed at both. This was our first year at St Pete's and we liked it better. The traffic wasn't nearly as crazy and you could get to many restaurants in minutes. We stayed at the Sirata.

 

[dtum]

last trip DD and family went to St. Pete. everything was covered in this seaweed grass stuff. it was even inside their swim suits. It was June and maybe something grows then or did they go to the wrong part of the beach? We want to go back in July, but I'm worried we'll encounter the grass again.

 

[sunshineNJ]

Just looked at the Tradewinds website. It looks great! The fun looking inflateable is the ocean, are they extra cost? thanks

 

[summerrluvv]

Just looked at the Tradewinds website. It looks great! The fun looking inflateable is the ocean, are they extra cost? thanks

It was extra last year, but I think they included it in their resort fee this year

 

[sunshineNJ]

If Disney doesn't offer a good discount for our 8/17-8/23 trip i'm considering Trade Winds. The only problem will be that I already booked airfare to Orlando Airport. I wonder how much a cab would be to Tradewinds. I will not have a car with me.

 

[LisaRae87]

I am a local and would 100% say Clearwater. Traffic can be difficult getting to the beach but once you park at your hotel you wouldn't really need your car again unless you wanted to leave the island.

Pier 60 is AMAZING, they have a "Sunsets at Pier 60" festival 7 days a week and have special events for holidays. There are crafters, street performers and such of that sort. The have a huge inflatable slide and those harnessed trampoline things, and the even play movies on a huge screen on weekend nights . Not to mention you can hop on the jolly trolly to head over to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium which is home to world famous Winter the dolphin from the movie Dolphin Tale. Clearwater Beach was voted "Florida's #1 Beach Town" this year by USA Today.

There are tons of wonderful places to eat along the beach as well. I do not eat seafood of any sort but can always find something tasty.

Since I am a local I do not regularly stay at the beach over night (it has been a few years) but you should also look into the new Hyatt. It looks fantastic!

That is just my opinion, everyone likes things a little differently.

 

[JeRmS]

If Disney doesn't offer a good discount for our 8/17-8/23 trip i'm considering Trade Winds. The only problem will be that I already booked airfare to Orlando Airport. I wonder how much a cab would be to Tradewinds. I will not have a car with me.

I would imagine a cab from Orlando to Clearwater/St. Pete would be quite pricey ... probably would be cheaper to rent a car and drive honestly!