Best beach close to Orlando?

[bawamz]

We are a family of 7: DH, DS 11, DD 10, DS 8, DS 5, DS 9mos, and me. We want to take a couple of days to visit the beach in Florida. What's the best family friendly near Orlando? We are thinking within an hour or two of driving.

 

[Art 1]

I would head to the Sarasota area. Longboat Key maybe. Siesta Key. It's a very easy drive and worth the little bit of extra driving time.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We have been to both Cocoa and Daytona. Enjoyed them both, but Daytona has more "to do" (amusements and shops along the beach) where Cocoa is more "natural" (though they have Ron Jon's Surf Shop which is worth the stop all on its own).

Daytona has no tolls and takes about an hour from the Disney area, Cocoa is a similar drive distance-wise but has multiple tolls in both directions.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

OP, this recent thread might also be helpful. In it, I posted quite a few photos of Cocoa and Daytona beaches so you can see what each are like.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/best-beaches-near-orlando.3399352/#post-53442474

 

[staceyrhood]

Jetty park at cape canaveral... 45 minute drive and family friendly. We are locals, and go there often. It is very nice and you can see the cruise ships coming and going.

 

[My3SonsandMaya]

Go towards the Gulf side. I agree with the previous poster on the Sarasota area, beautiful beaches, crystal clear water!

 

[100AcreWood]

Wow Sarasota looks beautiful!

 

[bawamz]

Sarasota looks really promising. I hadn't heard of that one. Thanks for the tip! Any other lesser known places I ought to look into?

 

[Marshmelo]

We were thinking of going to St. Pete beach when we go in October. Why is no one recommending that one? Is it not a good one to go to? I've been to Daytona and Cocoa but wanted to try somewhere new.

 

[ssei7802]

St Pete Beach is a great beach on the Gulf, we have been going there since 1971.

 

[staceyrhood]

Honeymoon Island is a state park and on the gulf side, its very nice also.

 

[spiceycat]

clearwater beach

 

[Raidra]

We live just west of Disney, and go to Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach. There's no fee to park, and they have good prices on umbrella and chair rentals. There's nothing fancy there, it's just beach, but clean and plenty of parking. You can see the ships come in and out.

Definitely check driving directions on Google before choosing. The Tampa and Clearwater beaches look close, but getting to the actual beach from the city takes another 20 minutes, so Cocoa Beach is actually closer to us, even coming from the west side of Orlando.

 

[Detailor]

Fort de Soto Park - off the southern tip of St. Petersburg and south of St Pete Beach - is really nice. White sand beaches, several picnic areas, a snack bar at the North Beach, I think. I also think that there's a small toll or a parking fee charged at the entry to the park. It probably takes somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours to get there from the Disney area (depending on where you're staying). When we've been there there haven't been many others at the beach. It's not only family friendly but dog-friendly as well, an unusual feature for a beach area.

Dick Taylor

 

[RabFlmom]

Even though I live on the East Coast , with the little ones I say go West. Water is shallower. Bottom does not drop off as much as it can on the East Coast and there are very little waves. The news is sponsored by this place and I think it would be fun to go to. https://www.tradewindsresort.com/recreation/high-tide-slide.aspx

 

[cnetbuild]

I did Clear Water Beach on the Gulf in July, and Coca Beach on the Atlantic in January. Perhaps it was the difference in the time of the year, but, I thought Clear Water Beach was way better. The water was clear and I had a great dinning experience at a pizza shop. The drive out to Clear Water is incredible.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

We prefer the gulf beaches.

 

[JimMIA]

We are a family of 7: DH, DS 11, DD 10, DS 8, DS 5, DS 9mos, and me. We want to take a couple of days to visit the beach in Florida. What's the best family friendly near Orlando? We are thinking within an hour or two of driving.

Are you planning a stop on the way to/from WDW, or day trip(s)?

For a stop en route to/from WDW you have a LOT of options, depending on where you live. If that's what you're planning, let us know and the answers you get will change dramatically from what you have so far.

For a day trip, you have to decide what is most important to your family.

The Atlantic coast is somewhat closer, and a LOT easier to drive to.

In addition to the obvious Daytona/Cocoa Beach options, there are at least two others. One is St. Augustine, a little north of Daytona: a)very historic (oldest continuously inhabited city in North America) and b) very quiet. The other is Cape Canaveral National Seashore, between Daytona and Cocoa, which is very tranquil and very lovely. It's also very primitive in a National Park Service kind of way -- think military field latrines and zero amenities...but beautiful beaches.

All of the Gulf beaches mentioned above -- Clearwater, St Pete, Sarasota, Longboat, etc, etc -- are beautiful, AND they are safer for small children for the reasons RabFLmon mentions above.

The problem with the Gulf side is drive time -- it is at least double. To get to St Pete or Clearwater, you have to go through downtown Tampa and with the highway construction there, that's a problem. The Sarasota/Bradenton area is better, but farther away, so the drive time is about the same. If you have to drive 2-2 1/2 hours to and from a beach, the drive alone makes for a very long day -- especially with a 5 y/o and an infant.

We can give you better responses if you give us more info.

 

[bawamz]

We are going to USO/IOA for a few days and then finishing the trip with 3-4 days near a beach because beaches mean vacation for my DH . We don't mind a little bit of a drive because it's not a day trip, we'll stay there for a few days.

 

[NinaBella]

If you are looking for a family resort to stay at for a couple nights look at Tradewinds at St. Pete beach.