We are thinking of taking a vacation to a beach this year. My DS is 6yrs and has never been to a real beach before. Where is the best place to go?
We thought about the caribean but the extra expense of passports may not be doable.
not sure where you're located, but if you're within driving distance, how about Assateague National Seashore and Wildlife Refuge. It's got the beach, the wild ponies, great birding, old-town atmosphere, and a rocket museum on Wallops Island. http://www.nps.gov/asis.
We especially like to stay in the "North County" Del Mar, Oceanside, or Carlsbad.
The beaches are great and so is the weather (not hot and humid like the East coast and Caribbean) . There is also a great zoo and wild animal park, seaworld, and legoland all perfect for a six year old.
The Homestead Studio suites or the Holiday Inn express in Sorrento Mesa are great family hotels to use as a base and have a breakfast buffet every morning. We also got a great deal at the Double Tree Club in Del Mar though Priceline. It was close to the beach, had a beauifull pool and DD loved the DIVE - INN movies by the pool.
There's even a place called Disneyland not tooo far up the rode.
Check out www.citypass.com for the southen California deal.
I'm a bit prejudice but I like Florida's gulf coast, the white sand is SO much prettier most other beaches! If you don't have a passport you could take a cruise, try out several different beaches!
We are thinking of taking a vacation to a beach this year. My DS is 6yrs and has never been to a real beach before. Where is the best place to go?
We thought about the caribean but the extra expense of passports may not be doable.
In which state do you live? Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks was rated as having the best beach in the United States last year by the Beach Doctor. It's wonderful, driveable and a fantastic family vacation. We actually stay on Hatteras Island and ferry over to Ocracoke. Hatteras has fabulous beaches too! You can rent the enormous homes with pools and home theaters or you can get a small, cute little place for a much more family size rental. There are 4 or 5 good rental companies and all their websites are easily used for availability and price. The National Park Service on Hatteras has loads of free/cheap family activities like beach fire story nights, pirate lectures, lighthouse climbs, sound exploring and kayak tours. There are tour companies, pizza shops, candy stores, wonderful fishing docks where at about 4pm one can watch the big catch come in with a pop on the bench. There's a pirate cruise with squirt guns and eye patches, a pirate museum, amazing fresh shrimp and crab as well as the non-comm fish joints. Do it! You'll love it. Sand castles, crabs running in the sea foam, jumping the waves, loads of sun, go carts, minature golf......
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