Area Beaches, Manatee Tours?

[mcj79]

I'm looking for some advise on Beaches near Disney World. We live in NE so while we have beaches we don't have warm water! We will be down at the end of April. This is a adult vacation so the beach/area does not need to be kid oriented/safe. After being at the parks I think a less crowded space would be great. (I'm hoping at this time of year the beaches won't be over run with college kids.)

So, any beach clean pretty recommendations for adults without spending the whole day driving!?!?!?

Another idea I had was to hangout by the water & with some local marine life. I'm not sure if what I'm after is available near Orlando with out going to another big park. But are there places you can Snorkel, check out fishes/reef, manatees, dolphin or other marine life. Maybe a beach, reef, rescue or preserve area/center would be fine too. I don't want to be at another high volume park.
Anyone done swim with the manatee tours/snorkel trips in Clearwater/Tampa areas/ gulf side? Any opportunities to swim or play with marine life on the other side / ocean?


Also, is renting a car the best way to get to said locations?? I don't think I've seen anything about shuttle or trains....

 

[PeterPanic]

If you are talking about ocean beaches the nearest is about 60 miles away either to the east or to the west. The east is the Atlantic and the west is the Gulf of Mexico.

WDW is in central Florida.

Getting to those places would be terribly expensive without a rental car and also a colossal pain trying to set it up. I recommend a rental. You didn't say if you were staying onsite at WDW or not, either way, if you want to do any excursions a car is a must.

 

[godolphin123]

You should check into Vero Beach where Disney has it's Vero Beach Resort, nice beaches, cute little seaside town, also the Indian River Lagoon which affords some of the best wildlife viewing in the country.

 

[PeterPanic]

You should check into Vero Beach where Disney has it's Vero Beach Resort, nice beaches, cute little seaside town, also the Indian River Lagoon which affords some of the best wildlife viewing in the country.

But it is still 60 to 70 miles away from WDW, if that's important.

 

[pixie08]

There are many beaches in driving distance from WDW in under
2 hours. We do it all the time, we rent a car on property for the day and you can go west( clearwater or highly recommend caldessi state park. Or east to cocoa Daytona depending on your cup of tea. west is further around 1 1/2 hrs cocoa beach is beautiful and less then an hour but the atlantic.

Crystal river is the place near WDW to do the whole manatee thing, but it is not a beach, more of an excursion. A few tours do it.