Beach day trip-advice

[Jaylin]

We're going down next month for a 7night stay at PBH, this is our 3rd trip to Universal. I'm thinking of doing a day trip to a beach, since we'll have plenty of time. Any advice on best beach and best way to get there? I saw there was Clearwater bus trips, but then read bad reviews about the bus (and waste of time). Is a rental car the best way to go? Can I get one delivered to PBH? We don't need one for the week. We're from PA so we frequent the NJ shore, so I'm looking for a beach that would have more of a tropical feel....so thinking I need to go to the west coast?

Thanks!!

 

[omniscientmommy]

I would go to the west coast over the east coast. Clearwater can get busy depending on if they have a festival or something. Plan to pay for parking. I would say a car is the way to go. I think Enterprise will pick you up but honestly you could probably rent from Dollar or Thrifty and take an Uber or Lyft and save some money over Enterprise.

 

[Jaylin]

ok, thank you!

 

[Robo56]

Avis car rental is onsite at PBH.

 

[AllieBoo]

I would definitely stay on the west coast, much better beaches there. Anna Maria Island is a little further than Clearwater, but has beautiful beaches.

 

[Angeliamc]

I agree, Clearwater area is beautiful. It will be busy though since you are going in July. They have vendors on the beach so you can rent beach chairs/umbrellas and a nice area with some shops and restaurants. We have done this several times and a car is best, the drive isn't bad, don't think I would attempt a bus for the trip.

 

[schumigirl]

Yes, the hotels have car hire desks available. Would recommend that over a bus trip.

The drive isn’t bad at all, and we find parking near the front at Clearwater is the luck of the draw. We’ve been lucky with spaces, but it can get busy of course.

Clearwater is so easy to navigate and handy for journey time. There are some beautiful little places further on, but for a day trip Clearwater is ideal.

Plenty of restaurants around and the beach is beautiful........

 

[Breezy2]

I would recommend a rental car. But before you decide which beach, or coast, to go to stay informed about Red Tide and Blue Green Algae issues. Here's a link to where that information is updated every Friday;
https://myfwc.com/research/redtide/statewide/The past couple summers have been really bad on both coasts and not something you want to subject yourself to. It causes fish kills and respiratory issues for beach goers. It's really sad what is happening to our beaches. We didn't spend a single day at the beach last summer. Right now the beaches are clear and we hope it stays that way not only for us but for you too. I hope you get to enjoy a beautiful beach day in paradise.

 

[nkereina]

We've driven from Orlando to Clearwater Beach before and thought it was easy and well worth it. Beautiful area, gorgeous powder white sand and warmer/calmer waters. We had no issue parking in the ramp up the street, though we did have to walk a few blocks to get to the central Pier 60 area. Otherwise, there was beach access right across the street from the parking ramp. We went on a weekday and got there by 11am, so I think our timing was good to avoid crowds.