Beach day trip - Sunday or Monday?

[reenie1]

We're planning a day trip to Clearwater Beach from Windsor Hills. Right now it looks like the best days to choose from will be Sunday April 20th or Monday the 21st. Is one of these days likely to be better than the other in terms of traffic, crowds,...? Is it easy to find parking at the beach? I'm planning on using mapquest to find my way. Thanks!

 

[aquaticmom]

If your day's are flexible I would watch the weather and choose the better weather day for my beach day. Having been to Clearwater only a couple of times, my experience has been that the local's seem to be there on the weekends so Sunday would most likely be the more crowded day. There is plenty of parking (paid lots). The traffic flows pretty well even when busy. Have fun, good choice, Clearwater beaches are beautiful.

 

[3mickeymom]

I also suggest watching the weather and as soon as the best beach day comes up - Go. On our last vacation, we had planned a beach day to break up our stay, but the weather just wouldn't cooperate. I have always wanted to check out a Florida Beach. Oh well, maybe next time!

 

[reenie1]

We've always had such perfect weather that it's barely a thought in my mind, but I will definately check and plan around that. We are going for 10 days this year and only doing 3 days of parks. The rest of our days will be water parks, pool, and one beach day, so we'll have lots of flexibility! Thanks for the advice!

 

[swilshire]

We were there a couple of days last week and both days the main lot at Clearwater Beach had the full sign out. Friday the beach was too crowded. Of course, it WAS Spring break. We had to wait in one of the lots farther out for someone to leave their spot.

The sand isn't quite as nice as at Clearwater beach, but Sand Key just south of there has tons of parking. I've never seen it get crowded at all and there are public restrooms and picnic tables. It's metered parking. The handicapped park free, so I didn't check out the rates.

Sheila

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

First I'd check the weather. If both days are equally nice I would go on a Sunday. Since most WDW parks are more crowded on weekends, we prefer to do the non-Disney things on Sat or Sun.
Have fun!

 

[pinpixie]

How long does it take from Orlando to Clearwater? We want to sleep in after a late night at the park. Going on a Sunday, is 11am too late to start the drive there?

 

[KatMark]

My DH says it is about a 2 hour drive. We went to Busch Gardens last year mid-week of our trip (Wednesday) for a change of pace. It was the hottest day of oru trip and we only lasted until 1:00. We then drove to St. Petersburg Beach and it was relatively empty. Now, this was the middle of the week and it was September. This year we are tacking four days onto the end of our vacation and going to Daytona Beach for those extra days (it's our 25th wedding anniversary so we decided to take a little over two weeks this year instead of just eight or nine days.

 

[Jesus Loves Disney]

How long does it take from Orlando to Clearwater? We want to sleep in after a late night at the park. Going on a Sunday, is 11am too late to start the drive there?

we live in east Tampa and it is 45 minutes to Disney. it's about two hours out to the barrier beaches like St Pete/Clearwater