Beach

[kccmommy]

We want to take the kids to the beach one day on our trip next summer. We will have a rental car. Does anyone have any suggestions where to go?

 

[spiceycat]

the tampa area is nice - daytona is closer - but wait until this hurricane goes by.

 

[Wishing on a star]

There was a thread on this not to long ago... You may want to go back a few pages and see if you can find it....

One person really recommends the PlayaLinda beach, which is overseen by Kennedy... This is like 'preserve'. There is no development whatsoever. Just Parking areas with restroom facilities. The photos look gorgeous.

I personally do not like Daytona beach at all. ( I am partial to the clean beautiful soft white sands and teal/aqua water at Destin! ) There are a few public beaches around Cocoa Beach. I am thinking that they would be closest. They might be nice?

Another person recommended a beach two hours or more south-east of Orlando. I am forgetting the name of it now???? It is also supposed to have the nice white sand and Gulf water that I love about Destin. I would like to try this beach... (it is near where the last Hurricane just came ashore!!!!) But I am thinking that this is further than we would want to drive for a day trip.

Hope this helps!

 

[markor]

I went to a Gulf beach, Honeymoon Island State Park near St. Petersburg, and also to a Cape Canaveral beach.

It took about an hour to travel 20 miles from the interstate to Honeymoon. The beach itself was narrow (measured from water to vegetation) and somewhat rocky (a book says that Caladesi Island State Park, a short ferry trip from Honeymoon, is a top-rated US beach but I didn’t visit to compare). The waves were tiny. The nature trails to a bayou-type area were excellent, the flora especially interesting for me since I’m not from Florida.

The Cape Canaveral beach was better and easier to get to from Orlando. For several miles, on the main drag in Cape Canaveral that runs parallel to the beach, there were no signs to beach access. I finally just went down a residential street and found both a place to park (not a parking lot) and beach access on the first attempt.

Playalinda sounds nice. Here is a link about it.

 

[f7prez]

Being just under 2 hours from Orlando, the west coast of Florida offers some of the prettiest beaches in the United States.
If you have small children, west coast beaches offer calmer waves, white powdery sand and an abundance of shells.

A few of our favorites are:

Fort De Soto Park

Clearwater Beach

St Petes Beach

Check out this link for a nice view of the area

http://travelwithkids.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.floridasbeach.com/

The east coast is certainly closer at just under an hours drive.

Check out this link for an exceptional online sampling of beaches in Brevard County.

Scroll over the top left corner of the page and a drop down map with allow you to view 360 degree images of various beaches.

http://www.beachpage.com/brevard/cd.htm

Don't forget your sunscreen.

Mike

 

[kccmommy]

Thanks so much! This definately gives us something to start with. Everything looks beautiful!

 

[Wishing on a star]

I am reading these two threads about beaches... We would love to go to the beach when we are down there next May!

So, for you beach experts.... I am looking at Sand Key or Fort DeSoto. Any recommendations?

We are looking for:
1. Convenience!!! easy to Drive to... Showers... Food nearby... etc... Are there any Beachclub type restaurants where you can spend the afternoon at the beach?

2. Nice calm water... I would love DS to be able to get in.

3. The whitest prettiest sand (not really as interested in shelling) and the prettiest beach.

TIA!

 

[maximom]

Originally posted by Wishing on a star


One person really recommends the PlayaLinda beach, which is overseen by Kennedy... This is like 'preserve'. There is no development whatsoever. Just Parking areas with restroom facilities. The photos look gorgeous.

Just wanted to add that I took this person's recommendation (as well as the recommendation from Unofficial Guide to Florida for Kids) and we chose PlayaLinda.

It was a great experience. Definately no development so if you want people and development go elsewhere. If you are like me and wish you could have "your own private beach" then definately go to Playalinda.

No guarantee of course that nobody else will be there but when I showed my vacation pictures to others they were amazed because there was noone else in them except my family and we we were there the first week of August.

It is beautiful, but definately prepare yourself with water, snacks, etc because as noted above it is just several parking areas with restrooms. There are NO sinks in the restrooms. They did have waterless hand cleaner though.

Enjoy