Best beach for one day outing

[momof2disprincesses]

We are doing a 9 day stay next month and have a rental car with unlimited mileage. So we thought it would be fun to do a day trip to a beach, either coast.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Or have you done this before?

We are leaning towards Daytona Beach just because I've heard they have a Boardwalk area there and there may be more to do than just swim once we get tired of that. From MapQuest, it looks like it's about an hour and half drive from Pop Century.

Also, any ideas of places to "rent" beach chairs? Do beaches even do this?

My only beach experiences have been on Disney's Castaway Cay during our 2 Disney cruises and those were fabulous!

Any advice or input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[lovindonald]

We are going to do a day trip to Clearwater beach and somebody on here mentioined Pier 60. They say the water is warmer than the other coast. I am just looking for a new adventure. Anyone with info on this area, I would love to hear it. Thanks!

 

[Amity 3]

our Gulf beaches are roughly the same distance as Daytona from WDW. I'd recommend them over Daytona any day. we watched the sunset at Fort DeSoto last weekend. white sand, and the water's in the mid-80's right now.

the St Pete/Clearwater beaches are touristy, but no more than Daytona. John's Pass has a nice boardwalk as well. there's plenty of shopping and beach side restaurants.

 

[dvc at last !]

We have been to Destin - loved it !

Warm water, great beach and dolphins in the water.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Clearwater & St.Petes are the best beaches we have visisted - do not like Daytona at all.

Generally the west coast beaches are much nicer in my opinion.

 

[Rella Bella]

We enjoy CoCo Beach... it's only about 45 minutes from Disney.

 

[ducklite]

Cocoa Beach is over an hour from WDW unless you plan on driving 90 mph to get there.

But it's nicer than Daytona IMHO.

I prefer the gulf beaches, the water is generally warmer and calmer.

I love Treasure Island Beach, it seems a bit less congensted then a lot of the others.

Daytona is good if you've got teens, IMHO it's not a good "family beach."

Anne

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

bumping, looking to go in January with two small children