best beach from wdw

[jeanneg4of4]

I want to spend a day at the beach, pier, and maybe on a boat.I'm from california and have never spent time in florida and want to experience the atlantic ocean/golf. which is better the golf or the Atlantic? btw, I am addicted to cruising so if anyone knows of a good place to go on/ rent a boat I would really appreciate it. We have 3 extra days at wdw so if you know of any nice things to do. My husband has not agreed to doing anything extra so I am tring to gather some info. any and all ideas welcome.

going in sept. with kids age 3,6,12,14,35

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Gulf side is much prettier. White sand and clear water. Not many waves though. We love the Clearwater/St. Pete beach area. Just spent time at St. Pete beach this year. There seemed to be lots of boating in the area, rentals and day cruises. Wish I had some links for you. Our resort channel said WDW was 1 1/2 hours away.

 

[Susie Dismom]

I have the same dilemma. My kids want to find shells - never been to the beach. I know its nature (nothing certain), but is either side Gulf or ATlantic coast better for shell distribution?

 

[Kimkimba]

Growing up, every year my parents took me to Daytona Beach - not the Jersey shore! I grew up thinking you could drive on all beaches. Daytona's not the same as it used to be, but it's still a nice beach. We've never had trouble finding shells on the Atlantic Coast beaches. My inlaws live in New Jersey, and my son collected a ton of shells in the winter just before spring came. Florida's beaches are very nice - a lot different than those in the Northeast.

 

[Belle5]

I really hate Daytona. The west side of Florida has beaches that are sooo much nicer, IMO. Clearwater is very nice.

 

[judi]

The best shelling in Florida is on Sanibel Island but that is a 3 hour drive from WDW on the gulf side. The island is beautiful and worth the drive if you can swing it.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

We came home with BAGS of pretty small shells from St Pete! Tons of them all along the beach. Not large types, but DD was quite happy.
And no, you can't drive on the beach at St Pete. That is another reason I don't like the Daytona area. Gulf side is really so much prettier. Some of the top 10 beaches in the US are found on the Gulf side.

 

[cmatt]

I would suggest Disneys Vero Beach Resort 2 hours from WDW

we have went 4 times very nice, nice beach on ocean front and mickey pool and great water slide lots of things to do, 3 resturants at the resort

 

[DISNEYDADINOREGON]

Just got back from 17 days!!! Spent 2 nights at the Hilton on Cocoa Beach and 4 nights at the Adam's Mark on Clearwater Beach. Both beaches had the same water temp. (in the 80's) Cleawater has great sand (white and like baby powder smooth). The waves on the Atlanic side were bigger. The shells in Clearwater were many. We brought home lots! I found Clearwater rather dirty. It was more crowed as well. I grew up in the SF bay area and we have pretty clean beaches but much colder. They are both great and we went to NASA which was great!!!! Clearwater/Tampa has many other things to do. We opted for relaxation. The Adam's Mark is right on the beach and very nice. I do not recommend the Hilton. Run down and not very nice.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Are you wanting a day trip or overnight? We were at the Don Cesar at St Pete Beach and it is the nicest place I have ever stayed on a beach! Lots of boating available too. Very clear, clean and white sand, tons of shells. I was thinking you meant for the day. They have a website.
PS-They also have a sister resort-Don Cesar Beach House Suites that is a half mile away. Looked very nice and they have larger condo type rooms. AAA offers discounts for both !

 

[Susie Dismom]

DISNEYDADINOREGON, what do you mean dirty? Are you talking trash, upkeep or just in general? We are currently booked at the Holiday Inn Sunspree at Clearwater, but I feel I must keep researching to make sure its the right choice. We've considered the Atlantic side, but get the general feel from the posts that the gulf side is preferred so.......... Anyway the Atlantic side would be closer, but we're willing to drive a little further. We live in Ohio, and the beach experience is just not frequent. It will be the first time for the kids. We are looking mostly for rest and relaxing as this will be 2 days of post Disney "cool down". Thanks for you info!!

 

[Wonderlandmom]

I am not DisneyDad but can offer my input. We stayed away from the Adams Mark in Clearwater as we heard the beach was very congested at that particular hotel. Sounds like he confirms that. St Pete Beach was NOT crowded NOR Dirty. I think I read good things about your hotel too. We were at St Pete Beach so I cannot truly say, but it was the whitest sand, clearest water around(similiar to Destin area). I am a Floridian too, and MUCH prefer the Gulf!

 

[annie2871]

We stayed at Daytona, only because we had to, a few weeks ago and some areas of the beachs you can drive on, but around some of the nicer hotels, you can not. The beach was really nice and we stayed at the Plaza Resort and Spa and it was a nice hotel, it is right by the Adam's Mark, which is also really nice, the beach area behind both hotels is really clean. However, once you get on the other side of the hotels, around the streets, FORGET IT! Daytona Beach is a typical spring break town. The water was beautiful, their is not many shells, which disappointed my kids. The next time we go, we will definately stay on the Gulf side of Florida!

 

[DISNEYDADINOREGON]

The beach had trash on it. Gulf Blvd had trash on it as well. There are quite a few shops and restaraunts including McDonlads near the Adam's Mark and there is trash up and down the street. There was also at night kinda of hangout of local teenagers listening to some rap which interesting lyrics. The hotel is great. Live music each night, a pool overlooking the gulf. We only spent 2/3 hours at a time on the beach. I could not take the heat for long periods. We did spend a lot of time in the room which overlooked the gulf. I did see the Holiday Inn which I was considering. It does have its own beach which is not directly on the gulf. It is on the opening from the bay to the gulf. I have never been on any Atlantic beaches. This kinda reminded me of Santa Cruz or Huntington Beach. The nicest beach I have ever seen was in Kauai. Nothing compares to that.