Some things are more "budget friendly" than others. The cheapest thing is to sit on the beach for a day, enjoying the sun, sand and gulf!
- Frank Brown Park is a recreational area with a large pool (might be Olympic-sized, at least half) and a water playground area for kids. I think it's about $8/person to get into the pool area. There's also a nice playground for kids there and a picnic pavilion.
- Gulf World is like a small Sea World - dolphin show, sea lion show, reptiles, birds, other sea animals. It's a nice way to spend several hours, but it's not really "budget" at about $30/adult and a little less for kids.
- Zoo World - small zoo. I think it's also about $20/person.
- Rock-It Lanes - bowling and roller-skating, pretty reasonable prices.
- Mini-golf abounds. We like Coconut Creek Mini Golf and Gran Maze. You can do a "play all day" for about $20/person. Most of the mini-golf places run about $10/round/person.
- Visit the state park - St. Andrews State Park for a nice beach area and also an area surrounded by jetties - less wave action than the gulf if you have kids. There are also shuttles out to a barrier island called Shell Island and dolphin-viewing boats but I'm not sure of the pricing.
- Pirate Cruise is fun, but again, about $25/adults, $20/kids.
- Wonder Works and Ripley Museum are in the same price range as the other attractions.
- Shipwreck Island water park - definitely not budget, but fun.