Clearwater Beach and Cocoa Beach

[mom2myprincess]

We are thinking about spending one day at each beach during our stay. What is Clearwater Beach like? Is it a crowded beach? Does it have plenty of seashells? DD wants to get some shells.

Also, a friend of mine just got back two weeks ago from Cocoa Beach and she said they had jelly fish washing up on the beach. She said they were a type of jelly fish that won't hurt you. Does anybody know if that is still going on now? We leave Aug. 12-19 and I didn't want to go if jelly fish would be all over.

Thanks for all your help!

Me DH DD(5)

 

[ScotsMinnie]

We went to ClearWater beach during our trip in June and it was beautiful. Not a great deal of full seashells though. Lots of broken ones. I have heard that Maribel beach or Treasure Island are great for shells. Might be worth finding out about those?

 

[thegrimdwarf]

We went to Cocoa Beach a loooong time ago, and were flat-out disgusted and disappointed. It was dirty - it was like walking around in one of those big ash-trays with the sand in it that you used to see outside non-smoking places. I'm sure people will speak up if it's gotten better/worse.

 

[srwarden1928]

Clearwater Beach is a very nice beach, although I personally prefer St. Pete Beach, which is just a little south of it.

Cocoa Beach is on the Atlantic. Atlantic beaches often have jellyfish, Gulf beaches seldom do.
Gulf beaches have soft white sand. Atlantic beaches have rougher tan sand.

I have been to various Atlantic beaches before in FL, GA, SC, NC, and VA. I would not hesitate to go again, if the choice is go or dont go. But if the choice is Atlantic or Gulf, Im going to the gulf EVERY time.

In fact my ideal vacation would be four full in-park days at Disney then five or six at St. Pete and/or Sarasota finished with four more full in-park days at Disney. But Im really dreaming on that one.

 

[amyj1024]

I would pick Clearwater---the water is also usually warmer on the gulf side.

 

[RetroMom]

I added two nights to our Disney trip in June and went over to Clearwater Beach. Very pretty beach, lots of white sand, where we were was not crowded. I found a lot of small shells, but larger ones were just in pieces. There are apparently some nearby places that you can find a lot of shells. I just wanted to play on the beach before we came home! I should add, that I am very partial to the Gulf.. not that crazy about the Atlantic.

 

[JimR24]

I would say Clearwater over Cocoa. We live outside of Tampa and love the west coach beaches. If you want to go further south, check out Longboat Key or Lido Key in Sarasota. There is also a shopping place in Sarasota calls St. Armands circle. Very nice and we have found a lot of shell down there.

 

[Dis_Tink_13]

Another vote for St. Pete my family loves it there. It seems to be more family style on the beach! My husband found sand dollars snorkling right off the beach. If your interest is shells you need to go early in the morning at any beach or they do get broken up or picked up from collectors. On the atlantic side I seem to have the worst luck with sand fleas!

 

[pooh4evr]

we went to st pete last yr and had fun although if you wan to do anything like a dolphin boat thing or we did Captain Nemo's pirate cruise (loads of fun!) you have to drive to clearwater to do it - but st pete was great not very crowded not many shells though definately bring or wear some water shoes because the broken shells hurt!! DH and I bought some while there- we drove to DTD one day I think it was about 1 1/2 hours maybe - easy drive bring $$ for tolls! (quarters)

 

[alikat99]

Well, living in St. Pete, I'm definitely partial to our beaches here. My family loves St. Pete beach and Treasure Island. My girls LOVE to hunt for shells in the sand, and I would definitely second the water shoes, because those broken shells to hurt on your feet. But, we love the beaches south of Clearwater because they're a little more laid back and relaxing.