Day at the Beach?

[joepoe]

We are staying at BWV for eight nights (yahoo!) the first part of June, and the kids want to go to the beach one day. I am not particular whether we go - Atlantic coast or Gulf coast - for a day trip, however, since we are cruising next spring break, we thought it might be fun to ride to Port Canaveral on Thursday and see one of the ships after hitting a beach for a day. Any beach suggestions out there?

 

[JimMIA]

We are staying at BWV for eight nights (yahoo!) the first part of June, and the kids want to go to the beach one day. I am not particular whether we go - Atlantic coast or Gulf coast - for a day trip, however, since we are cruising next spring break, we thought it might be fun to ride to Port Canaveral on Thursday and see one of the ships after hitting a beach for a day. Any beach suggestions out there?

At the risk of getting flamed by the West Coast folks, I'd suggest either Canaveral/Cocoa Beach or Daytona. Or...if you're heading home up I-95, maybe St. Augustine. The East Coast beaches are Atlantic Ocean, which means better waves, surf, etc...more of a beach feel to me. The West Coast beaches are Gulf of Mexico, which means lovely, but very tame water. More like a lake.

Flame suit is ON.

 

[joepoe]

At the risk of getting flamed by the West Coast folks, I'd suggest either Canaveral/Cocoa Beach or Daytona. Or...if you're heading home up I-95, maybe St. Augustine. The East Coast beaches are Atlantic Ocean, which means better waves, surf, etc...more of a beach feel to me. The West Coast beaches are Gulf of Mexico, which means lovely, but very tame water. More like a lake.

Flame suit is ON.

Thanks, Jim. I am thinking Cocoa Beach.

 

[OneMoreTry]

I think Atlantic beaches are a lot closer. Cocoa is about 1 hour. It might have taken us even less. An easy drive on a nice (toll) road.

 

[Pluto4Pres]

I think some of our most perfect vacation days were when we headed over to Coccoa Beach. We used to head south on A1A to a State Beach that had ample parking and facilities. It's a great alternative to the parks.

 

[Princess Tink]

We love both, and have done both in the middle of our trips to WDW for a mid-week break (my DH needs one). I think it will depend entirely on how much time you want to travel:
1-1.5 hour trip to Daytona or Cocoa Beach
3 hour trip to Treasure Island (is where we ended up)

and what you want to do:
Beware, the Gulf Coast tend to get more rain showers in the summer, as we found out (torrential rain showers) 3 times in the 5 hours we were there, actually 3 separate storms. Spoke to some locals when we were there and they said that was normal, kind of like their spring so to speak. However, we would have to say we had the best seafood we'd ever tasted at a little rest on St John's Pass, it made up for all the running from the rain we did that day.

Daytona, had the best waves for DS.....he had his boogies board out there for hours.......we had to drag him in for lunch. BTW, We tried a rest at Dayton but were not impressed at all.

Hope this helps make your decision.

 

[shelbyjosh]

We have done both Daytona and St. Pete Beach. Would much rather stay in SPB than DB. THe drive to SPB was around 1.5 hours and we went thru Redington Bch, Madiera, St. Johns Pass. We stayed at a great place called TradeWinds Island Grand on the gulf. The St. Pete Pier is pretty neat, too!

 

[Cobra B.]

We are doing the same thing. We are going to Vero for a day. Then off to the mouse.

 

[bighow10]

gulf beaches great place for family vacations... vacationed there year after year.. its close to Orlando... and is a very relaxing and fun place to spend time with your kids.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are not boarding the cruise ship, you can't stop and park. I know, we tried a few years back on a trip we took prior to going on the Disney Cruise. We could drive by, but not really get close to the area where you unload and park.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Here's my recommendation for Ft. Desoto Beach in St Pete.
We went last month and it is about 90 min. from WDW.

It was ranked America's #1 Beach 2005 by the Clean Beach Council and is in very good company with past winners.

Very beautiful and lots of shells.

We went last month after our BCV stay.

It's on a preserve and they don't drive on the beach.

 

[deerh]

My recommendation is to go to Cape Canaveral Nat. Seashore. It costs $5 to get in, but the GREATEST beach!! No commercialism, no jet skis, no condos, no nothing!! My FIL lives in Titusville, and we go there all the time!! It is totally awesome!

Very little crowds, but will be closed close to a launch, so call first to see if they are open.

deerH

 

[nydisney14]

We did both. St. Pete Beach is really nice but the Gulf water is really calm with no waves and plenty of baby sting rays. They don't bother you unless you accidentally step on them.

We also did Cocoa Beach which had some nice waves. While in Cocoa we took a ride over to Kennedy Space Center which was cool. Your kids would probably like it as well.

If i had to choose, i would go with Cocoa Beach.