Daytona vs Cocoa ??

[charming]

We are going to Disney in March of 2010, we are going for 5 days then we want to take the kids to see the ocean (we are from MI,) and then we were going to go back for 2 more days. We have 3 kids ds's 13 and 17, dd 4, at the time we go. I have been to Daytona Beach once in 04 for about 3 hours and it was OK, what i did like was the gift shops, putt putt and thing like that.I have never been to Cocoa Beach so if i can get some tips that would be great. Thanks

 

[NotUrsula]

Just FYI, either one of those beaches is going to be rather too cold for swimming at that time of year, normally in the mid-70's. If you want them to be able to do more than just get their feet wet you should probably try to swing as far south as possible.

 

[charming]

Just FYI, either one of those beaches is going to be rather too cold for swimming at that time of year, normally in the mid-70's. If you want them to be able to do more than just get their feet wet you should probably try to swing as far south as possible.

Really mid-70's you say around here if the water gets to 70 we call that bath water. (lol) I don't know any other beaches to look at? But I'm open to some ideas. One of the reasons we looked at these beaches is that they are not to far from Disney, Cocoa is about 30 minutes. We also want to do tourist things like the shops and Gaters FL, stuff. Thanks

 

[Erica09M]

I was at Cocoa Beach in February of 2001, and being from Indiana where I left ice and snow... the water was plenty warm to play in!

I really enjoyed Cocoa Beach.

 

[charming]

I was at Cocoa Beach in February of 2001, and being from Indiana where I left ice and snow... the water was plenty warm to play in!

I really enjoyed Cocoa Beach.

I was wondering if you can tell me about the area, what is there to do? I read such mixed reviews.

 

[Erica09M]

I was wondering if you can tell me about the area, what is there to do? I read such mixed reviews.

I wish I could help you out more, but unfortunately we were just on the beach for a couple days while we were in FL for speed skating nationals. I was 16 at the time, and don't really remember much. I did enjoy going to the Ron Jon Surf Shop, and we went into a couple little shops up on the pier.

 

[charming]

I could really use some help on this one. Any help would be greatly appreciate. Thanks

 

[flagirl1981]

I actually grew up in the Central FL area and spent a lot of time in Daytona. I would definitely choose Daytona over Cocoa. I have heard that Cocoa has been having some crime problems. If you do choose Daytona, however, keep in mind that Bike Week is usually the first week in March. It gets pretty crazy at times.

 

[marius97]

My vote is for Daytona. We made a day trip to Coco last year at the end of April and spent a week in Daytona this June. Coco seemed like it was just the beach and some surf shops. Daytona seemed like the area had much more to do. We went down to the lighthouse south of town, there is a Marine Science Center there too that was kind of cool. The beach was great. You could even drive your car right out onto the beach. If you are into cars, they have a bunch of stuff to do at the race track. Plus, they have all of the stores/restaurants that you could ever need on vacation. We had a lot of fun there.

Almost forgot...when we went to Coco the last week in April last year, I was suprised the water wasn't frozen. It felt like ice water. Plus, I don't know if there was a storm off shore or not, but the waves were massive. I wouldn't have gone swimming in those conditions even if it was warm. We went in to our knees, but that was enough.

 

[Microcell]

I vote Clearwater beach! I know it is the Gulf of Mexico and not officially the Atlantic, but it is vast, expansive and warmer than the other two!

 

[NotUrsula]

Actually neither beach is less than an hour from WDW; Cocoa being about that, and Daytona about another 40 minutes. Remember that WDW is fairly far southwest of the city of Orlando proper.

Floridians generally won't swim in open water colder than about 82F without a wetsuit. Water in the upper 60's will give a child hypothermia in only a couple of hours, so we southern types tend to keep our kids from doing more than wading in the winter months in coastal central Florida, particularly on the Atlantic side where the water tends to run several degrees colder than the Gulf.

It's not just my opinion, here is someone else who agrees with me:
http://www.uptake.com/blog/family_vacations/daytona-beach-cold-swim_1737.html

If it were me, in March I'd aim for Fort Myers if I were taking my kids for a real beach stay. That's a pretty long drive, though. Last time we did it from Orlando, we flew, which was VERY nice.

 

[charming]

The link above is great, Thanks for that. The truth be told I'm OK with the fact that they wont be able to do much more then wade then i don't have to worry about them going out to far. I'm a bit of a worrier! And all the tourist stuff is right up our ally. We will be at WDW for 5 days then we just wanted to take the kids to see the ocean and relax before we go back for 2 more days. The guys DH, DS 17, DS 13, will dig all the cars on the beach. Me i like the little shops so this seems to be a good pick. thanks again. Now any ideas where to stay???

 

[SarahKate]

We've been to both. While there's Ron Jon at Cocoa, which is a really cool place, we definitely liked Daytona.

There's a lot more to do there. PLUS, you can drive right onto the beach to park! How cool is that???? The sand is interesting there, it's very soft and has a feeling almost like that Moon Sand stuff. Not a lot of shells there though.

There is a restaurant right on the beach which claims to be the only Daytona restaurant that's right ON the beach. It's called Ocean Deck and was REALLY good. It's kind of barlike but they were family/kid friendly. There's also a pier and I think there was a sky ride. There's lots of hotels and shopping areas on the road that runs parallel to the beach too.

As for weather, you just never know. We were at Daytona in December of 2008 and it was a nice day. Alittle chilly but DD still played in the water. IT's really hit or miss.

 

[SarahKate]

As far as travel time goes, you might also consider the beaches around Tampa. Not much further, as far I can remember. The beaches are beautiful, several to choose from, and tons of shells! There are some really neat restaurants and shops too! Just wanted to throw that in there.