Does anyone have any beaches to recommend?

[GinaB]

Mogs

Your welcome. I'm just trying to give back some information, I know reading these boards was VERY helpful to me in planning my vacation.

 

[ErinH1]

We were in St. Petersburg Beach last weekend--our first trip to WDW & Florida. It was about a 90 minute drive from Orlando. The water & beach/sand is beautiful. I would certainly feel safer with a 7 year old at that beach rather than what's being described on the Atlantic side. However, the waves are pretty minimal so that might disappoint your husband. There were warning signs for jelly fish, but we were told that hasn't been a problem this summer. We took a boat ride to see dolphins and to visit Shell Island. If your daughter likes collecting shells, that's the place to go! Plus we must have seen at least 30 dolphins on the way over. Suggestion would be to try and get there as early as possible because they weather gets worse (rainy) as the day progresses. But we still had much better weather in St. Pete's beach than we did in Orlando. After 7 days of rain, overcast, thunder & lightening in Orlando, we saw our first blue sky when we got to the gulf coast.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

We just returned from St Pete beach, blue skies, blue water and white sand! Enough seashells near the water to satisfy my children ! Waves are not big, which is good in my opinion, and the water is so clear you can see any sea creatures that might lurk! NO rain except about 7:30 or 8 at night for 30 mins to 1 hour.

 

[disneyfan551]

ErinH1...where and what is Shell Island? It sounds interesting...

 

[ErinH1]

Shell Island is just a couple of miles (if that far) off the coast of St. Petersburg Beach. You do have to take a boat or ferry to get there and you'll find lots of companies that advertise day trips. We paid $30 pp from the beach at our hotel in St. Pete's Beach just for the convenience of saving precious time and not having to get in the car, drive (i.e., get lost) and pay to park. But I think you can get it for half that price at The Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grille (by the Don Cesar Resort). Shell Island is undeveloped--nothing there but a beautiful beach, lots of shells and a bird sanctuary. The good thing is you'll see that same dolphins along the way whether you pay $30 or $15!