Driving on the Beach

[klj27]

My husband surprised me last night by saying that he would like to stop at a beach for one night on our way to the world. Now I am trying to figure out where. We are driving from Ohio, but I was thinking we could come down 95 and stop at Daytona/New Smyrna Beach. I am so turned off by the driving on the beach though. Is it really awful?

I looked further north but didn't see any hotels right on any of the beaches that seemed decent.

The other option is to stay on 75S, but it seems we would have to travel further off of the highway.

Any thoughts or help?

 

[Tink888]

My husband surprised me last night by saying that he would like to stop at a beach for one night on our way to the world. Now I am trying to figure out where. We are driving from Ohio, but I was thinking we could come down 95 and stop at Daytona/New Smyrna Beach. I am so turned off by the driving on the beach though. Is it really awful?

I looked further north but didn't see any hotels right on any of the beaches that seemed decent.

The other option is to stay on 75S, but it seems we would have to travel further off of the highway.

Any thoughts or help?

You could stay at Ormond Beach...right near Daytona. Also, it's been a few years since we've been to Daytona but if I recall correctly, you aren't allowed to drive along the entire stretch of beach, only certain sections.

 

[klj27]

Thanks for the suggestion. I looked up hotels at Ormond, Flagler Beach and St. Augustine as well as the other areas. Nothing is jumping out at me though.

 

[karibritt01]

What about Hilton Head Island in SC? Its about 15 min from I-95. Beautiful area and no driving on the beach. You would be about 4.5 hours from WDW.

 

[ksjayhawks]

What about Cocoa Beach?

 

[klj27]

I didn't realize Hilton Head was that close to the highway. I will check that out.

We don't care for Cocoa Beach and I don't want to increase our drive by going further south than WDW.

 

[Golf4food]

What do you mean by "not decent"? What type of hotel are you looking for? High end? Middle of the road? Dirt cheap but not dirty? There are plenty of beaches around there that you cannot drive on. And this time of year any beach will be hot and beachy from the Carolinas down - you could go further north than the Daytona area if need be to suit your needs, though you will get further off of I-95 anywhere north of Savannah.

 

[FireDancer]

I have a couple of friends who stopped at Tybee Island just off of Savannah on their Ohio to WDW trip (via 77 to 26 to 75) and loved it. It is about 30 miles from the I-95 exit to the island and takes about 45 minutes depending on the time of day.

 

[Shmily1]

From the map I'm looking at, HHI is atleast 30 miles from 95. Tybee is quite a way off the interstate too. Daytona would be the closest to the interstate and anything on the west coast side would be farther too.

Driving on the beach isn't so bad, but you need to be sure to wash your car very well after you do that to get all the salt water and sand off (so it doesn't rust). We didn't drive our vehicles on the beach but we rented a dune buggy... now that was fun!! I think it was like $30/hour but you can go anywhere.

 

[akhenaten]

From the map I'm looking at, HHI is atleast 30 miles from 95. Tybee is quite a way off the interstate too. Daytona would be the closest to the interstate and anything on the west coast side would be farther too.

Driving on the beach isn't so bad, but you need to be sure to wash your car very well after you do that to get all the salt water and sand off (so it doesn't rust). We didn't drive our vehicles on the beach but we rented a dune buggy... now that was fun!! I think it was like $30/hour but you can go anywhere.

I think the OP does not want to BE at a beach where people can drive....

 

[klj27]

I think the OP does not want to BE at a beach where people can drive....

I found a hotel where we would not be driving to the beach, but I just don't like the idea of having traffic on the beach.