Family friendly beach within driving distance?

[reenie1]

We would like to do a daytrip to the beach during our Disney trip in mid- April. Any suggestions on a nice beach within driving distance (about 90 minutes each way would be tolerable with our two little ones)? We just want them to get to play in the sand and water, explore,... Thanks for any suggestions!

Laurie

 

[JealousTinkerbell]

i have never been to orlando but the closest one I came across seemed to be Cocoa Beach. That is where we WERE going to go for our day trip in april but we ended up cutting it out in favour of one more day at a park.

 

[powellrj]

we have done Cocoa Beach, New Symna Beach and Daytona Beach. My kids want to go back to Cocoa again this year. I think its really the surf shop they want to go back to!

 

[OntFamily]

Certainly the Atlantic coast would be faster to drive to (ie Cocoa Beach). Plus, there is easy access to public beaches (speaking from personal experience). It's approx an 80 minute drive from WDW. However, in Mid-April the Atlantic Ocean won't be overly warm. The Gulf Coast would have warmer water -- though it will take approx an hour longer to get to Clearwater Beach or St. Pete Beach.

 

[2minnies]

We would like to do a daytrip to the beach during our Disney trip in mid- April. Any suggestions on a nice beach within driving distance (about 90 minutes each way would be tolerable with our two little ones)? We just want them to get to play in the sand and water, explore,... Thanks for any suggestions!

Laurie

We just went to the Cocoa Beach Pier on Thursday. I liked Clearwater better - but the drive to Cocoa was much shorter. Have a great time!

 

[CajunDixie]

Last time we went down we chose the Gulf side and ended up at Sand Key Beach. Was nice and not at all crowded.

 

[Gillian]

The Gulf side is better for little kids, IMO. The water is calmer.

Sand Key park would be nice. Clearwater Beach is too. We loved Caladesi Island State Park but it's a hike and expensive because you have to pay for a boat ride from Honeymoon island (park) to Caladesi. No waves there at all pretty much, which was good for our kids at the time (1 & 3).

IF you look here under the Parks link there is info on Sand Key.

http://www.floridasbeach.com/bch%5Fnat/

The kids will probably sleep on the way home! Not sure about going...

 

[hannahouse]

Siesta Key, on the Gulf side. It's ranked as one of the top 10 beaches in the country by the Travel Channel.

 

[Gillian]

IMO, the beaches around Clearwater & St Pete are just as nice as Siesta key. And they are closer!

Maybe I'll change my mind after spending a week there next month!

 

[MEG&MINNIE]

I would say Clearwater Beach ,we've been ther 4 times...I have cousins in the area and we make the trip every time we go to WDW. It's very "touristy",with lots of little shops and resturants along the strip.It has a huge playground for kids at the beginning of the beach.Sand Key is about 5 , min. over the bridge going down the coast and it was very quiet when we were last there,if that's what you would like better. It's about a 90 min. drive from WDW.

 

[hellow]

I may be in the minority, but we went to Cocoa Beach last March and didn't really like it. We parked, walked to the pier, turned around and got back into our car to leave. We may have come during some event but we did not feel like our family fit in with the rest of the crowd. (My 13 year old son got quite an eyeful in the short time we were there.)

Like I said, there may have been something going on at the time, but I don't think we will go back. We LOVED the Merritt Island and Canaveral Natl Seashore though.

 

[danield]

Here is two picture I took early March 2005 of the beach from the Cocoa Beach Pier. We usually park at the Sheppard municipal parking lot and walk to the pier. Kids love the pelican on the pier. If you want more pic, I'll post the on the Kodak gallery.

Granted, there is not much to do in Cocoa Beach itself but the beach is usually nice (but the water cold) and is not overdevelopped. Ron Jon surf shop is a must.

Did also Sand Key Park in 2004 (very nice but the drive was awfull-2.5 hrs) and Fort De Soto Park this year (nice also but traffic terrible even on Sunday).

For convenience I would choose Cocoa but for scenery definitely Sand Key. But we look at it with adult eyes. Kids usually don't care as long as they can play in the sand.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c...vu&x=0&y=5q53is

Dan