How far to the coast from Orlando?

[peter r]

Hi All

We're off in August for 2 weeks and staying in a villa & will have the hire car.

My question is, is it feasible to drive to the beach for a day trip from Orlando or is it too far? Just wondered if anyone knew of any family friendly resorts that would allow us to chill out on the beach while the kids have a safe swim & somewhere that we can perhaps have a stroll around the local shops etc afterwards.

Don't fancy getting up at some crazy hour to do this but we're keen to maybe get away from the parks/crowds for at least a day hence the question.

Look forward to any suggestions

Regards
Peter

 

[WDWfan uk]

Hi Peter,
To get to the Gulf coast it will take about 90 mins if you don't get any hold-ups - aim for Clearwater Beach... water is safe.
To get to the Gold Coast, it will only take about an hour to get to Cocoa Beach. However, most people who go to Cocoa Beach say it "was okay" but nothing to enthuse about.

 

[peter r]

Hi

Thanks for that WDWfan. 90 mins is not that bad. I'm now off to have a look at the Clearwater tourist info site.

Any tips anyone on where to go or what to do while we are there anybody? Anybody been?

Peter

 

[richard3330]

Hi,

Honeymoon and Caladesi Islands are two glorious beaches situated on the west coast of Florida very near to Clearwater

Caladesi Island is a national state park and is voted as one of the top 10 best beaches in the U.S.A. You get there by taking the 5-10 minute boat ride from Honeymoon Island which leaves regularly. Honeymoon Island is free to enter - you just pay for parking. It has great shelling, but the beach isn't as nice as Caladesi. The boat journies to Caladesi fill up fast - make sure you get there early. When you arrive in to the marina on Caladesi there is a shop and cafe to the left and a barbecue area on the right. Then you follow the path over one of the big bridges on to the stunning beach (which even had dolphins swimming in right up close to the shore - amazing!). There are also many bird and nature walks and guided tours on the island to enjoy - we had such a fantastic time here we visited twice and still didn't want to leave. As it is on the gulf of mexico the water was also not too cold.

Clearwater Beach was also nice, but when we visited it was very crowded. The pier is a nice place to visit whilst in the area.

Richard.

 

[peter r]

Thanks Richard that definitely sounds of interest & I hadn't heard of Caladesi. I was sitting here in my grey office reading that & in my head I was already on the beach watching the dolphins!!!

Thanks again

Peter

 

[Aceman88888]

Another vote for honeymoon Island!

Had a brief visit there a few weeks back and was lovely. Most of the coastline around there is worth having a cruise along. Only drawback of the beach is that in most parts it can be a bit rough with pebbles/shells etc.

I'd only bother visiting the Atlantic Coast if you are taking a trip to the space centre. There's not much to do at Cocoa Beach except the surf shop and a few restaurants.

Not tried Daytona yet though...... maybe on my next trip.

 

[signtalker]

Another vote for honeymoon island.However they are having major roadworks at present on the road(sorry forget the number!!!), so you are looking at 2 hours +.Take into account the rush hour traffic when coming back, we hit it and it added another 1 hour onto our journey!

Jules