is daytona worth going for a day trip?

[JohnnySharp2]

how far is Clearwater Beach from Daytona? DH wants to go to a race next year and if Dayona is so bad I may just opt to say alsewhere.

I would say it could take nearer 3 hours, it's 2 from Kissimmee to Clearwater.

 

[jtdl]

how far is Clearwater Beach from Daytona? DH wants to go to a race next year and if Dayona is so bad I may just opt to say alsewhere.

If you do go for a race be very careful about where you stay. I would book a room ASAP. We decided a few months before the Bud Shootout and the rooms were all around $300, well I came across a really good deal - $49 per night right on the beach. I checked the TripAdvisor reviews and they really weren't all the bad. Well, I almost cried when we arrived! But we had no choice but to stay there cause EVERYTHING was booked. Daytona Beach Shores and Ormond Beach (I think that's what it was) are very near Daytona and were much nicer.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

daytona's great, if you're on spring break. cocoa doesn't do much for us either. the water and beaches on the east coast don't get great until miami and then down to the keys. on our side, there are many more excellent beach options, not just Clearwater. I take friends from out of town to John's Pass, Fort Desoto, or Siesta Key. if you're going to take time out of your vacation to visit a nice beach, stay away from Daytona and drive a little farther.

 

[HopperFan]

My sis family and ours went to Daytona and stayed at Ocean Walk. Beautiful resort and we enjoyed it. Kids will like going down to "food court" and getting sundeas, right on the beach, next door is shopping, movies, etc. It's not huge (bulk is movie theaters) but it is enough. Few clothes, coffee, ice cream, eat at Bubba Gumps one night, it is there too.

BUT I would not allow them to go to the boardwalk area (a block down) without you. And look at all the rides before you let them do any, lots of rusty bolts etc. I didn't let mine ride any of them. Find out where there are some good seafood restaurants, heard there was one on Ponce Inlet, maybe drive down there one day. Enjoy the pools, hit the ocean, but overall there is nothing there to draw me back.

I would consider driving up to St. Augustine one day, hit the fort and historic town, full of shops and food - girls will like the shops. Beautiful drive up A1A. A favorite destination of my DD, so much she wants to go to college there.

We keep saying we wish we could find an Ocean Walk in a better location

 

[ttfn3]

JDM - Jen

Please post a report on the Ocean Walk Resort when you return. We've looked at this place a couple of times and it looks like fun. We considered going for Spring Break (end of March) but decided we weren't comfortable introducing our 9 year old to the Spring Break crowd. I spoke to staff at the Ocean Walk and it sounds like they are not immune to the College Co-eds - tho. security tries to keep them from getting too rowdy. I've seen too much of MTV-Spring Break. I didn't want to chance it. I hope that you find out it's much tamer.

Good luck!

 

[fan of the TTA]

I worked in Daytona for 10 years and now I live just a few miles north of Clearwater Beach. If it wasn't for Spring Break, Bike Weeks and Race Weeks, Daytona would dry up and blow away. You would be better off coming over to Clearwater Beach. The sand on the Atlantic Ocean coast is gritty and made up mostly of crushed Coquina shells which are rough on the skin. Gulf Coast beaches have beautiful white, powdery sand and the water is a wonderful blue/green color.

Another option for you would be St. Augustine. It's about a half hour north of Daytona with so much more to see, historically speaking.

that atlantic beach sounds lovely. i may concider going there on my next vacation

 

[Jason71]

Oh, this is all bad news. I have 4 nights in Ocean Walk on the beach in Daytona for next month. We have never been, and we are taking our DD and DN who are 13 & 15. I thought it would be fun for them. Ocean Walk looks like a gorgeous resort. I guess we could just hang there......

Does anyone have any positive input on Daytona (just to make myself feel better )

Also, one of the above posts said the beach was the same as Clearwater. I thought they were completely different. The roaring Atlantic as opposed to the calm, beautiful Gulf coast. Can someone weigh in?

Thanks
Jenn

Well, since I started the badmouthing...

Ocean Walk is nice, pretty much the newest place on the beach. If you PM me, I can recommend some restaurants in the area (nothing the quality of Disney or Sand Lake Road, but decent).

I reiterate what somewhat else said, tho, don't let your kids near that boardwalk alone. Really, you're not missing anything if you skip the boardwalk all together (it's an eminent domain lawsuit away from being torn down). Ormond Beach, just north of Daytona, is a bit nicer;, it has a fun mini golf course and slightly classier gift shops, if that's possible. Also, if you have a car, consider side trips to Ponce Inlet (15 minutes south) and St Augustine (30+ minutes north) as mentioned above. You could also head in-land about 20 minutes to see the manatee in Blue Springs State Park in Orange City (they should still be there thru February).

I've only been to Clearwater once, but I remember the beach being much cleaner and the water more placid. Even tho they did away with beach driving by Ocean Walk a few years ago, the years of driving took their toll. Clearwater seemed less built-up, as well.

 

[riu girl]

Compared to the rest of Daytona, Ocan Walk is fab. Christmas 2004 we spent a week at a hotel in Ormond Beach ( 2 miles north of Daytona) but also spent a lot of time at Daytona, right in front of Ocean walk. This is a first class hotel with all the ammenities. Ponce Inlet is also a great outing. Also, Blue Springs state park is only about 45 minutes away. You can swim with manatees there (winter months only). Near Ponce Inlet there is also a small and very inexpensive bird rehab centre and marine science centre. It is a small facility but I think only charged a few dollars for entrance fee.

From Ocean walk you can also take a tour that starts out on a bus type vehicle and then it turns into a boat and you go int he water. It was a great tour.
Christmas 2005 we spent two weeks in Siesta Key and after being in Siesta Key we woudn't go back to Daytona. Can't compare the two. We loved S Key so much I just booked two weeks for Christmas 2006.

 

[ttfn3]

riu girl Do you mind me asking where you stay on Siesta Key? We've considered making a trip here - but I don't have a clue which place would be nice.

 

[Heather Smith]

We stay at Ocean Walk for a week every year. It's a great resort and my kids love it there. Either the Hilton or Adam's Mark is right next door. There's a new water park across the steet. Daytona is not a good area, but we just stay in the area of the resort. It's close enough for day trips to Sea World and Downtown Disney. We also do state parks that are in the area. It looks as though they are condemming a lot of the seedy hotels in the area as many were boarded up the last time we were there. Hopefully, it will rebound.

 

[jdm]

Thanks everyone for the additional info. I especially appreciate the heads up on the safety of the kids on the boardwalk. They are pretty sheltered, 4H kind of girls so I will be shadowing them quite closely I'm sure. We are Worldmark owners and they highlighted this resort in one of the issues we received. It was on and on about the authors trip there and all she did etc. So, I was quite surprised to hear that Daytona is a dump- but happy to hear that Ocean Walk is not!

Thanks for the ideas of other things to do, will definitely look into them. My DD was really hoping to swim with mantees but our dates there will be 3/28 thru 4/1 so I'm thinking it'll be too late?

I guess I was associating Spring break more with the Miami area so I wasn't really thinking about rowdy crowds. Oh well, should be exciting

I'll post a report when I get back. We're moving on to Cypress Harbour in Orlando when we are done in Daytona. Should be fun!

Jenn

 

[riu girl]

ttfn3:
we rent privately through an owner. We rent a modest one bedroom condo two blocks from the beach. The small condo complex offers 34 units and a small heated pool.

We found the condo through www.vrbo.com and www.vacationrentals.com. It is in one of the oldest buildings on the key but the building and unit are well maintained. If interested, I can pm you with the condo info.

There are a ton of up scale condos as well as resorts on the beach (8 miles long I think). If you look at the chamber of commerce web site it lists a ton of places. On the chamber of commerce web site, you can also order (for free) a wonderful Siesta Key guide/map that lists tons of places to stay as well as offers a ton of other tourist info.
Looking through this guide we liked Aloha Kai (largest heated pool on the island and you rent your own private villa) and Sea castle (offers a heated pool right on the beachs edge) but all in all we were looking for very inexpensive lodging so that is why we booked what we did. it is very basic but suited us fine, but I'm sure a lot of people would prefer something newer that offers some amenities.

 

[micki7337]

Daytona is worth the day trip if you like NASCAR, beaches and bike week. So I guess the answer is yes

the DH

 

[DisneyGerry]

I think so. For most of us when driving we drive right by Daytona to get to WDW. It is about an hour away depending where you are staying. Kids and Big Kids will like driving on the beach--big wide beach. Junky Boardwalk but who would want it any other way? Id think most would be interested in seeing Daytona USA: tour of the track--holds something like 200,000, Museum, gift shop, even a cool iMax movie. Dog track next door. Cant do all that in too many places in the US/ World.

 

[kimjordan]

My husband and I went to Daytona for a week last May, and we both absolutely loved it. We stayed at a hotel a few miles down the beach from the Ocean Walk called Perry's Ocean Edge Resort. We had originally made reservations at the Ocean Walk and I read so many BAD reveiws of it, that I changed to Perry's. It was great, the entire hotel has been remodeled, it has two pools with plenty of seating (seating at the pool is a MAJOR problem at the Ocean Edge), I would highly recommend it. If you're staying at the Ocean Edge, I would recommend having either lunch or dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp, it's in a little mall right next to the Ocean Edge, and the food is great and the service is even better. One comment for those who have commented that the beach is dirty, one of the things that impressed me the most about the beaches in Daytona is how clean they are. There is always someone on the beach cleaning up trash, in my opinion they are very clean, and very fun! Have a great trip.

 

[jdm]

I thought Bubba Gump's was in the Oceanwalk complex next to Oceanwalk (not Edge). Does this mean there are two locations within a few miles of each other in Daytona? Just trying to clarify as it is on our to do list.

Jenn

 

[Jason71]

I thought Bubba Gump's was in the Oceanwalk complex next to Oceanwalk (not Edge). Does this mean there are two locations within a few miles of each other in Daytona? Just trying to clarify as it is on our to do list.

Jenn

Only one in Daytona, at Ocean Walk. Hard to miss, look for the walkway over A1A.

 

[LauraAnn630]

We rented a car to drive to Daytona. We loved it! I thinks its well worth it.

 

[ohiomom28]

We stopped in Daytona last April on our way home. It was early afternoon and nobody was around. Spring Break was over and it looked like a ghost town. Very run down, but it was nice to see the ocean.

 

[kydisneyfans]

The hurricanes 2 years ago really hurt Daytona. We went in the fall of 04 and really it was depressing-buidlings with windows smashed out-half of the city boarded up-is really was sad.

We have never felt unsafe in Daytona-and remember the beaches were rather clean. It just isn't the same place it was when I was a child 15 years ago.