Mini beach vacation after Disney???

[VinnyNYC]

Going to Disney for 7 days in August and maybe looking for a beach vacation after? Any suggestions for a family of 4??? St. Pete/Clearwater or Cocoa or Daytona beach?

 

[swilshire]

I've always preferred the Gulf coast and normally my automatic answer would be Clearwater, but I guess you better watch the oil spill before making any final decisions. It could be bad on both sides before it's over with.

Sheila

 

[MarthaJr.]

We much prefer the gulf side. Have been to Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, Ft. Walton Beach, Sanibel Island, Ft. Myers and Long Boat Key. Waters are warm and calm with pretty good shelling and gorgeous white sand.

We're heading to St. Pete Beach for 3 nights in June after our 4 nights in Orlando. It is about 2 hrs. from Orlando. We LOVE St. Pete Beach-beautiful white sugar sand beach and a nice laid back family atmosphere. This is our first time going in June--we've been at Easter and in Oct & Nov. in the past. I would highly reccommend the Tradewinds properties--lots of planned activities for the whole family--some free/some for a fee. They also have a kids club so you can have some grown up time. If you join their paradise club you can get the special rate of $89 a night for a suite or $69 for reg. hotel room! I got an email from them today indicating they haven't experienced any oil spill issues in St. Pete and don't expect to the whole summer. http://justletgo.com They have a live beach cam and Tampa Bay News 9 also has a beach cam at the property.

Now that I have completed my PSA for St. Pete......We've been to Cocoa Beach, Pompano Beach, Daytona Beach, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale on the ocean side. Cocoa Beach is closest to Orlando and is an okay beach to spend a couple nights. We've been there 2-3 times--not much to do there for kids aside from the Kennedy Space Center--which is great! Ron Jon's Surf shop is fun and they also have a resort there. We've walked around there but never stayed on property.

All in all, you can't go wrong with a beach vacation--it is a great way to wind down & relax after you've been at the "World"! Have a great time!

 

[Bdawg]

I attached a list of the Travel Channels top beaches... I have been to almost all of them and would pick either Siesta or Sanibel myself. It will all depend on what kind of beach experience you are looking for though.Siesta & Sanibel are pretty much laid back not really busy but very beautiful. More commercial and "fun" beaches would be Clearwater ,Panama City, Daytona, and of course South Beach


Top 10 Florida Beaches as rated by the Travel Channel
1.South Beach, Miami
2.Siesta Key Beach
3.Palm Beach
4.Lovers Key Beach
5.Clearwater Beach
6.Smathers Beach, Key West
7.Sanspur Beach, Bahia Honda State Park
8.Panama City Beach
9.Sanibel Island
10.Daytona Beach

 

[RabFlmom]

My never ending questions to tourists coming down to Florida and planning some beach days? What are you looking for? Do you just plan on walking on the beach and looking at the water or do you plan on getting in and playing in the waves and possibly boogey boarding and surfing? Do you want to pick up some shells to take home with you? Do you want an Ocean so you can say you saw the Atlantic Ocean or do you want the Gulf?

If your trip is in June both the Gulf and Atlantic will be sort of "big lake" type places to visit. Waves on the East coast of course will be bigger at the tides and if there happens to be a tropical system off shore. Even the little subtropical storm way out on the ocean this week brought in some decent waves for surfing a couple days(almost head high)

If you are just looking to walk a beach and pick up shells then the Gulf at Sanibel Island is a good spot. Didn't really find shells in the Clearwater area when we've been there, but when my kids were little liked the fact it was only ankle deep for yards and yards with a flatter bottom so the kids could sit and play in the water like in a shallow pool. East Coast you may be in knee deep water but the next step can be overhead.

East coast in Daytona area there aren't a lot of shells, but if you hit Brevard County(especially in August-November You are more likely to find the Florida Welks and larger shells. Cocoa Beach usually doesn't have as many shells as the Melbourne area beaches either.

Do you want white sand? East Coast does not have it. We have a sand that is beige or even brownish that a couple of the endangered Sea turtles will only come into to lay their eggs. Can be seen nightly at the beach if you are lucky to be in the right spot at the right time( no lights allowed) There are special tours set up by the park system if interested.

A lot of people on here think just the white sand beaches are beautiful, but the East Coast is beautiful, too. Just in a different way.

 

[bluenosemickey]

I was looking for the same advice. Our kids are small and won't want to venture too far out. Shelling is a must. Sounds like gulf coast is what we are looking for. I have stayed in Clearwater many years ago and loved the beach. Just wanting to stay 2-3 nights to relax before going to WDW. Wondering if there are any recommendations for places to stay right on or very close to the beach. Likely a hotel will do. We will be going to a villa in Disney so a couple of days without a kitchen would be ok.

Thanks.

 

[melly_jane]

We've done this for the last couple of years and we're doing it again.

Last fall we did 3 nights at AKL then drove to treasure island and stayed at the Sunset Vistas and we loved it! We'll be doing the exact same thing in late September. We're renting a 2 bdrm condo. Nice big kitchen and living area....2 bathrooms and 2 bdrms. The complex has a kiddy pool and a larger pool ....right on the beach...clean and tidy!! LOVED it!!

 

[winterhart534]

We've done this for the last couple of years and we're doing it again.

Last fall we did 3 nights at AKL then drove to treasure island and stayed at the Sunset Vistas....

Melly Jane, thank you so much for the tip! I looked at the Sunset Vistas web site last night and showed it to DH this morning. First words out of his mouth - "That looks great honey. Book it." He's been hemming and hawing over every other place I've found in the area. We really wanted something with a separate bedroom and a kitchen so we can make a few meals so this looks just great. Thanks again!

 

[loveysbydesign]

My never ending questions to tourists coming down to Florida and planning some beach days? What are you looking for? Do you just plan on walking on the beach and looking at the water or do you plan on getting in and playing in the waves and possibly boogey boarding and surfing? Do you want to pick up some shells to take home with you? Do you want an Ocean so you can say you saw the Atlantic Ocean or do you want the Gulf?

If your trip is in June both the Gulf and Atlantic will be sort of "big lake" type places to visit. Waves on the East coast of course will be bigger at the tides and if there happens to be a tropical system off shore. Even the little subtropical storm way out on the ocean this week brought in some decent waves for surfing a couple days(almost head high)

If you are just looking to walk a beach and pick up shells then the Gulf at Sanibel Island is a good spot. Didn't really find shells in the Clearwater area when we've been there, but when my kids were little liked the fact it was only ankle deep for yards and yards with a flatter bottom so the kids could sit and play in the water like in a shallow pool. East Coast you may be in knee deep water but the next step can be overhead.

East coast in Daytona area there aren't a lot of shells, but if you hit Brevard County(especially in August-November You are more likely to find the Florida Welks and larger shells. Cocoa Beach usually doesn't have as many shells as the Melbourne area beaches either.

Do you want white sand? East Coast does not have it. We have a sand that is beige or even brownish that a couple of the endangered Sea turtles will only come into to lay their eggs. Can be seen nightly at the beach if you are lucky to be in the right spot at the right time( no lights allowed) There are special tours set up by the park system if interested.

A lot of people on here think just the white sand beaches are beautiful, but the East Coast is beautiful, too. Just in a different way.

Great info!
We went to Fort DeSoto beach and loved it there. However it is a bit longer of a drive. We are looking to do 1-2 days at the beach this trip but only for the day. I have 2 older children who want to bring along there boogie boards. Which beach is best for this..Cocoa or Daytona?
Also are there any other beaches that are free like Fort DeSoto...where you can park for free, beach is free and use bathhouses to wash up after wards for free? Either on the western or eastern coasts?

 

[StuckInKS]

All in all, you can't go wrong with a beach vacation--it is a great way to wind down & relax after you've been at the "World"! Have a great time!

I second that statement and the recommendation of St. Pete. We were there for 5 nights last year, before staying 5 nights at Disney. We quickly learned that we did that in the wrong order--after 5 days with four small kids at WDW, we needed another relaxing beach vacation! So this year we are going to be there 5-7 nights after our disney vacation. We are "budget" minded, so we stayed at the Grand Plaza (looking at Sirata or Alden this time,) but there are other great places to stay. It is a beautiful beach.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Is there a quiter part of Clearwater Beach..also anyone know if you have to pay to park there? we're looking to just go there for the day and just want to relax on the beach and play in the ocean.

 

[nhtinkerbell]

We lived on Clearwater Beach for a number of yrs and luved it. Its a great family beach with cute shops. Its very quite and away from the hussle and bussle.

 

[altus]

Is a good option

 

[sjanus]

Is there a quiter part of Clearwater Beach..also anyone know if you have to pay to park there? we're looking to just go there for the day and just want to relax on the beach and play in the ocean.

Clearwater Sand Key is great, very quiet, beautiful beach. There is Sand Key Park where there is a public beach, nice restrooms, although sign said some are only open on weekends. There is a fee for parking, meters there, $1.00 per hour, but my DH thinks he read that there are passes somewhere available? DH says he also thinks he read only until 6:00 p.m. paid parking.

It is very clean as well. We stayed at Sheraton Sand Key, which is next door pretty much. Very, very nice beach!

Sandy

 

[tinymelodies]

Beaches on the west coast of Florida are much cleaner and nicer than the ones of the east, I think. At least in my experience, and I live 15 minutes from a beach on the east coast. It really does depend on what you're looking for though. RabFlmom is spot on!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Clearwater Sand Key is great, very quiet, beautiful beach. There is Sand Key Park where there is a public beach, nice restrooms, although sign said some are only open on weekends. There is a fee for parking, meters there, $1.00 per hour, but my DH thinks he read that there are passes somewhere available? DH says he also thinks he read only until 6:00 p.m. paid parking.

It is very clean as well. We stayed at Sheraton Sand Key, which is next door pretty much. Very, very nice beach!

Sandy

Thanks...I'll check it out!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Thanks...I'll check it out!

Darn..it says restrooms are closed m-f. That really stinks! it looks like such a great park but there is no way we could drive 1 1/2 hours back and forth and spend all day there without having a restroom to use...especially for my almost 3 y.o.

 

[jc040404]

Treasure Island has free parking and restrooms on the beach, across from the "scary elevator" Publix store. This is where we normally go. If it's full, there's a pay lot with restrooms and more just a down the street. That one (can find more details if you really want 'em) has a place to buy food and a little playground, too. I couldn't think of any others, but found this that has some more beach access info on it. Have fun!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would highly recommend trying Clearwater Beach.

 

[sjanus]

Darn..it says restrooms are closed m-f. That really stinks! it looks like such a great park but there is no way we could drive 1 1/2 hours back and forth and spend all day there without having a restroom to use...especially for my almost 3 y.o.

There were restrooms that were open! But not all of them during the week probably due to less crowds. We walked further back and found some open. My DH also pointed out, if we had a car, there were plenty of restrooms there! Sorry if my comments were misleading.

Sandy