St Petes or Clearwater... Convince me

[Melcatfish]

Ok so we have some beach lovers in our party and some not that keen people. We can fit one day on the Gulf coast into our itinery ( I was sure that going for three weeks would mean we could do everything we wanted but nevermind!)

So would you go to Clearwater or St Petes or somewhere else?!

Originally we were going for St Petes so we could see the Dali museum as well as do the beach but now I am not sure where the best option would be.

PArty consists of:

Me - 25 likes the beach
DH - 31 doesn't mind small doses of beach

Aunt - 40's will go along with whatever
Uncle - 50's can't swim, is v easy going & will do whatever.
Cousin - 15 loves the beach
Cousin - 12 Quite likes the beach

Convince me where to spend that one beach day. Oh and will Friday be an ok day to visit the coast or does it get packed for the weekend by then?

Regards
Mel

 

[wheezie]

We visited (or tried to!!) clearwater a few weeks back. Unfortunately, there was a lot of road works and such like and it took 3 hours there and 3 hours back!!! When we eventually got to clearwater, the car parks were all full so we drove down a bit and went on one of the public beaches there.

By the time you go, the road works will probably be gone but I would definately check before you set off.

Wheezie

 

[Mike Jones]

..if you can only manage a day, and there are any potential traffic issues, I would suggest the east coast for a beach day instead of the Gulf... the Gulf deserves more than a day... can you not find a couple, and stay over?

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

I agree with Mike - a trip to the Gulf coast is not to be rushed - or missed in my opinion.

We prefer St Pete to Clearwater, but for a day or two day trip, they would both be brilliant. It all depends on what else you're looking for - ie restaurants, other things to do whilst there. Both offer great boat trips for dolphin watching, shelling etc.

 

[Melcatfish]

I did look at the East coast but to be honest it really doesn't appeal as much as the gulf coast - there seem to be many more negative views of cocoa beach \ daytona beach than there are for st petes and clearwater.

I'm still leaning towards St Petes. Really it comes down to:

Which beach is nicer?
Which has nicest eateries?
Which has other stuff to do besides laying on the beach?

Cheers
Mel


P.S. We are doing a cruise on the Disney Wonder at the end so the other beach day we planned had to be scrapped to make space for the cruise but the good news is we get a day at Castaway Cay to fulfil our remaining beach needs at the end of the holiday!!!!

 

[mike230652]

Melcatfish

If you can go on a Thursday, you can hit the beaches, visit the Pier ( outstanding ), have lunch in the fab Cuban/Spanish restaurant there ....and the Dali musuem does a VERY cut-price rate of $5 admission after 4 p.m. ( check the time ). The Dali musuem would be worth the drive alone IMHO.

A busy day...but worth it!

mike

 

[Melcatfish]

That all sounds really great - thanks. I especially like the sound of the spanish \ cuban restaurant!

Cheers
Mel