West Coast ideas?

[gottaluvpooh]

If you were planning a west coast trip (reasonable) before your disney experience, where would you go and why?
Looking for clean beaches, family resort.
Perhaps close to Bush Gardens, or at least a short trip to get there.
Suggestions? Thank you.

 

[rcomputer]

I would go to San Diego - specifically for the zoo - to see how the DAK designers made their decisions and choices.

 

[Jane E.]

Do you mean the west coast of Florida? Alot depends upon what you want to do, the ages of your children etc. I love Siesta Beach in Sarasota. (Just make sure there is NO red tide before you vacation there. That will ruin your trip.) If you have small children Siesta Beach is great. The sand is like powdered sugar & the beach gradually gets deeper, there are no big drop offs. Sarasota also has the Ringling Museum, art galleries downtown, lots of touristy shops on St Armands Circle, and its about an hour away from Busch Gardens.

 

[Antonia]

On the "west coast" of Florida, commonly known as the Gulf Coast - LOL - Clearwater Beach is nice. We recently spent a day away from the parks and drove over to the coast and traveled 150 miles south and stopped at several beaches along the way - just a fun way to spend the day. We drove across a big bridge called the Sunshine Skyway and we also visited Venice Beach which is famous for sharks teeth. When we got there people were looking for them like crazy and we found a bunch. Some of the beaches had no waves and my family did not like these - Venice Beach was very family oriented it seemed, pretty beach. lots of sharks teeth and WAVES!! My son said the water looked like High Tide Gatorade and he could not wait to swim in it.