which beach?

[stubb]

hello

we are due to fly out on 14 dec. the weather is looking lovely at the moment and we are thinking of spending a couple of days at a beach so question is which one? i have heard about sanibel/captiva but unsure if they are still recovering after the hurricanes.

thanks

michelle

 

[dc1964]

Drive to CLEARWATER beach. Beautiful white sand, Parking right next to the beach. Nice.

 

[UKPhil]

You can save yourself a little driving time by visiting the east coast. Playalinda Beach is beautifully unspoiled but has no facilities to speak of. New Smyrna Beach is lovely too and with all the facilities of a small town at hand. Here you can drive right on the beach like at Daytona. Both are just north of the Kennedy Space Centre.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

I won't get into the East Coat/West coast debate, but one thing to remember is that the climate in Florida gets steadily warmer as you head south. This time of year, anything north of Orlando can be too cool for the beach with damper blustery weather. It can also be warm at times, but less consistently than to the south.

I would look at resorts to the south east and south west, rather than the north east like Daytona. See what the weather is when you get to Disney before deciding.

Andrew

 

[Mike Jones]

We love Siesta Key... stunning beaches, lovely Island feel and less commercialized than many other areas. We much prefer it to the St Pete's/Clearwater area.. it's 2hrs 15 mins from Orlando. Have a read of our Christmas 2003 trippie (link in sig)

... a lot more pics from the same source here

Mike

 

[gilld]

I know it's a question of personal choice but we were very disappointed in Clearwater and St Petes. We felt they were both rather tacky and touristy, especially Clearwater. We've spent a day at Cocoa Beach and that was ok for the day.

I would agree with Andrew that you should go further south. Boco Ratan is nice.

 

[vernon]

While it's reasonably warm at the moment (compared to the UK), I don't think you'll find it's lying on the beach weather, not for any length of time. Picking the hottest part of the day to lie around a hotel pool for a couple of hours, sheltered from any wind may work. I'm pretty hardy but even so with a sea breeze (and it's been pretty blowey the last couple of days) I think I'd hesitate to spend too much time trying to sunbathe.