Florida Beaches - Which One?

[Shooby]

  Have any of you gone to Florida beaches?   We vacationed at Disney last year and i LOVE Florida.  Such a lush, beautiful State.  We would like to go to one of the Beach towns or resorts but i don't really know much about the locations to choose from.  I am looking for a beautiful beach that isn't too remote but is family oriented with a bit of hustle and bustle and things to do for the kids like minigolf and so forth.  Any suggestions?

[suesinfl]

Check out this link:
www.travelchannel.com/interests/beaches/photos/top-10-florida-beaches

I prefer Sanibel Island or Captiva Island. The larger beaches(Daytona, Miami, etc) are too crowded for me, but they do offer more things to do.

[Deleted]

Hi, Shooby.

I have been to cocoa beach in FL. many times before. They don't have a beautiful green ocean like it in Mexico. They do have some interesting stuff you can do around that area with your family.

When I decide to go somewhere I don't know much about it this's my favorite website. 
Hope this will help.

www.tripadvisor.com/

[Shooby]

DD said she wanted to go to Cocoa Beach.  Not sure how she heard about it or why but i said i would look into it .  Thanks.

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2013 8:38:39 GMT -5 Shooby said:

DD said she wanted to go to Cocoa Beach.  Not sure how she heard about it or why but i said i would look into it .  Thanks.

Have a wonderful weekend. Friend.

[suesinfl]

Remember that the beaches on the east coast of the state are very different that those on the west coast. I've never been to Coco beach, but I remember years ago they had problems with tar washing up. A neat thing to see if you do go to Coco Beach is Kennedy Space Center.

[Shooby]

  I don't know which beaches are east coast or west coast or which might be a better pick for us. 

[wvugurl26]

I like the stuff on the west Gulf side. I've been to both Panama City Beach and Clearwater multiple times. I enjoyed both of them and they had plenty of stuff for families.

[tractor]

I tend to go for the exact opposite when it comes to Florida beachs. Piece and quite. My favorite if Fort Desoto beach, south of Tampa. It's really nice, not crowded, and full of sea shells, sand dollars, etc. I try to go whenever I am down that way. You can walk a long ways without seeing a house, hotel, or quickie mart.

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2013 9:06:46 GMT -5 Shooby said:

  I don't know which beaches are east coast or west coast or which might be a better pick for us. 

I really don't know that myself. Shooby.

When I am looking for beach as a traveling destination. I love" Cancun Mexico" but it's too far for us to drive. When I was living in San Fran. C A their beach was too cold for me to even get into water.

Since you are going with your family it might be  better to look for family friendly places. 
You will have a wonderful time regardless.

[swamp]

Anna maria Island

[zibazinski]

Okay, I'm prejudiced,  but I vote Clearwater!

[Deleted]

My parents always take us to Clearwater when we visit. We also watched the sunset at "Honeymoon Beach State Park" and got some gorgeous pictures! 

I am going to ask them if they know about Fort Desoto Beach, though. 

[chiver78]

I'll echo the Anna Maria Island suggestion

[tractor]

Small correction, it's Fort Desoto State Park, check it out on-line, there's more there than I thought.

[Deleted]

Hey....they took us there when we got off the plane last year! So they DO know about it! 

[Shooby]

What about Tampa or St. Petersburg?  I know Busch Gardens is in Tampa.  We want to be near some fun activities.  We already went to Disney so we don't need to be near that.   The kids really LOVE minigolf. 

[wvugurl26]

Apr 23, 2013 5:55:24 GMT -5 Shooby said:

What about Tampa or St. Petersburg?  I know Busch Gardens is in Tampa.  We want to be near some fun activities.  We already went to Disney so we don't need to be near that.   The kids really LOVE minigolf. 

Clearwater is near Tampa. I always flew into Tampa when I went. Clearwater has plenty of mini golf and fun stuff. I was there 3 different times for work in 2 years. If you want to do Busch Gardens then you could do Tampa/Clearwater.

[Shooby]

OK, thanks.  I am going to start researching online and see what looks good.

[zibazinski]

Depending on where you're coming from there a some airlines like Allegiant who fly right into the st Pete-Clearwater airport.

[Shooby]

Are there any resorts in particular you can recommend? 

[chiver78]

I've stayed at the Beach House Suites, linked to the Don Cesar hotel in St Pete Beach. they are 1BR suites with pull-out couches, and have a little kitchen, very reasonably priced too. you're right on the beach, it seemed like there would be a lot to do when it's busy there. I went in November for a charity thing, there wasn't much going on outside my event.

hotel link

[Deleted]

We just got back from Sanibel Island. Very family oriented and we liked it, but it is a quiet vacation. I don't think they have mini golf on the island.

[zibazinski]

Actually they do have it on Sanibel. Mini golf.

[spartan7886]

We go to St Pete every summer. We stay at the Bon-Aire Resort Motel, down the street from the Don Cesar. Yes, you read that right. Resort motel. The rooms are ok, as they've slowly started updating after the old owner died and his daughter took over. We really love it for the cabanas, though. You can sit out and look at the sea without getting a sunburn or sand in your bathing suit.

Something else I like doing to get off the beach besides Busch Gardens and the ubiquitous minigolf is the Salvador Dali museum. "The Persistence of Memory" is at MoMA in New York, but they've got a ton of other really cool paintings, including 7 of his masterworks.

[Deleted]

May 14, 2013 11:31:04 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Actually they do have it on Sanibel. Mini golf.

must be small