Beaches

[Tony Bush]

Another hiccup to my planning.....

DW and DD want to spend a day on a beach.. Any recomendations, I've thought of either Cocoa beach or St Petes/Clearwater.. - I know both are a fair drive but which is best...which has more to do....and is there another one even better??????

Tony

 

[Kenbar]

quote>"which has more to do"<quote

What do you want to do on a beach??

 

[Tony Bush]

Well the ladies might like to lay on the beach - but I'd like other attractions/shops etc..... I read that St Pete's does a dolphin cruise as well..

Tony

 

[UKDEB]

Tony,

We're planning a day at the beach this trip. I posted a similar question a while back and most of the replies favoured St Pete's/Clearwater over Cocoa or Daytona, because the former are on the Gulf rather than the Atlantic coast and so the sea's warmer.

From what I've read you'll find plenty of shops, bars and restaurants at all of them. All of them sound pretty busy too, but St Pete's and Clearwater sound more appealing to me - less 'in your face'.

Cocoa and Daytona are both about an hour's drive, St Pete's and Clearwater roughly an hour and a half.

 

[WDWfan uk]

..... Clearwater Beach has wonderful sand, warm water and a calm sea - as Debbie says it will take you an hour and a half if you get a clear run..... dolphin cruises are available from the pier at Clearwater but whether you'd be able to fit it into one day, I'm not sure.

 

[Muppet]

My personal opinion is that Cocoa Beach is very dirty and there isn't must to do in Cocoa. Clearwater beach is lovely but a bit of a drive. Very clean though and warmer water. Naples beach is fantastic but too much of a drive.

 

[pauldents]

I agree muppet !

The best beaches are on the Gulf, not the Atlantic.

I have been quite a few beaches on both sides - St. Petes, Sanibel, Clearwater, Miami, Cocoa, Madeira and Treasure Is.

For an official Blue wave beach though, drive approx 30 miles north of Clearwater to Honeymoon island. Take the boat across to Caledisi Island. You will find one of the US's best beach. If not the best beach.

Caledisi Island gets voted in the top ten of North American beaches year after year. If you want a day at the beach, free from ALL commercialism. This is the place to go. There is a guy on the Island who hires deckchairs and because only a limited amount of people who are allowed on the island, it feels like you have got your own island.

Also, if your not much of a sun bather, there is plenty to explore on the island, as it is a wildlife sanctuary aswell.

The boat ride across costs around $8.00 each and you can leave your car in their car park on Honeymoon Is.

You will also find a small shop on the island, which provides a few snacks etc.

When you pass through Clearwater, check out the Worlds largest Speedboat aswell. This thing goes out a few times a day, in search of dolphins. I think it cost around $12.00 per adult and you can't miss it, as its a huge yellow boat.

Paul

 

[richard3330]

I can HIGHLY reccomend Honeymoon Island/Caladesi Island, they are truly breathtaking.

We arrived at Honeymoon Island at around 11am and took the really neat boat ride over to Caladesi, during the boat ride we saw lots of dolphins bow-riding and it was a memorable experience. The boat trip lasts about 15 minutes and is great fun.
Caladesi Island has a BEAUTIFUL white san beach with dolphins usually swimming fairly close to the coast.

Caladesi has a small shop and a food counter plus changing facilties and toilets.

Honeymoon Island is accesed via a bridge and it costs about 5/6 bucks for parking there for the day. Honeymoon has great rock pooling and you can see tons of great sea life.

Honeymoon and Caladesi are only a short drive away from Clearwater.

Have Fun!!!

 

[Shuttle Fan]

Is it easy to find these places? we've got lost in the past going to both St. Petes and Clearwater. Can anyone recommend a hotel nearby as we'd like to go to Busch while we're in the area rather than drive from Orlando.

 

[richard3330]

We rented a villa for the third week of our vacation. The villa was in Newport Richey - it was REALLY nice. It backed an lake and golf course (the lake had cute baby alligators in!!). It only took us a short while to get to Clearwater and then Honeymoon Island is about 10/15 minutes drive from Clearwater.

Any hotel in Clearwater will be fine for good beaches, many attractions and honeymoon/caladesi island.

 

[tracymiami]

Hi Tony

Last year we did the Cleawater Screamer trip with Virgin (we did not have a car) but we wanted to chill on the beach and it was lush. We went on a boat for a couple of hours, had some lunch and then me and Martin got a jet ski, he went on longer and saw wild dolphins (trust me to miss them).

Miami is also lovely but about 4 hours away I have been there 3 times so that is nice if you want to stay over for an evening. You can go to a place called Bayside which is lovely which has shops, resturants etc on a harbour and take a boat trip to see Millionaires Row which made me feel very poor indeed.

Hope that helps

Hugs

T