Best and nearest beach

[tomdan]

We would like to visit a beach for the day which are the nearest?

[Guest]

Nearest beaches are New Smyrna, Daytona and Cocoa.

[tomdan]

Thank you, which do you think is worth a visit?

[Guest]

I'd go to New Smyrna of those 3, but that's just a personal preference. We have a home in St Augustine so I don't actually go to any of them.

[martyn7836]

Sorry to jump in but can I ask is it worth going to these beaches or would you be best going the other way to Bradenton st Petes area. Only reason I ask we once went to KSC and called in a Daytona and I wasn't impressed seem to remember the rest of my family weren't that keen too but then I was younger however we may have been at the wrong part etc however a few years later we did a week in Sarasota and the beaches down that way blew us away. I'm taking my own family next year a fancy a beach day my wife isn't that keen on a 2 hour drive to Ann Marie island (which I heard was nice) so was wondering what you would recommend, the shorter journey to Daytona side or head west.
Thanks in advance Martyn

[swiper]

We have just come back from Clearwater ... Long soft white sand beaches. Warm calm waters, watch the Dolphins manatees and stingrays as you walk along the beach.
Visit the the sunset celebrations around pier 60 (2 hours before sunset and 2 hours after)
At weekends catch a free movie next to the pier.
Plenty of places to eat and drink... The bait house at the bottom of the marina. Gondalier Greek/ Italian. Clear sky. These are just afew but all worth a visit!
Takes around 1.5 - 2 hours, but I believe Clearwater is well worth the trip!

[paultall90]

Clearwater side I've found the sea to be calm like a millpond, Daytona side to be the opposite ideal for surfing etc.

[Guest]

It depends what you want from a beach. It's all a matter of personal preference. Most people on here seem to love Clearwater or AMI. Then there's that fallacy going around that the water on the East coast is colder than the water on the West coast. Personally my kids are surfers they'd no sooner go to the West coast than fly to the moon.

There's a thousand miles of beaches in Florida and we all have our favorite things about any if those miles. If I was going to the West coast I'd go to Fort Desoto park, but then I don't want to ride Little Toot or anything similar, I just want to veg out on the sand. In the East coast we only tend to go to St Augustine, although there are some pretty areas between Cocoa and Melbourne.

[cornishfrogboy]

We like Holmes beach on Anna Maria because of its amazing sand.

We also regularly visit Casperson Beach, just south of Venice. The sand is ok, but if you take a Walmart serve with you, you will find fossilised Sharks teeth in it. We then adjourn to 'Sharkys' by the pier for Lunch.

[Eeyore14]

Like Ilivehereorland says it is very much personal preference. If you want a short drive Cocoa would be closer, we visited twice when we went and had a great time, the beach was nice and quiet if you go a bit further along from the pier.
New Smyrna beach is not quite so far as Daytona and we thought was a bit quainter. We also went to Daytona liked the beach, especially as you can park on it so very handy for getting changed and not having to carry all our beach stuff. We also hired jet ski's on the Halifax river. But we didn't enjoy the drive to Daytona as we went on the I4. If we go again would drive there a different way.
The sea on the east coast we found to be more interesting as it has a bit more wave. We also went surfing at Cocoa but the waves aren't too big for going into the sea if your not surfing.
Clearwater we found much busier We loved Clearwater years ago when our kids were small , but felt it was too busy for us now. But it all depends what you are looking for. if you are looking for beach day with add on's like the sea screamer and the aquarium, then Clearwater might be the right choice for you.