Where to stay for a week at beach?

[markiemark90]

Hi dibbers

We have three weeks in Florida in July. First two in Orlando in villa. Then week somewhere else.

We are three me, DW and DS 16. We like somewhere lively and do not wAnt to be on remote beach despite how picturesque it may be.

My ideas so far have been:
Clearwater beach, St petes or anywhere down that coast or Anna Maria Island holmes beach, Madeira beach. Noticed johns pass at Madeira beach which looked like it may have a bit of life. Would be good if there were pedalos parasailing, kayaks. Go on a fishing/boat trip etc.

Would prefer beach front condo two bedrooms, must be walking distance from beach and bars and restaurants. Would like to leave car on a night although we will plan to visit the other resorts during the day.

Any dibbers with similar tastes and teenagers have any advice.

Many thanks
Mark

[sotagals]

You should be ok finding a condo in July as this is the "off" season and you are more likely to be able to id a condo that will allow 1 week only rentals.

You need to be careful with your location down the coast from Clearwater to StPete if you want to be walking distance of bars etc as you could just be a few blocks from the shops and it would be too far/hot to walk.

Somewhere right by St John's village would be ok or Pass a Grille in St Pete Beach. Maybe Indian Shores if you got the right location.

Anna Maria is lovely but quite quiet

Further south I would recommend Sarasota if you can get somewhere near Siesta Village which is quite lively in the evenings.

Further south still but not too far is Fort Myers Beach - this is pretty lively too if you can get somewhere near Times Square or nearby on the trolley route.

[markiemark90]

Sotogals

Thanks for advice

Will look down at fort Myers

I am on condo websites presently. There are loads available. It's the resort that is important. Madeira beach seems cheaper than Clearwater assume that is just because Clearwater is a bigger resort with more going on?

Mark

[Guest]

Originally Posted by sotagals

You should be ok finding a condo in July as this is the "off" season and you are more likely to be able to id a condo that will allow 1 week only rentals.

You need to be careful with your location down the coast from Clearwater to StPete if you want to be walking distance of bars etc as you could just be a few blocks from the shops and it would be too far/hot to walk.

Somewhere right by St John's village would be ok or Pass a Grille in St Pete Beach. Maybe Indian Shores if you got the right location.

Anna Maria is lovely but quite quiet

Further south I would recommend Sarasota if you can get somewhere near Siesta Village which is quite lively in the evenings.

Further south still but not too far is Fort Myers Beach - this is pretty lively too if you can get somewhere near Times Square or nearby on the trolley route.

See more...

July isn't the off season for anyone but the English. It's the height of the summer season for Americans.

[swiper]

Clearwater is amazing. Just park your car and you won't need it again until you leave!
Lots to do and see. Plenty of activities around the pier area. Good places to eat!
You can use your car to visit Johns pass, St petes and all the other little places along that part of the coast!
To get a condo on or near to Clearwater beach it will cost around £1000 for the week!
Worth every penny in my opinion!

[Guest]

We've booked an oceanfront condo at Madeira beach for a week in June for about £700. It's 15 minutes walk from Johns Pass which has quite a few restaurants, shops and bars. There are boat trips and water sports too. We've not stayed here before but have visited for the day and it seemed quite lively. It's only a 20 minute drive in the car to Clearwater or you can hop on the Clearwater Jolley trolley x

[Helen0705]

We love Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island and normally visit every year .
Naples is also a big favourite of ours too .

[Boyle73]

You'll def pay a lot more for a beachfront condo in Clearwater, however due to the size of Clearwater your no more than a couple of mins walk to the water from anywhere.

Beachfront will cost you and TBH you won't necessarily get quality either, there are lots of townhouses and condos with waterfront views of the intercoastal waterways.

We've stayed in a lovely 3 bed townhouse in a small development called paradise cove on brightwater drive, it's on the right side of the road for the sun all day and has great quiet waterway views. It's pricey though at around $1800 plus tax per week. Great if your sharing but we couldn't really afford it on our own. We now stay in the holiday inn and get a suite, it's got a king or two queens in one room and the adjoining room has a kitchen, dining table and a double sofa bed for DD.

Might be worth checking the prices of some of the hotels for comparison perspectives. Plus because we stay for longer than a week we negotiate direct with the hotel for a discounted room and parking rate.

HTH

[Jake71]

We stayed in Treasure Island which is near St John's Pass too. We stayed in South Beach Condos which were within walking distance of restaurants and a few bars. We had a beach view 2 bed condo which we loved.

There is a wee trolley bus that goes along the main road so no real need to even walk along to St John's Pass and back.

[markiemark90]

Dibbers

Just thought I would report back.

I have booked a week in a beach front condo in Fort Myers Beach, North End. In the end I though AMI would be a bit quiet. We like a bit of life and "stuff to do" with plenty of bars paces to eat etc.

I though we could visit Naples and see bits of South West Florida we have not seen before.

I saw great thread pasted below that helped: Thanks ChrisS

naplesdowntown/naples-pier.htm
Naples conservancy - conservancy/
Tin City in Naples - tin-city/
Corkscrew Swamp - corkscrew.audubon/
Ding Darling on Sanibel (closed Fridays) dingdarlingsociety/
Edison Ford Estate in Fort Myers - edisonfordwinterestates/
Boat trips/dolphin watching/sunset cruises; from Captiva to Cabbage Key - captivacruises/
Casino Big M boat from Fort Myers Beach - bigmcasino/fort-myers-beach/
Everglades City Ranger boat tours - nps.gov/ever/planyourvisi...ided-tours.htm
Babcock Ranch, on SR31 between Fort Myers and Arcadia - babcockwilderness/#!home/mainPage
Octagon wildlife sanctuary, just off SR31 between Fort Myers & Punta Gorda; Lauri Caron is an incredible lady who provides home to a multitude of animals, from exotic tigers, a rare black leopard, lions, ligers, bears, wolves to donkeys, goats, chickens, ducks, racoons, gators et al - check out the website video. The citizens/local big & small businesses donate food, supplies, manpower to keep them all fed. All volunteers happily donate their time, some for 10 plus years, ensuring the majority of monies collected cares for the animals. Open Sat & Sun and by appointment Mon to Fri - octagonwildlife/
Fort Myers tourist website - fortmyers-sanibel/?gc...FdY8gQodTo8ACA
Visit Florida website - visitflorida/en-us/ci...ort-myers.html
Muscle Car City, Punta Gorda - musclecarcity/
Shopping anyone? Miramar Outlets with over 140 top designer outlet stores - miromaroutlets-px.smrtlnk/
Tanger Outlets between Fort Myers and Sanibel - tangeroutlet/fortmyers

Mark