My daughter wants to do a beach vacation for winter break next month and all I know is Disney - She was not happy with my suggestion for Yacht and Beach Club.
Any recommendations for a nice beach resort in Florida? I don’t even know where to start. Tampa, West Palm, Miami??
*edit to add some CL pics and our room which was so pretty and had great views for Harmonious.
Depends what you want. If you want bigger waves, East Coast is where you want to be. That said, we really love Tampa/Clearwater side. A beautiful aspect of Gulf side is there are multiple spots known for LOTS of shells on the beach.
I have been to Ft. Lauderdale a number of times, but not recently. One area that falls under the radar is Hollywood beach area. It is a little quieter/less commercial than Ft. Lauderdale area. Think smaller places that are family run.
St Augustine has LOTS of neat history. I've actually never been to the beach there, but wandering St. Augustine is a neat day adventure. The Autograph Collection hotel was interesting and nice. It was in the Flagler College area. (neat to see the main building). The old fort and Old Town area are worthwhile. Be sure to have a Hyppo Popsicle! They are REALLY good!
Daytona is just okay. You'll probably want to avoid Bike Week, and any big racing weekends. If you are in that area though, drive north to an area called Port Orange. There are several old school Florida Seafood restaurants, but a favorite is called Boondocks. It is VERY barebones, and informal, but the food is great. It is hard to find, as are several other waterfront eateries. They have a marina out back and the river gets big catfish. I most recent visit was several years ago, but it used to get significant waits at dinner. Think conch fritters, mahi-mahi, and fried oysters.
If you end up near Fort Lauderdale...a crazy place to eat - also sea food is called Cap's Place. it is also hard to find, but worth the search. to get there, you actually have to find the parking area, then take a little shuttle boat out to the actual restaurant. Very ...I'm not sure how to say, very old school classic South Florida Seafood. I haven't been in some years, but the food is excellent. Key Lime Pie is the dessert to try. Olivia's at WDW is/was supposed to represent this type of theming, but the real South Florida dining is SO much better than WDW's watered-down copy. Hearts of Palm salad is another traditional menu item to try when in this area.
Oh, one more item to try..maybe if you go to Naples area is maybe fried gator.
If you visit very South Florida, the Everglades and Big Cypress NF are great places to visit. If you go... look for a crazy fruit stand called Robert is Here. They are a little fruit stand but they sell amazing exotic fruits you can't find anywhere else 9excpet there are knock-off fruit stands nearby). They will give you like he best mango you've ever tasted, and they make amazing fruit smoothies with the super fresh exotic fruits they sell. It is homestead, FL. Near the highway you'd take to go to the FL Keys. Driving out to the Keys is also unique to FL, as is an airboat tour. Best time of year for very south Florida is - more or less - right now. It is pretty warm year round.
Febuary is also peak citrus season. Find a real citrus stand, not the terrible ones off the highway. Near WDW, is a fun one up on 192 called Orange World- looks like a giant orange. Tampa, Naples, Ft Lauderdale should all have good ones to visit.
Clearwater has traffic to get there but the beach is very pretty. A super neat place to visit is Honeymoon Island/Caladesi. It is only open during the day, I think. It is a state beach/park. Tampa Bay also has wild dolphins to see. I think the one we went on was part of the Tampa Aquarium. As for hotels, there are quite a few.
Another nice beach to visit in that area is Indian Rocks. just at the beach is a parking area, bathroom/beach house, and parking wasn't very expensive. Good dining nearby as well. There's a bigger (more commercial/built up), but there are also bigger more commercial/built up beaches in that area as well.
This time of year there are multiple places to see Manatatees. If full-on beaches aren't your thing, Fl also has numerous Natural Springs parks as well! they are rather unique, but get busy. You have to arrive early just to enter. Like Wekiwa, not too far the WDW. Most are state parks with swimming, canoes. I haven't been there, but DeLeon Springs has a really neat looking pancake restaurant that is very popular. Visitors cook their own pancakes tableside. Arrive early and be prepared to wait!
In winter, many birds migrate to FL, so you can see all sorts of birds in FL.
Then there's Cape Canaveral, Miami...
Oh
