Beaches
 

I love the Gulf Coast, my sweetie is a Cape May NJ girl, only wants to see the Atlantic. We've agreed to split our beach time between East and West. I know Daytona Beach is a couple of hours away, are there any other beaches on the Atlantic coast that are as nice or nicer?

If we head towards the Gulf, what beaches are over that way that we would enjoy?

As always, thanks.

:wave: We like New Smyrna Beach for a quick/short getaway. We stay at the Hampton Inn on Flagler and like the Flagler Tavern also. Straight across 42 to a left on 44. If your hat gets wet.... you went too far.:beer3: (77 miles)

Bonita Beach.

It's a drive.

Lido beach or Anna Maria Island are gorgeous white sand

Clearwater, Maderia, Indian Rocks

Jetty Park at Cocoa Beach

Siesta beach, number 1 beach in the USA

The barrier Key islands off Sarasota and Bradenton all have fantastic beaches. They work at keeping them that way. The problem is they are 2 1/2 hours away. There are a lot of condos right on the beach, but generally not as crowded as Tampa/Clearwater. Peak season (March and July) are crowded everywhere. There appear to be a couple of beach areas just west of TV. They appear to be less developed and more rustic. Just seen pix, haven't actually. Been there.

http://BEACH.JPG
Manasota Key or even Longboat Key

When going to the Gulf coast straight west on SR 44 you'll arrive in the Crystal River - Homasassa Springs area. This is the southern end of the part of Florida called 'Big Bend', it's the curve from Panama City Beach around and down. Around the bend is mostly marsh and natural perserves and the little fishing town of Apalachicola is about the only town of size.

To reach a sandy beach, there are little spots here and there in Cirtrus County, but for the most part you need to turn south on US 19 and go into Hernando County near the town of Spring Hill and turn west on Hwy 50, or take I-75 south and exit Hwy 50 westbound, but you will have traffic going through Brooksville. Stay on route 50 and you will end up on a state park called Pine Island, not to be confused with the Pine Island near Ft. Myers. It's a beautiful beach and has facilities but not much in the way of commercial businesses.

Pine Island
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/me...land-beach.jpg

You can continue south about 15 miles to Hudson and the first real beaches that are attached to the towns. In Hudson turn right on Clark St. and go straight ahead to Hudson Beach. It's a small beach used by the locals, I use to live in Spring Hill and went many times. It's has nice seafood/bar right on the beach playing Jimmy Buffet and Bob Marley on the speakers. However, it's not much, here's photo.

Hudson Beach
http://hudsonfla.com/beachultimate.JPG

Be advised, Hwy 19 is a nightmare of non-stop businesses, malls, restaurants, so don't be in a hurry. To get to real beaches with motels, marinas, restaurants, etc you'll want to go to Clearwater Beach. Continue south through New Port Richey, Holiday, Tarpon Springs, Innisbrook Golf Resort, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, and then Clearwater turn right or west onto Hwy 60 and follow to the beach. This is a beautiful beach with everything, but can be crowded. Another way to go if you're not in the sightseeing mood is take I-75 south to Tampa and join I-275 into Tampa and then near the Tampa Int'l Airport look for Hwy 60 Courtney Campbell Causeway and get on that and take it all the way west.

Clearwater Beach
https://images.trvl-media.com/media/...ach-175048.jpg

Once you're on the beach and if it's too crowded and you continue south and find beaches for the next 25 miles, they're will be Indian Rocks Beach, Reddington Beach, Maderia Beach (check out John's Pass Boardwalk while you're there), Treasure Island and then St. Petersburg Beach.

St. Petersburg Beach
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Also there is a really neat state park called Ft. Desoto. It's a huge island and is located south of St. Pete Beach, you'll need to take Pinellas Bayway (small toll) as if you're headed back into St. Petersburg but then take the exit to Tierra Verde.

Fort Desoto State Park
http://img2.10bestmedia.com/Images/P...54_990x660.jpg

Now you can skip Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas Counties and all the beaches above and just stay on I-75 and go around Tampa and go to Bradenton and Sarasota and the beaches that others have recommended such as Siesta Key, St. Armands Key, Anna Maria Island and Long Boat Key. However the area around Sarasota can be more expensive just like areas further south around Naples.

We had a really nice quick getaway at Madeira beach. Stayed at the Shoreline Resort right on the beach with a kitchenette, pool, 2 big recliners, balcony and big TV with premium channels and a wonderful comfy king bed. Get best price on Trivago.

For several years, Clearwater Beach was named the best beach in Florida. Last year it 2was named the best beach in the U.S.
After exploring several other options, it's the only beach we go to now.

It's a combination of it being a great beach and the convenience of getting there, the convenience of parking, food concessions and facilities.

I was very disappointed with the beaches on the east coast except for South Miami Beach which is too far away to travel to regularly.

Daytona and New Smyrna don't have very nice sand and no facilities. Daytona has a food truck on the beach and New Smyrna has a nice restaurant.

John, thank you so much for taking the time to putall that information together for us. We have visited Florida many times over the years, but the majority of our time has been spent in the Ft. Myers, Naples, Marco Island area on the Gulf side and the Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm beach area on the Atlantic side.

I promise you that as soon as we get settled, we are going to start exploring some of these beautiful areas that you have told us about.

Thanks to everyone for all your information, we are so looking forward to becoming part of the Villages community. We will be arriving on Sept 1 to begin looking for our permanent home.

Just checked Google maps, Clearwater beach is only a 2 hour drive from the Villages. We're used to driving 3 hours to get to Cape May, 2 hours is nothing.

Love Pine Island Beach - Palm trees right on the beach for shade, great sand, no crowds and the closest beach to the Villages. They have picnic facilities, and a window service restaurant that has great food and drinks. I highly recommend it.

I like Melbourne Beach on the Atlantic and Siesta Key on the Gulf.

All nice beaches but be aware that "in Season" getting to any of these beaches is a nightmare.

We traveled to Clearwater Beach and had a wonderful time. Didn't mess around with any back roads, took the main interstates. Not a bad drive at all until we hit Tampa, then the usual big city interstate congestion. Took about 2 hours door to door.

Had no idea where to camp out, chose the South Beach. Wow. Beautiful beach. Clean, soft cushy white sand. Not crowded at all. Lifeguards all along the beach. Water was chilly, so we only went in knee deep, but there were people swimming out there.

Plenty of choices for lunch, we ended up at Hooters, where we had a nice meal while enjoying the scenery.

Haven't checked out the Atlantic coast, but when we go to the gulf, we will return to Clearwater Beach for sure.

Thanks

John W you did a great job of showing the West Coast beaches. You made me homesick for the beaches. We wintered on the Intercoastal in Reddington Shores for many years, just a small cottage on the water - walk to the end of the road and cross Gulf Blvd and you are on the Gulf. We had fully intended to retire there, but it became a transient area and Gulf Blvd traffic is horrendous, but it is a gorgeous area.

Actually, Clearwater Beach has been named the number one beach in the country. But I used to live in Sarasota and love Siesta Key Beach.

As far as the Atlantic side goes, I've been to Daytona, New Smyrna and another that I can't remember. They are all pretty much the same.

Clearwater Beach is beautiful and we have been going there for years. We usually stay at Sheppard`s resort which is about a 10 minute walk to the main beach. Sheppard`s has a nice Tiki bar and entertainment in the evening. We also like to go to Hoilman`s Beachcomer for a great dinner and hear the excellent piano player.

We Just spent a week in Clearwater at the Opal Sands. Beautiful hotel and the restaurant was so good we ate there every night.

John... Thanks for the Great Information... I just copied it...