Bright and busy, they've got color, they've got action, they've got toys and excitement. Florida's old-fashioned family beaches - Clearwater Beach, Fort Myers Beach, Fort Walton Beach among them - practically ooze a Coney Island atmosphere, a perfect place for a family fling any time of the year.

Here, on these busy, sunny beaches, the action centers around a pier. Affordable accommodations and restaurants make them attractive to families and - at certain times of the year - college students. All are undergoing a renaissance to make them more pedestrian-friendly and to polish up their images.


Clearwater Beach

Kids everywhere! Young boys push dump trucks through the sand and surf. Tots and grade-schoolers play on slides, swings and cool bouncy things. Young tanned bodies spank volleyballs over the net. Adolescent girls dance to live music. Moms sputter "motorboat, motorboat" with their babies in the waves.

We found our two - son Aaron and friend Andrew, both 11 at the time - sifting sand through some sort of funnel gizmo next to the playground. The sun was setting on another weekend summer day at Clearwater Beach, and families were celebrating as they do every night at Pier 60.

The sands of Clearwater Beach are wide, white and sink-into soft. The resort town is known for its volleyball - it calls itself "Beach Volleyball Capital of the World," and keeps talking about opening a Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame. But volleyball is only one game in town. Across the street from Gulfview Beach (the main beach with the pier), Clearwater City Marina fills in the other part of the fun-in-the-sun equation. Shop the docks for all kinds of sea-bound adventure - parasailing, deep-sea fishing, sightseeing, island-hopping, dinner cruising and dolphin sighting. Young maties will love Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise.

Here, at this hub of Clearwater Beach hubbub, redevelopment centers around a landscaped roundabout, which replaced an old traditional intersection where the causeway meets the island. It's a bit confusing at first, but then you realize that roundabout is the best way to get to the beach. And this beach couldn't be better suited to beach babies of all ages. The playground has a roof (how thoughtful!). Beach concessions, restaurants and shops across the street provide on- and off-sand diversion.

To be closest to the action, stay at the Hilton Clearwater Beach, which has a dynamite kids' program. On the other hand, if you want some distance from people, sneak down to the south end and take a room at beachside Holiday Inn Sunspree. Sign the kids up for special activities and the Saturday movie night.

As you head north of the pier, the beach gets less crowded. One of our favorite Clearwater Beach restaurants, Frenchy's Rockaway Grill, sits beachside in this vicinity. For the ultimate in seclusion, wade across the pass between Clearwater Beach's north end to Caladesi Island State Park (this is easiest at low tide). Ferries also take you there.

Up and down the beach, concessions promise wet thrills in the form of Jet-skiing, Hobie cat sailing, windsurfing, parasailing and surf-biking.

Fort Myers Beach

If you want a potent taste of Fort Myers Beach "lively up," go for Fourth of July. The official fireworks show takes place at the pier, in the vicinity of so-called Times Square, where the bridge and Estero Island join. In addition, residents and visitors up and down the seven-mile beach set off their own "works," and not your average Roman candles and wimpy sparklers either. Word of warning: watch in safety from the landward edge of the beach.

Any time of year, Fort Myers Beach, like all good old-Florida beaches, has a rowdy edge. It's trying mightily to mend that with a family beach reputation, and it's succeeding mightily. Times Square is turning pedestrian north of the bridge intersection, lined with ice cream shops, beach wear stores, and open-air restaurants. Lynn Hall Memorial Park, around the base of the pier, has a playground. Up and down the beach, concessions promise wet thrills in the form of Jet-skiing, Hobie cat sailing, windsurfing, parasailing and surf-biking. Kids bring their skim boards because the shallow waters of Fort Myers Beach are made for scooting along on thin, sleek boards. If Johnny forgets his, you can buy one at surf shops around Times Square.

Fort Myers Beach's other reputation comes from its shrimp fleet, which harvests pink shrimp, the sweetest variety known to connoisseurs. Restaurants serve it up steamed, fried and inexpensive - along with other local catches. Snug Harbor (239-463-4343) is a good bet, with its outdoor bar and restaurants. Local shrimp packing plants package and sell the tasty crustaceans for travel.

Plenty of hotels congregate around the 560-foot pier, where pelicans and anglers flock. They are mostly of the chain variety and inexpensive. With small children, you may want to consider accommodations at the north end (Best Western Pink Shell Resort) or the south end (Gull Wing Resort).

At the south end, the beach widens and a sandbar attracts birds while keeping waters safe for small kids. Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve is known for its dolphin population. A variety of Jet-ski and boat tour charters take you in search of them.

At the extreme northern tip of the island, Bowditch Beach is secluded from center island traffic. South of Estero Island, across Big Carlos Pass, you'll find Lovers Key State Park, a retreat as lovely as its name.

Fort Walton Beach

Sea oats bend in the breeze and the sun makes diamonds out of wave ripples. Crab holes and crooked bird tracks mark mounds of angel-white, angel-soft sand. In a few hours, the beach will fill with families, set free by the beach's permission to do nothing but play.

But for now, only two small, barefoot children are visible, one scooping up damp sand at the surf line while the other pats each new gritty handful into shape.

Floridians are finally beginning to discover what our northern neighbors have known for years: Florida's Panhandle holds some of the finest beaches in the world. In Fort Walton Beach, a boardwalk complex at the pier and jaunty structures at other beach accesses have brought new life to this quintessentially Southern beach town. Nightclubs, restaurants, volleyball and concessions keep things lively at the boardwalk day and night.

Families will especially like Anglers Beachside Grill, where kids can play on a private, roped-off playground as parents watch from above. At night, clowns and face painters further the attraction.

Next to the pier, old-time attraction Gulfarium still jumps dolphins through hoops and balances balls on the noses of sea lions. One of the nation's first marine attractions, it is smaller and homier than today's state-of-the-art models, providing a nice, short break from the beach. Don't miss the multi-species show and scuba demonstration. Across the street, you'll find a strip of racetracks, miniature golf, batting cages and charters for parasailing, jet-skiing, windsurfing and pontoon-boating are available on Santa Rosa Sound, the island's leeward side.

And if that isn't enough, Destin lies a few minutes to the east. Go there for fishing, snorkeling and other boating excursions, and to visit Big Kahuna's, the chief among amusement parks in these parts, with both wet and dry components. In between the two beach towns, there is an Air Force Base installation and a portion of Gulf Islands National Seashore. The uninhabited, undulating dunes of the seashore are dotted with dwarfed pines and magnolias poking comically from their depths, like vegetation caught in a Florida snowdrift.

Fort Walton Beach comes in two parts - mainland and the beach, which occupies part of Okaloosa Island. (The western portion holds a military base and is closed to the public.) Most of the lodging on Okaloosa Island consists of chain hotels. If you wish to stay close to all the action, book at Ramada Plaza Beach Resort, or at The Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, next to the boardwalk. The island's west end is quieter, where the new Holiday Inn Sunspree provides deluxe accommodations right on the beach, with a kids' program and club.

East of the pier and boardwalk, Beasley County Park is away from it all. On the sound side of the island, Gulf Islands National Seashore supplies beach and water-sports fun.