FLORIDA Q&A

Here’s a quick primer on Florida beaches to help you choose. Start by choosing your general location and the time of year you want to visit.

• Gulf of Mexico Beaches will tend to have white sand and calmer waters (which is great for really young children or for those timid about the water).
• Atlantic Beaches tend to have golden brown sand and waves (which are great fun if you like to surf, skim board, etc).
• The Florida Keys are great fun, but not renowned for their beaches, with the exception of beautiful Bahia Honda. Many of the Florida Keys’ beaches are manmade, or are just a layer of sand over a sliver of limestone. (If you want superb scuba diving and snorkeling, you cannot beat the Keys.)
• The north is almost always cooler than south, something to remember in both summer and winter. To find out the average temperature of a destination, just scroll to the bottom of VISIT FLORIDA’s home page. You’ll find a place to enter the city’s name plus the month.

Next, you should figure out the general vibe you’re looking for. Do you want a big city? A charming little town with shopping and cafes? A beach where you see almost nobody else? Someplace upscale? Someplace old-fashioned? Do you like miniature golf and T-shirt shops, or do you hate them? Florida features beaches on both coasts in all these varieties.

A few articles you may find helpful:

• High Activity Beaches
• 5 Florida Beaches with Old-Time Flair
• Best of the Best Beaches (particularly helpful, with award-winning beaches of many types)
• Beaches with the Most Bang for Your Buck

To further research any destination that you find interesting, put its name into the search engine on the VISIT FLORIDA homepage, and it will give you lots of info that you can filter by blog, article, photo or video, to help you decide which one is the best fit for you.

I’m happy to help you find exactly what you’re looking for, too! Just write me with details of what you’d like!