Lloyd,

I would recommend heading west coast Florida as opposed to east. I find the east coast resorts, certainly the ones closer to Orlando (i.e. Cocoa and Daytona) very tacky (as a resort) and the beaches aren't particularly outstanding either. Plus of course you swim in the Atlantic Ocean....not my idea of a good time. Only saving grace for Daytona is the race track.

West Coast to either Clearwater or St Petes (only a little longer journey than to the east) would be my choice. There is a tour that goes to Clearwater from Orlando which includes a ride on the Clearwater Sea Screamer for dolphin watching. Clearwater isn't quite the resort it was 10 years ago, but the beach is lovely, white sand and of course you swim in the Gulf of Mexico and it is far warmer than the Atlantic. St Pete's is a slightly longer option also.

On the East coast you really need to head down to the likes of Fort Lauderdale or Miami to get a good beach area.

Echo what has been said about Daytona beach. When we there in 2005 the water was cold and the resort itself is best described as a dump. I would not recommend it.

Mark

Forget Daytona unless you want to drive a car on the beach........ very wide, flat, no scenery to speak of other than high rise hotels, and the sand is hard packed. Go Gulf coast.

Thanks for the info...
Which is the closest beach to kissimmee? & is there public transport available?

Lloyd

Probably Titusville on the east coast but the beaches around Clearwater are much better. From kissimmee it is probaly an easier journey to the Gulf coast beaches and they are much better. Forget about public transport outside the major cities; car is the only way.

Thanks busdriver!
Thats a shame tho! you would have thought someone out there would have set up public transport to access a beach resort as ive heard its only an hour away. It seems a really good idea to break up the days of the "hustle & bustle" & rest those tiresome feet.

Lloyd

Lloyd,

As I mentioned in an earlier post the day trip to Clearwater is quite a nice break from the parks. You get picked up from your hotel and taken to Clearwater for a buffet lunch at the Hilton (this might have changed now), then you head down to the Sea Screamer jetty and do the boat trip to see Dolphins etc (you do get very wet) and then the rest of the day is free time for beach lounging, looking around the resort etc.

Obviously as it's a tour it isn't going to be as cheap as public transport but it might be an option.

HEATWAVE wrote:

Thanks for the info...
Which is the closest beach to kissimmee? & is there public transport available?

yes there is some public transport available but you'll have to look into it carefully.
I have been from Tampa to Kissimmee by rail (Amtrak) but there seem to be only two trains a day each way and you'll need to look at a time table. You can get a bus from Tampa to Clearwater etc.
You can get a greyhound bus from Orlando or Kissimmee to the beaches you want to visit but you'll have to check on times from their web site.

Don't know of a train service from Kissimmeee to Tampa; there has been a lot of talk in recent years of building a railway from Orlando via Universal, Sea World and Disney to Tampa but nothing has come of it. It was voted on in 2006 (i think) and rejected but with the high cost of fuel interest in it was being rekindled a couple of weeks ago.