italybound567

We are thinking of traveling to Florida with our two kids (ages 3 and 5) for a couple weeks in December. We are from Canada so this will be our winter vacation and we would like to have some warm, beach time. If you have any suggestions of areas to visit that would be great. We would be happy to stay in a condo by the beach for a week and just relax (and then we'll likely end up at Disney for 4 nights or so). Thanks so much for your help!

Dukey1

If you want more or less "guaranteed" warmest weather I suggest you think of staying at the beach somewhere in SOUTH Florida and by that I mean well south of Orlando, either on the east or west coast.

yes, there are going to be people who will tell you that the panhandle "is just fine" and IMO it isn't warm-weather-wise. I'm biased because I live in Fort Lauderdale; this past year the lowest temperatures were one morning in the 40's for about an hour. Lots of you fellow-countrymen come here for the Winter.

Ackislander

It will be a good time to go but the period from roughly 20 Dec to 30 Dec will be expensive.

Go as far south as you can.

The West Coast is somewhat less developed than the East Coast, but both have partisans. There are Atlantic waves on the East Coast, much gentler water for 3 and 5 year olds on the West Coast.

nytraveler

If you want beach weather go as far south as possible - or you could get weather too cold for beach/water - even in Dec.

vincenzo32951

When in December? Are you talking about the first two weeks or the last two weeks? There will be a difference in weather and in availability and price of accommodations. The period around the holidays is, as you'd expect, very busy and more expensive, and the weather is cooler (though unpredictable) then.

If you have visions of frolicking in the warm surf and soaking up the sun amid temps in the 70s (warm for Canadians, I know), you may be disappointed unless you head way south, and even then it's not guaranteed.

I'd look for an accommodation that's near the beach; there may be days when it's nice enough to sit on the beach and get a little sun. But you also need to consider what else you want to be near -- restaurants, attractions, shopping, or nothing. Maybe you want a heated pool, although some parents of small children prefer not to have a pool.

After 4 days at Disney with a 3- and 5-year-old, you will need some down time.

NewbE

I agree that you should go as far south as you can, but anywhere south of Sarasota on the West Coast should be warm enough for Canadians, and, as Ackislander points out, the water on the West Coast is calmer and warmer than the East.

italybound567

Thank you all for the great advice! We will be there the last two weeks of December.

mabella101

I would suggest the area of St. Petersburg. I don't have a condo to recommend but there are plenty to choose from. This would put you about an hour away from Orlando. You would also be close to Tampa, which has several great attractions for kids of that age (Lowry park zoo, the Florida aquarium, and the museum of science.)

Ackislander

I lived in Tampa, across the bay from St Pete as a child, and it is NOT beach weather in December. We didn't have frosts or hard freezes every winter, but we had them enough winters that I wouldn't bet my two weeks on it.

One rule of thumb is "South of the Peace River" (Punta Gorda) but even that is a bit far north for me. I would want to be south of Fort Myers if I wanted water activity to be a significant part of my vacation. Adults who would be satisfied with a walk on the beach and would enjoy a lot of other activities might think about Sarasota and environs or Venice.

I knew we had found the right place when people in Naples moaned about it when temperatures only reached the 70's. Our SUMMER temperatures in Nantucket are only in the 70's, and winter water temperatures in the Gulf below Ft Myers are about the same as SUMMER water temperatures on Cape Cod.

NewbE

The thousands of people on the beaches from St. Pete to Sarasota would disagree, Ackis, but this is an argument without end. There's no doubt that areas south of Sarasota will be warmer, but if you look at averages, only by a few degrees.