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Planning a trip to Florida in June 2003 for my family, including 4 kids (18 months to 11 years). Any suggestions for what beach would be best for us? Looking to snorkle and body surf.

ramjet

Destin is by far most popular, has become a mega destination for families. Beaches are nice, lot of kids funspots, good eateries, lots of choices on accomadations. I prefer places like Navarre and Seaside, but with 4 kids Destin would be my choice hands down. As far as body surfing and snorkeling imho would have to be kinda like for the novice. Beautiful water but mostly sand and small waves. Can get nice waves when storm out at sea though.

I

I second Destin!!!! Love it!!!

susan

I love the gulf coast, but you won't find any surf there.

tee

Not much in the way of snorkling, but the water is beautiful and warm in Destin.

OliveOyl

You won't find decent snorkeling until you get to the keys. Happily for swimmers, there is no coral to contend with all up and down the west coast, thus really nothing for the snorkeler to look at. Likewise, the water is calm along the entire Gulf coast. You might find some small waves, but nothing significant enough for a good wave ride. The east coast of FL has better waves, especially the Sebastian Inlet area, which is FL's surfing playground...and the sharks snacking playground too.

The Gulf with it's calm water will be the perfect spot for your 18 month old and the older chilren will still have fun playing around with mask and fins, even if there isn't much worth looking at. At that age, it's the activity that's fun, not necessarily what they are looking at...unless they've already been some place like Bermucda or Cayman, in which case they know what snorkeling is all about and want the whole experience.

You have your choice of 3 areas: Destin/Panhandle, St. Pete/Clearwater/Sarasota, or Sanibel/Captiva. You'll find less congestion in June, and probably better prices at the latter two areas. June is prime time for the Destin area and the traffic can get absolutely horrendous. Destin's beaches are the prettiest of the 3, but Clearwater/St Pete/Sarasota have absolutely gorgeous beaches as well...including some that always find their way into Dr Beaches' list of Best Beaches in the US. If you are coming by air, it's probably cheapest to fly into the Tampa Bay area over the other two. If you are driving, coming this far down significantly increases your drive time (enough to put it out of the question for me). Lots to measure for you, but you should have a terrific vacation, no matter which area of the 3 you decide on.