Christmas in Florida Where to Stay?
 

We are planning on spending Christmas in Florida this year, but don't know where to stay. We have 4 young children (ages 8, 6, 4, and 1). We would like to rent a house on the beach somewhere that isn't too expensive. We don't plan to do much while we are there. We just want to sit on the beach and relax while the kids play in the sand and water. Any suggestions on which city to stay at?

I would suggest you focus on the Gulf side of the state, no farther north than Clearwater; some people would say no farther north than Sarasota, and they wouldn't be wrong. It all depends on how warm is warm enough for you. You can Google average temps in those two places and decide for yourself.

The water on the Gulf side is warmer and far calmer than the Atlantic side, so IMO better for small kids.

Once you decide what your northern-most point is, check out VRBO for condo/villa/house rentals in the various beach towns. There is something for just about every budget, especially if you don't need to be in the immediate vicinity of a lot of activities.

Good luck!

There's always Christmas, Florida. Except it's not on the water, or the Gulf side of the state (it's east of Orlando), or very big.

Will the kids be begging to go to visit the mouse (Disney)?
It's not ocean water but there is plenty of water and beaches near Orlando

Check out reviews of Sanibel. Just the right amount if nothingness to do. Very family friendly. We always stay at the sanibel inn so can't help you as far as accommodations , and you might have to stay in a condo instead of a house but there are plenty to choose from. Have fun researching.

Only Canadians go in the water at Christmas here. It is even cold in Key West for swimming imo. I have lived here 25 years. Go take your kids to see the mouse, spend a day at Cocoa beach but you will need a heated pool. Christmas Fl, where the cars are on blocks and the houses are on wheels. It does not even have a stop light.

Sorry if that came across bad. The water is just cold. You will have some warm days but the water cold, We decorate a lot and you will have sun. We have had cold weather in Key West the last two years we went for the holidays. Warms up but expect anything. There are some nice rentals with good prices in Cocoa Beach/New Smyrna Beach. New Smyrna is my favorite all around place but Playalinda is my fav beach. You can see all the shuttle launch pads there. You go through Titusville and take the Max Brewer bridge, Canaveral Seashore.

"the mouse" is a totally different kind of vacation from the one the OP describes, not to mention expensive as heck for 6 people, not to mention that one of the kiddies is only 1, meaning s/he will be dead weight carried or rolled through the park; another is only 4.

I guess I don't understand why some of you guys are working hard to steer them to Orlando. it's not the only reason for people with kids to come to Florida. Is it that hard to see why a chill beach Christmas would appealing?

Lastly, surely the OP realizes Disney is in Florida. Surely if she wanted to go to Disney, she would be planning that and not this.

One more point: there is a big difference between sitting in the sand in the warm sun and letting kids splash around in the shallows, and swimming in the ocean. It might be too chilly to go all the way in--though I bet the 8 and 6 year old won't think so--but so what?

Christmas in Florida can be miserable if you get a chilly, rainy week, and you end up too far north... If you are flying anyway, Look into the U.S. Virgin Islands or the Bahamas... Maybe a family cruise from Miami ... Prices can be very close to your rental idea... Good luck

Put me in the category of "Don't Bother with the Beach," unless you go way south, like the Keys, where the beaches aren't very good anyway. You may have some sunny days where it's pleasant to sit on the beach, and the kids can play in the sand, but that's about it for most of FL.

IMHO, marketing people have done a good job of convincing northerners that FL is a beachy, tropical destination in the winter. Oh, it's pleasant enough for golf and a lot of outdoor activities (like a cookout on Xmas Day), but I wouldn't count on beach time.

As someone else said, look for a place with a heated pool.

If swimming is not your thing on the beach i would suggest Daytona, you can be at the beach and do a lot of other stuff than swim, you can park your car right on the beach, rent those bicycles, or some other contraptions to use on the beach, its actually a lot of fun and the good thing is the hotels are fairly inexpensive around this time so u don't have to spend that much money on hotel, you can also visit st augustine about an hour away and there is a pretty good outlet mall off st augustine too. or you can drive straight down to Miami one day since you are already on i-95

Newbe, I said see the mouse but you can do many other things in Orlando that are kid oriented for much less money. Heated water parks for instance. It is just that a week on the beach playing in the sand is not the same in Dec than say Sept. Try to rent a place with a heated shared pool if they want swimming.
Even Miami is cold at Christmas many times.
New Smyrna has a old town vibe and lots of fun things to do. They also have some great deals on airbnb. Stay cloer to Flager ave and you can park and walk.

I would go at least as far south as Fort Myers. You never know what type of weather you will encounter where ever you go. If it's too chilly for the beach you can tour the Everglades, etc. We have been in Florida in December when it has been a bit chilly and we've been there when it has been plenty hot enough to swim.

OK, no sense in arguing about easily discovered facts:
http://www.currentresults.com/Weathe...n-december.php
Average high temps in Sarasota in December range from 75 to 71. In Tampa, 20 days n December are either sunny or partly sunny. Google is your friend.

So saying that Miami is "cold" at Christmas is patently ridiculous. If you are not wearing a parka, it is not cold.

The longer I live in Florida, the more I complain about "cold"--which means anything lower than 70. Still, one must recognize that for people from really cold places, it's not even close to cold.

Why else is winter High Season in Florida? Because it's so cold and miserable? I think not.

NewbE... If this family expects the postcard Florida at christmas, its only fair that they are warned about the possibility of less than perfect weather...

For 3 years in a row, I took my kids down to visit the grandparents in Fort Myers and sadly it was cold and rainy all three... Easter break was much safer for swimming and rain...

Florida IS rainy, in summer as well. Note that I suggested they Google average temps in my first reply.

But saying "the weather may be less than perfect" and saying "Even Miami is cold at Christmas many times." are two different things. Honestly, Miami is never "cold". It's just not.

Becky,

As you can tell December in Florida is a crapshoot. You may have warm sunny weather, you may have cool/cold rainy weather. Anybody that tells you different is lying.

We spent the week after Christmas in Sanibel one year but we took sweaters and some warm clothes, just in case it was cold. We lucked out that year and it was beautiful. I think it was pretty cold down there last December/January. I love Sanibel though.

Try to go south of Ft. Myers if you visit before March and want dependable warm weather. We were in the Panhandle last Feb. Temps were in the high 50s-60s. We were happy and loved staying there, but we knew to expect cool weather.

>>Average high temps in Sarasota in December range from 75 to 71.<<

Which means the average temp is in the 60s, just to give a bit more accurate picture.

>>So saying that Miami is "cold" at Christmas is patently ridiculous. If you are not wearing a parka, it is not cold.<<

Who made up that rule?

>>Why else is winter High Season in Florida? Because it's so cold and miserable? I think not.<<

No, because it's cold and miserable in the North.

I have an elderly neighbor who breaks out her fur coat--knee length--when temps here in Tampa drop below 70. She complains bitterly of the cold.

This does not mean that it is actually cold.

As for this,
<Average high temps in Sarasota in December range from 75 to 71.<<

Which means the average temp is in the 60s>

Please look up the definition of average. And high. And cold, while you're at it.

NewbE... time for your math lesson...

Average High temps for December in Sarasota 74.0... that's all the highs averaged for the month


Look up Average Lows for December in Sarasota 52.0... that's all the LOW temps averaged for the month...

You add those together, divide by 2 and the AVERAGE temperature in December for Sarasota is .... drumroll...... 63 Degrees!!! that's cold...

Interesting comments. Having lived in Florida for quite a few years now, I almost agreed. But then I remembered -- when we lived in Virginia, we used to spend our Christmases visiting Disney and then MIL, who lived in North Port (north of Ft. Myers).

Almost always, we wore shorts at WDW. We laid on the beach and swam down in North Port area. Of course, 60-70 degrees was quite balmy. And December being one of our driest months, rain was relatively rare. I do recall a cold snap at WDW once, being 40 degrees during the day (but sunny). Didn't seem all that cold, wore a sweatshirt.

Now that I am acclimated, I no longer wear shorts here in the winter. Heck, I sometimes wear jeans in the summer. But I am betting our OP may find Christmas in Florida fine and balmy by comparison.

sludick,
I agree.
And about the temps.....Those of us who live "up north" certainly do NOT think 63 degrees is cold!

Definitely head for southern FL if you expect to go into the water. How "cold" you find it is a function of what type of water you are used to. (I find the water in FL in the summer to be too hot - I feel like a lobster.)

Coming from LI and used to the north atlantic in summer (when we WANT the water to be cold) I don't find the water there cold in winter - but I would stick to the gulf with little kids. And you do need to understand that at Christmas you can sometimes get temps that are too chilly for playing on the beach. If you want a guarantee of beach weather I would head for the Carib.

>>This does not mean that it is actually cold.<<

This is getting funnier by the moment.

>>Please look up the definition of average. And high. And cold, while you're at it.<<

It just got funnier.

If you are coming from Canada, Maine or Vermont then go play in the water and have a great old time. We have froze and sweated in Key West over the holidays. It is a total crap shoot but never have I gone swimming in the Ocean in December unless in a wetsuit. It might very well be in the 80's or 70's but could be in the 30's. I remember one Christmas all my plants froze and we had rolling brown out due to everyone trying to keep warm. This year it was very nice. Welcome to Fl.

OK, I may be sitting IN a Paris, France, hotel at the moment and reading all these "Let me tell you what Florida is really like" posts as well as the pro and con Disney ones so I guess I'd better add mine as well.

I live <B>on the beach</B> in Fort Lauderdale, In the dead of Winter there are always a few people in the ocean whenever I look out the front windows but as some above have said, the water certainly isn't as warm as it was when we left home a few days ago.

What I would advise the OP to remember as much as anything else and which may have been overlooked by some is the need to plan ahead. There will be plenty of people down during the Winter and that very much includes BOTH sides of the state in my experience. Couple years ago we spent some holiday time on Sanibel and there were PLENTY of other visitors over on the supposed "best side" of the state.

Personally, if you have children that want to go to the beach and actually swim you might want to consider heading a bit further south of Florida. OTOH if you are OK with heated pools and a lot of diversions there would be plenty of that in various parts of the state.

Whatever you do, make a decision soon.

Thanks Dukey, newbe loves the gulf coast and think that might be our problem, the war of the coast. Poor girl has not come back. We probably scared her away.
I am off to the pristine beach of Playalinda today where the water temp will be refreshing in the 95 degree water. I have my boogie board to ride the waves and plenty of sunscreen.

Not the war of the coast at all! The Gulf Coast will be warmer and have calmer water, that's all. The OP--who I agree we'll likely never hear from again--has small kids.

As for the temperature debate:
<63 Degrees!!! that's cold...>
I rest my case.

Sorry, meant to type "war of the coastS", andalso to add that I love the Atlantic Coast, for the record. We really enjoy Amelia Island in particular, but I wouldn't recommend it in December to someone who wants to spend days on the beach.

I'm resting MY case, too, Newbe. In terms of the water temps, perhaps we need to hear from the OP in terms of whether or not those temps seem too cold. After all, they don't LIVE in Florida as some of us do.

I've lived in Florida and Maine.
I've visited both beaches.

In the heat of Summer in Maine you can walk along the ocean's edge to collect shells BUT, you must walk periodically out of the water because you can't feel your ankles. They're numb.

In the dead of Winter in Florida I have not had that issue in the least.

Of course some might need a wetsuit to swim for lengthy periods BUT, I don't think the poster was planning on submerging her tots for long timeframes. They'll splash in the water until their lips turn blue, then mom will reign them in just like our parents did. :)

Thanks for the responses everyone! We are from Nebraska so we are used to below freezing and snow during Christmas. I'd be happy with jeans and a t-shirt weather or even jeans and a hoodie. We don't plan on submerging ourselves in the water. The kids will just splash around in it and play int he sand. As for Disney World, we don't want to deal with the crowds. We are just looking for a relaxing vacation.

We are also looking into the caribbean, but unless we get a deal on plane tickets that won't be happening. Buying plane tickets for a family our size can be pretty expensive. :)

As I recommended upthread: make a decision and look NOW for accommodations wherever you decide to end up.

Nebraska?? Then come on down, the water's fine!

Southwestern is offering some great deals to the Caribbean.

http://www.southwestvacations.com/de...ation-packages


Sorry, Southwest and yes I am drinking.

We have spent a few NYE in the Orlando area due to a function for my husband's work. One year is was about 75 degrees and lovely - the next a little chilly. We headed south to Palm Beach area and it was a little warmer - in the high 70's and even a low 80's day. My family lives in the Lauderdale area and it is usually fairly nice in the winter - but you could hit a cold snap of course.
I think if you are coming from Nebraska you would be good.
We did like the resort we stayed at in Singer Island - lots of family stuff, pools, on the beach - 2 bedrooms with 2 baths -
Marriott Singer Island.