janiekins

Would like to travel to the west coast of Florida in February for one week w/ husband and 2 teenage sons - maybe stay in 2 different areas during the week somewhere between Sarasota and Naples - any suggestions for great accomodations on or near beach? Should we stay right in Sarasota and then travel to Naples? Stay at the Ritz in both locations?? What about Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Sanibel????

escargot

How old is teenage? 13 or 17 makes a big difference in interests - we spent many vacations on Marco Island when my kids were growing up b/c grandparent lived there - but often we would stay at Marriott on the beach or Eagles Nest next to it which has time shares sometimes open for rental (or used to anyway). On Marco, at hotel (and even if you aren;t staying at hotel you can pay for) have parasailing, etc and at other end on Tiger Tail beach they have paddle/bike boats to rent and sandbar to go out and explore. Also nearby on way out on road towards Naples is nature place (can;t believe I have block on name but it will come to me) and we would go out on canoe and kayak trips from there, very inexpensive, to other small islands for exploring/shelling and canoe trip out to ABC islands near sunset to watch all the birds come back to roost for night which is a site. Marriott also has game room, video room, outdoor table tennis set ups, etc so lots for teens besides pool and beach. nice outdoor restaurant, great sunsets, and ability for teens to go off to game room, etc while you enjoy sunset cocktail. exc. restaurants on island, mexican w/ music, bavarian, steak, seafood and lots of quaint seafood restaurants on isle of capri and in snook inn area of marco. Everglade boat trips are not a far drive on Alligator Alley. I am sure Naples hotels have same, but only other thing I know about Naples is we used to take our kids there to Jungle Larry's nature park on a non-beach day. Feb in Marco can be iffy - we have had sunny hot days and days with a sweatshirt by the pool in Feb. - you might be better off thinking about the keys? or are you stuck on west coast idea? People love Sanibel, but I have not stayed there w/ kids, just a day trip.
My kids loved Key West - but again, how old are these teens? Lots to do in Key West, the old town area, the downtown at night before it gets wild with older kids, good restaurants, etc. weather might be better, but in key west we mostly did beach during day and downtown at night, a trolley tour, hemingways house, etc. Longboat key was a good stay also, but again, we were there in feb and maybe just didn't hit a good weather time, it was iffy on most days. If you want guarantee hot weather and lots to do are you open to st. john or st. thomas or st. lucia?

janiekins

Hi Escargot - my boys are 15 and 16 years old

janiekins

any island ideas or cruise ideas????

escargot

I've never done a cruise, so you'd have to rely on someone else for that info. I like to have my space when I want it - but I'm sure there are those who love them and I can't say having never been.
The US Virgin Isl and BVi's would have great weather in Feb. You mentioned Ritz, so I don't know if that is b/c you like them, or have points, or what but there is one on St. Thomas that is lovely.
We didn't stay there, we stayed at Marriot Frenchmen's Reef twice,(morningstar side) and both times enjoyed it.
Either location means driving/transporting to the other location for some activities, but either one works. Don't know where you ar eflying from, but St. Thomas was an easy flight for us. So I will tell you about that trip (and we have also done St. johns twice) but with boys 15/16 there might be more to do on St. Thomas. Easy shuttle to hotel, or you can rent a car. We rented a car so we could go on our own when we wanted to, but hotel has shuttle to town. (which is really only shopping but good for a break and to walk around; sometimes night activities in center, festivals, etc) The larger part of Marriot on hill has all the amenities, pools, restaurants, activities,tennis, shops, beat activities, and piano/music etc for adults. Morningstar section on the beach, and has it's own pool, rstaurants, small beach but lovely (if you make friends with the towel guy w/ a tip, he'll have a lounge chair/umbrella/towels ready for you in the a.m. - activities off site we did: One day; Snuba (cross between snorkeling/scuba where you are connected by air hose to the surface and walk around ocean floor with a guide, get to hold and "touch" ,e tc - my kids (who were 15 a nd 18) then loved it even though they have been snorkeling and scuba. Also did Coral World, etc that day - Another day: Lots of cays wshere you can reef dive thru coral, rock, tunnels which they loved (Cow and Calf rocks, etc) . Another day: took a day boat (hired one for our family, a long but great day from around 8am till 5pm) from Red Hook on day and went to st. Johns, Virgin Gorda and swam to the Baths and walked around there, to Jost Van Dyke, stopped for lunch, went snorkeling at the Indians and Caves and docked at anotehr side of Jst Van Dyke and hiked up (short easy) to a hidden swimming hole,, etc - you'd need your passport to go between the USVI and BVI's but it was a great day. There are other beaches to explore if you do a day drive. There are also day fishing trips, which my husband and son did one 1/2 day and husband golfed a few mornings early at Mahogany run; in between those days we enjoyed hotel/beach/shopping. Good restaurants outside hotel were Agave, Alexander's, Herve - there are other activities we didn't do, sub rides, etc.
St. Johns we loved the Westing but there was less to do there on island for my kids anyway - we did snorkel, also rented day boat from same people at Red hook on St. Thomas b/c we loved them so much they came and got us and basically did same trip with a few new stops. We did the Annaberg Plantation, Catherineburg ruins, and some snorkeling but we foudn snorkeling more crowded there and less fish. I like St. John much better second time with just my husband, nice evening dining and dancing, etc - Chateux Bordeaux, Asolare, Zozo's - but romantic w/out the kids. Friends of mine love Virgin Gorda adn the Bitter End resort, only thing we've done on that island is the Baths via our one day boats trips from St. J or St. T, but you might want to look into one of those. THe nice thing about St. T is once you land, you ar there - the others you take a ferry boat over too , but boat rides are easy and nice transport. We have done St. Lucia, - stay in our resort except for day trips to the rainforest to hike and swim, which was great; and to the sulphur baths, and into town - didn't find the snorkeling great there, but maybe we didn't have the right spots. Lunch or visit the pitons is great view. you can do that one day with stop in town, etc and anotehr the rainforest, but those were our only two day trips. If you want guaranteed better weather, Iw ould say look at the islands versus florida unless you don't mind off beach activities. Not knowing your boys, but in general, I would think that age would find more eto do on St. Thomas.

Tandoori_Girl

janiekins, if your teens are anything like mine (he's 16) then there will not be a lot that they will like in that area. And February can be bitter cold in Florida, although it can also be nice if you're lucky. I'd suggest you consider the air boat rides at Myakka River State Park. Ordinarily, I hate those things but your kids will enjoy them (they're noisy and boisterous and pump lots of testosterone). Maybe a daytrip on the boat from Ft. Myers to Key West -- they will enjoy walking the streets, taking the conch train, eating conch fritters (it will be too cold for snorkeling unless you also rent wet suits). Corkscrew Swamp is interesting, just outside of Naples, but you know how it is. Those kids will complain about anything that doesn't have a gameboy attached to it -- but maybe when they're older they'll look back fondly on their experiences walking in one of the worlds great wilderness swamps with you and dad. Last suggestion is to check the events calendars. February is when all the tourists are in town. I recall going to the Swamp Cabbage Festival once in LaBelle, it was really fascinating.

Lamchop

I second Tandoori Girls' recommendation for the Myakka River Tour. I seem to recall that it was not too expensive. However, February in this part of Florida is iffy, so keep your options open.

KathyK

I can't say what it's like in February, but at Easter time in March or April, Siesta Key is a very fun place for teenagers vacationing with their families. There are tons of teens, not alot of little kids, and my kids have always had a lot of fun. It's a great place for sping break with your teens if you're not willing to let them go away unsupervised, as some kids do at this age. Everyone is with family, very few "spring break" groups.

msplumpt

Dear Janie, I stayed at the Sara Sea Inn on Siesta Key and it was lovely, there are a cluster of moderately priced hotel/motels nearby as well.It was a short walk to the beach (voted 3rd best in the world!) and to inexpensive restaurants