Hi, We need some beach recommendations for Florida. We're flying into Orlando, but flying back from West Palm Beach.

We would like to find a beach-front condo, with plenty of restaurants nearby, and good surfing. Traveling with teens.

If you can give me the names of some beach towns that I can research, it would be appreciated!! Thanks!

ymn, might be useful to say what time of year you are coming, and what you are budgeting for accommodations.

Sorry! Meant to mention that we are traveling 3/24 to 4/2 and would like to find something under $300 per night. Thanks!

Surfing hot spots that initially come to mind are Cocoa Beach, Sebastian, Jupiter/Juno. That is peak spring break time, so not sure of the prices, but it should be under your price. There is a Ron-Jon Surf hotel/timeshare place in Cocoa (just East of Orlando) which I heard is nice & fun...Cocoa is a bit "tacky" but may be fun for a couple nights? How about working your way down the coast?

South of Cocoa would be Sebastian. Super popular with east coast surfers--they have good surf when other places don't. The only hotel I am familiar with is Captain Hiram's--it is very fun waterfront resort (on the intracoastal)--has a happening tiki bar & a decent restaurant. Would have to drive to the beach for surfing--but its not far. Couple other restaurants nearby. Rooms/Suites are clean & comfortable but definitely not luxurious.

Continuing South, Jupiter Beach Resort in Jupiter is a good location...very nice property--just down the beach from Jupiter Inlet (a popular surf spot) & very close to the Juno Pier---the whole area in between is very popular with the local surfers. There are also tons of condos along there--Jupiter Reef Club always advertises daily/weekly rentals. Jupiter/Juno/Palm Beach Gardens is a hotbed of restaurants & other activities. Very safe/upscale areas. This area brings you about 20 miles to Palm Beach International airport.

You may run across hotels/condos/timeshares on Singer Island but I never hear much talk about surfing there (my son is an avid local surfer--he never goes there).


Have fun!

Yes, Jupiter and Singer Island are very nice! Don't go to Cocoa - to me it is tacky and gross. There are a lot of strippers that frequent the beaches there. I know it sounds crazy, but Cocoa beach will make you hate Florida beaches. Sebastian has hardly anything to do....

Here are some other beaches that are VERY nice - Clearwater beach, Palm Beach, and Boca Raton.

Cocoa and Cocoa Beach are two different places. Cocoa is on the Indian River, Cocoa Beach is one the barrier island.

Strippers on Cocoa Beach? Seriously, you saw women stripping on the beach? I worked there for years and never saw anything like that.

Cocoa Beach is known as a family beach since it doesn't attract the usual spring break crowd that you find in places such as Daytona Beach. Brevard county beaches are some of the best you'll find in Florida for surfing and I agree with rattravlers that Sebastian has the best surf in the area.

We have been to Cocoa Beach several times and love it there.
The Resort on Cocoa Beach is nice-all the condos are two bedrooms, two baths. There is a great pool and they even have a movie theater. We don't surf, but always see plenty of surfers there and there is the Ron Jon surf shop that is great-your teens will love it. There are many good restaurants in the Cocoa Beach area. Don't let anyone scare you away from Cocoa Beach.

Delray Beach is close to West Palm and has a number of condos and a few hotels on the ocean. There are a lot of restaurants along Atlantic Ave. in walking distance.

A lot of strippers on Cocoa Beach???

I won't believe it until I see for myself.

_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Delray Beach is also very nice too! Good point mclaurie!

Yes, I have seen strippers on Cocoa Beach. When I went there, I was laying out next to a group of females that were discussing their latest adventures at the club. Needless to say, I moved. Maybe Vic would have stayed. haha. Sorry, Vic - all out of good fun! Then, when I moved my towel, the new people that were next to us where men (not spring breakers), that were completely wasted and mooning us. Then, I gave it another try 2 years later and still the same thing -gross people and tackiness. If you read the above posts, even someone else mentioned it was tacky. So, why risk it? We have so many nice beach towns in Florida. There is no need to settle for something that isn't what you would expect from a family vacation.

Ok, I was probably spoiled by 20 years of free vacations in Naples, so Cocoa Beach is not really my cup of tea, but I've taken groups of high school students there twice and they all really enjoyed it. It is not the cleanest beach I've been to and it does border on the tacky (read "touristy"), but it did have a lot for teens to enjoy. The kids really liked the Ron Jon Surf Shop. We were there during Spring Break both times we never saw anything untoward that I haven't encountered on other beaches.

Melbourne Beach/Indiatlantic/Indian Harbor are the closest communities to Sebastian with nearby restaurants. VRBO has plenty of condo selections in the area. Depending on conditions, surfing can be good in the Melbourne Beach area, but Sebastian is rated best surfing on the east coast. You will find many condos south of Melbourne Beach, but be careful as the only commercial establishments between MB and Sebastian are convenience stores.

Clearwater Beach is lovely, but it's on the Gulf side, and you'd be hard pressed to find a wavelet, much less a wave.

Yes, newbe is right. Clearwater does not have many waves. You might want to take that one off the list.

> Betsy that should be changing soon. The beach gets a lot of use and until just last week, the city couldn't use a beach rake to clean it during sea turtle season (March - November). They just got permission from the state to clean the beach during that time provided certain measures are taken to protect the turtles.

Jill, if you're ever over this way again, just go the the beaches the locals go to - out of the tourist district on the south end of town. It's not crowded (with strippers or otherwise! ;-) ) and you'll practically have it to yourself.

321go - maybe I have to give Cocoa beach another chance! Only one more though!

My vote is for Cocoa Beach - they don't have the surfing competitions there for nothing. I'm sure along with the strippers on the beach, there are also lawyers, doctors and policewomen - which you can probably find on any beach, anywhere, anytime.

Be careful about Cocoa Beach - here are the things you have heard about it (and not just from me) - tacky, not clean, and "questionable" visitors. Now granted, perhaps they are cleaning it up and if you go to remote parts (not touristy sections), you will get away from some of the questionable patrons that visit Cocoa.

No denying that the surfing is good there. I agree with that. But, aren't there other places that have good surfing? A lot of people on this post have suggested some good surfing places.

I really have no dog in this fight, but I want to point out that I didn't say Cocoa Beach was "not clean". I said it was "not the cleanest beach I've ever been to". There is a difference. "Not clean" makes it sound like there was all sorts of trash everywhere. In reality, my complaint was mostly that there were a lot of cigarette butts in the sand, which I find icky. 321's explanation of not being able to rake the sand makes sense, because I didn't see big trash, just small stuff that had gotten dropped, buried, and uncovered.

As far as the questionable visitors, you could overhear conversations about clubs anywhere. It's not as if the strippers were actually stripping on the beach, were they? I mean, in Naples, which is very upscale, at least once every vacation we would have the excitement of the beach patrol making some topless sunbather (usually European) put her top back on.

I think this is really comes down to what the OP is ultimately looking for in a beach. If it's pristine sand and few people, then by all means, look elsewhere. However, if it's surfing and a fun time for teens, then I think Cocoa Beach probably fits the bill pretty well.

Good point Betsy.

Last thing about the strippers - let's just say they all had thongs on. HAHA