Tampa Bay - best beach to hit?
 

We're thinking of making a day trip from Orlando to Tampa Bay one day on our vacation. Is there a particular beach we should visit? Thanks for any tips!

Are you going to Tampa just for the beach? If so don't, go to Daytona or New Smyrna Beach, nice beaches there.

MollyinFL is right -- there really aren't any beaches in Tampa that I can recall. You'd have to drive beyond there to the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands west of St. Petersburg to hit nice beaches from Tampa (Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, Pass-a-grill, Ft. DeSoto, etc.).

One caveat about the beach at Daytona -- cars are allowed to drive on the beach there. That may or may not be attractive to you.

Gosh - so glad I asked. Yes - only really going for the beach. We wanted to see the nice sand on the Gulf side. It sounds like that is further than we want to go for a day trip

Any of the beaches on the west coast are beautiful as well. Daytona, New Smyrna, Cocoa. Like Bachslunch said, Daytona does allow cars on the beach which when I was in high school was cool, but not so much anymore.

For a day trip from Orlando, do not head west (traffic, distance), go east to New Smyrna or Daytona Beach Shores or Ponce Inlet (the last 2 in "Daytona Beach" area). Not all of "Daytona" allows cars on the beach, including parts of Daytona Beach Shores and Ponce inlet (parts of New Smyrna do, also). Besides, if you really are going to take just a "day trip", then going to part of the Daytona area which allows you to drive on the beach makes sense -- pack a cooler with food and soda, take chairs, park above the tide line, chill and have a great day on a beautiful day! Depending what part of Orlando you're in (east or west), the Daytona area is 35-45 minutes (assuming u don't leave during rush hour), while the west coast beaches will be 1 1/2 hours away (or more, if you try it during rush hour).