Nancy111, The answer to your question is at http://www.weather.com/activities/tr...r/?from=travfl

Let me add to Patrick's suggestion to include ALL of SOUTH Florida ;-). Today, in FLL. it is chamber of commerce day....78* air temp, low humidity and 74* water temp....the beaches were filled with very happy people today!

We were faced with the exact same question last year. You'll probably get the warmest weather in Key West, but you won't have great beaches (they are coral islands). If you want to trade off a couple degrees for much better sand, you could try the Ft. Lauderdale area.

In my experience, California is not always "beach-warm" in Feb, so I would save that trip for a late spring or summer outing.

I made the mistake of heading to Miami last week for five overcast rainy days. All the fair-skinned complainers were muttering about how disappointed they were with the gloom. And I was too! I returned to Tampa to hear how great it was while we were gone :-O And now it's an absolutely fabulous 77 degrees with lots of sun. Which goes to show you, you can't ever tell about the weather -- only that Florida will most likely be where you'll find your warmest temperatures.

I always recommend the St. Petersburg area beaches but I have to admit that Clearwater and Siesta Key have the nicest sand on the FL Gulf coast IMHO ((*))

Although I recommended the USVIs, I'm headed to San Miguel de Allende, MX in mid January.
M

For absolutely GUARANTEED warm weather it would be Hawaii or the USVI...for almost guaranteed and a bunch of rednecks on Duval Street, go to Key West.

Intrepid, My reaction to Key West exactly--it's a long way to go just to start drinking at eight in the morning. Thank you for stating this unpopular observation of the place.

What about Hawks Cay in the middle keys?