Where to Spend Two Weeks in Florida in February
 

My parents and their close friends (couples in their early 60s) are looking for a location in Florida to spend two weeks along with their adult children (late 20s, early 30s). We want a place with great beaches, a large enough condo/house rental inventory to find a 4 bedroom rental, and other activities to keep everyone entertained in February. We've previously vacationed on Sanibel, North Captiva, and Anna Maria Islands. We don't need a place with an active nightlife scene. Looking for your suggestions on places to start searching for the right rental. Thanks!

ttt

We rented a house on Marco Island that ticks all your boxes.

Four bedrooms, pool, on a canal with kayaks to use. Nice kitchen, but we only ate breakfast and lunch there. Two minutes drive to beach parking, ten minutes walk if there were no spaces.

Easy to get to Everglades and a day trip to Miami was no problem.

Ack: You got a two-week house rental in FL in Feb.?

February in the Panhandle can be pretty cold, but if you don't mind that, Pensacola Beach is a good location. The beach areas east of Destin are great as well.

I like Anna Maria best by far.

Thanks - we're definitely looking for a place with warm weather as an escape from New York winters.

Just commenting on the weather, not the place - we were in West Palm Beach last February and it was much cooler than we expected -- we thought 80s, but it was in the low to mid-70s. Miami Beach was warmer, as was Key West. It might have just been a cold front passing through, I don't know.

Yes....last year was unusually cold for West Palm Beach. We have been spending the month of February there for the past five years. Last year was definitely cooler than the others, but still nice enough to spend time at the beach and pool.
The further south you go, the better chance you have for weather warm enough to enjoy the beach/pools.

It really would be helpful if you told us why you have (apparently) decided not to return to any of your previous destinations.

I live in Fort Lauderdale but we often spend a week over on Sanibel in the late Fall and I might have recommended you go there again but...

There is plenty of "inventory" over on this side at that time provided you make reservations early enough.

You say you don't require active nightlife but want enough "to do" to keep folks occupied...doing what?

I'm not trying to be snarky about this and you will undoubtedly get everybody's "it just HAS to be here" recommendations but what you've said isn't very discriminatory IMO so how about some other info?

Marco rental: one week, first week in March, but we could have had the last week in February as well.

The secret (for the OP) is not to waffle. Do it this week.

I also think Dukey's question is good: are there reasons other than loving variety why the OP doesn't want to go back where they were before?

Finally, Anna Maria is too cold for me before March. Your mileage may vary. We don't golf or play tennis (or shuffleboard) so warm enough for the beach is critical and biases my responses.

I used to visit my brother in West Palm Beach area every February. Now I go in March, since it got old hearing "you should have been here last week when it was warm". It can be in the 60s and low 70s. Certainly warmer than NYC, but not really beach basking weather.

I like Marco Island/Sanibel area better than east coast of FL. Less developed. You could take a day trip up to Tampa or Busch Gardens. Or the Everglades. Or Sanibel if you stay on Marco Island.

We're not opposed to returning to any of the places we've previously visited. I just wanted to see if there were recommendations of other places that we haven't thought of yet.

By "things to do", I meant restaurants, shops, and activities on the water, like charter boat rentals.

Thanks for all of the input so far.

If I were you I'd glom onto Ack's rental.

Well, your things to do definitely lets Sanibel out of the picture since there is very little that is "on the water" besides places to sleep.

If Marco seems like a reasonable place then I also would reserve that NOW.