Where's the beach?

[Littlegirl]

Planning our first trip for our family (me, hubby, and daughters age 11 and 8) to Discovery Cove/Seaworld in October. Not going to Disney or Universal this time around as we want something a bit more relaxing. Plan on spending the first day at DC and the second and third days at SeaWorld. (And staying initially at Renaissance Resort or Marriott Brande Vista.) Thought about spending the last couple days on the beach. What is the best & closest beach from this area and any recommendations where to stay? How long of a drive from the Seaworld area??? Will second week of October still be good beach time in Florida?

Thanks!

 

[Jason71]

Cocoa Beach is closest--just get on State Road 528 (aka "The Beachline") a block from Sea World, and drive all the way out. Figure 45 minutes to an hour. Not as nice as the west coast beaches, honestly, but still nice enough to be worth a trip.

BTW, the second week of October is ideal beach weather. Warm but not insanely hot, and generally less rainy.

 

[gw_lit]

I'd really consider going to the Gulf Beaches rather than Cocoa. Yes, it will only take you about 45 minutes to an hour to get to Cocoa, where it will take you almost two hours to get to the Gulf Beaches, but I think it's worth the extra hour drive. The Gulf Beaches generally have much clearer water, whiter sand and less powerful waves than the Atlantic beaches. There are tons of places to stay right on the beach anywhere from St. Pete Beach up the coast to Clearwater Beach in a variety of price ranges, plus in October it shouldn't be hard to find availability and the rates should be at the cheapest time of the year.

If you're flying in, you can also look at flying into Orlando and then flying out of Tampa after you drive over to the beach, you could even save a few bucks that way.

 

[robvia]

DC is a beach, it's an all day event like being in the keys. The Renaissance has a nice pool and hot tub. I'd rather be hanging out at the hotel with a short walk over to SWF to explore everything. Your DC pass gets you 7 days at SWF.

Another idea would be to stay at the Sheraton Sandkey Resort on the west coast for one night. What you could do here, is drive over to Busch Gardens Tampa early in the morning, visit that park until about 2pm, check into your hotel at 3pm, walk on the beach, stay until 11am the next morning, check out, and drive back to Orlando.
http://www.sheratonsandkey.com/index.php
The beach at this resort is huge, and they have all the extra activities you can pay for (parasail, waverunner)

The drive from SWF to BGT is 75 miles and takes 1.5 hours. If you were going to leave the Renaissance, start your trip around 07:00am so you can arrive the BGT parking lot at 08:30am.
The distance from BGT to the Sheraton Sand Key is about 30 miles but will take 1 hour to get there because of traffic. You'll see an nice view of Tampa Bay as you travel there.