California vs. Florida Beaches (Jackson: golf, county, places)

[CAVA1990]

I'm not quite sure what's better in Florida - the surfing or the snowboarding.

[randian]

Florida may have plenty of amusement parks, but California has by far the better coaster parks. There's nothing like Magic Mountain in Florida for quantity and size of coasters. Florida should have a killer coaster park, but it doesn't and I don't know why.

As somebody else noted, you can't walk on a Florida beach barefoot in the summer, you'll burn the soles of your feet.

Winters on Florida's beaches are clearly better than California's. Cold is bad on a beach. I'd say Florida has a better boating and jet ski scene too.

[Tonyftlaud]

If your looking for surf, Cali wins hans down, if your looking for nice sand, clean warm water then its Florida
I have lived in both places for a long time,prefer the life in Cali but the beaches of Fla win hands down.

[trick1]

http://www.preservationnation.org/as...Riviera_mr.jpg

Santa Barbara, California is the place to be!

[CarawayDJ]

All that exists between the road and the water is better in CA. The warm water in FL beats the heck out of CA though.

[Woof]

Originally Posted by Afitzie

I don't have any desire to go to Southern California because of the stereotypes (yeah I've fallen for them) of liberals, pot, pollution, etc. but I would definitely love to see Northern California. I would consider going to Southern California if I wasn't in the city, but I'm not at all a city girl! I love the part of Florida we are in because it's basically Alabama and not only are the beaches absolutely breathtaking (we moved from North Carolina) but I love that I can still be in the South!!

I cannot speak for California beaches personally, but why would you want to go to a beach that you can't swim in....? Humidity does not bother me, I would like it 85+ all the time so I love Florida. Maybe I would like it, but I'm doubting I would like it as much as Florida. Everyone has different things they want, for me it's temperature, white sand, and to be able to still be in a sane part of the country.

The stereotypes of liberals and pot are pretty accurate, but those are good things ...... right? Actually I wish we could have FEWER rightwingers, almost half the population is like that. I wish we could arrange a swap with the Dixie states, so we could have more liberals and socialists, and y'all could have more of your own kind.

As for pollution, it used to be that Los Angeles was heavily polluted before about 20 years ago. Not the other coastal California cities. LA is surrounded by mountains that trapped the smog, which when I was there briefly was like a brown fog that you could see even just a block away. But the clean air standards have been so strict over these years that LA air is reasonably clear most of the time (which is another thing liberals have done for the country, you wouldn't believe how polluted the entire country was back in the 60s and 70s).

No other area along the coast of California has any pollution problems, not even San Diego. Also the prevailing winds push air pollutants inland, so pretty much all the beaches are very clear.

When I lived in San Diego, there used to be some water pollution because Mexico didn't treat its sewage, so you'd see an occasional turd and some smelly scum, people would occasionally get skin infections from Mexican bacteria. But I've heard that it's no longer a problem? I think we might have donated a sewage treatment center to Tijuana, or something like that.

It's all clean now.

Which side of Florida has the nicer beaches? I mean, other than the recent oil spill problems on the Gulf side - I understand that the oil has been covered up by the sand anyway so it's several inches under the beaches. But other than that, where is it nicer to swim? Is it cooler on the Atlantic side?

[Surftown831]

Originally Posted by Afitzie

I don't have any desire to go to Southern California because of the stereotypes (yeah I've fallen for them) of liberals, pot, pollution, etc. but I would definitely love to see Northern California. I would consider going to Southern California if I wasn't in the city, but I'm not at all a city girl! I love the part of Florida we are in because it's basically Alabama and not only are the beaches absolutely breathtaking (we moved from North Carolina) but I love that I can still be in the South!!

I cannot speak for California beaches personally, but why would you want to go to a beach that you can't swim in....? Humidity does not bother me, I would like it 85+ all the time so I love Florida. Maybe I would like it, but I'm doubting I would like it as much as Florida. Everyone has different things they want, for me it's temperature, white sand, and to be able to still be in a sane part of the country.

I think you have your stereotypes mixed up. Nor Cal is where all the liberal and pot heads are. Orange County and San Diego is actually fairly conservative (but I guess if you're in North Florida even our conservatives would seem liberal to you.) However you gotta consider the tradeoff of Nor Cal vs North Florida. Do you want to deal with the liberals and pot heads or the mullet sporting, camo jacket wearing, confederate flag waving yahoo who criticizes Obama's economic policies but barely graduated high school and has know idea what lassiez faire means?

[lilobie1]

California and Florida both have lovely beaches. I have been to Laguna, Santa Monica, Vencice and Ocean Beach up in S.F. and they are all beautiful.I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida and have fallen in love with some of the islands around here. Please look up the following: Honeymoon Island State Park, Fort DeSoto, and Caladisi Island. These three beaches have won national awards as being some of the best beaches in the country, beating California and Hawaii.They have all placed #1 as being voted best beach in the country many years in a row.There are a lot of beaches here that many people have not heard of. Prior to moving to Florida I had no idea that both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts were dotted with some of the most scenic beaches I have ever seen. When I thought of Florida, Daytona Beach came to mind. Not my cup of tea. The Gulf's forgotten coast is littered with old cracker houses, Victorian B&B's and sugar white sand that is cool on your feet. The sand on this side of the coast is very soft, like baby powder. Panama City has very nice beaches, as well as Pensacola. Please look up Mexico Beach if you are looking for a quite, tropical getaway. And no, the beaches up there are not covered in oil or spoiled. Down in Southern Florida there is South Beach with the back drop of 1920s Parisian architecture. As beautiful and as scenic as the beaches in California are, I don't think there is any comparison to South Beach. We don't have the jaw dropping cliffs and beautiful hills but we do have crystal clear, warm green water and a sub-tropical climate. Kayaking in Florida beats California hand down. We have thousands of islands and estuaries where we can kayak and see all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. Some of our beaches are over crowded which is why the following are the best kept secrets:
Anna Maria Island, Sanibel Island (best beach in the country for shelling), Bahia Honda State Park (please look this place up) and Siesta Key. The beaches down near Venice, Florida is the shark tooth capitol of the world and the sand is black, which makes an amazing contrast to the warm, seafoam green water. Venice Beach might just be one of the most unique beaches in the world. Please look up Caspersen Beach, fl. We also have the Florida Keys which have many smaller beaches and cute, little towns. For those of you asking whether or not the beaches are nicer on the Gulf/Atlantic coast, they are both very pretty but shark attacks are more prevalent on the Atlantic coast and our sand over on the west coast is snowy white and the water is on some days turquoise. If you want to relax and be surrounded by nature and water only, please visit Honeymoon Island State Park, Caladisi Island (by boat only) and Anna Maria Island. Even if you are a hard core California beach lover you will fall in love with these beaches. They don't have much wave action like the beautiful beaches in California but they are serene, warm and beautiful. All in All Florida has a variety of beaches. Not tow beaches are the same. California often beats us in scenery but the water in Florida is way better than California. I also prefer white sand to brown but that is just me.

[lilobie1]

<img src=http://beaches.uptake.com/blog/files/2009/05/bahia_honda_sandspur_beach1.jpg>


Bahia Honda State Park down in the Florida Keys is made up of three beautiful beaches. The beach above is the lovely Sandspur Beach.

[mateo45]

Florida: hot, humid, flat, and lotsa bugs, although the beaches are usually better than Cali's. Trouble is, much of the the time they look like this, especially during the tourist season!