Orlando Vacation

[cfenn006]

Originally Posted by Dorothygalestolemybroom

What beach would you suggest?

I like Venice Beach, but Im a diver and this a very good place to shore dive, test gear, plus its a great place to find sharks teeth in the water ore washed up on shore. Please note though, these teeth are here due to the current and the composition of the teeth an a lot of other scientific stuff above my pay grade to explain, just know there are no more sharks here than any other beach in FL. You can expect very nice calm conditions as long as the weather holds up, that is better suited for young children.



With that being said, you can pretty much go to any beach on the Gulf and find calmer conditions than the Atlantic side. The Atlantic can be very good for sports and activities, but for a 3 year old you will have to be on guard much more... there are a lot of inexperienced surfers, boarders, and generally rude people who will run tou over to catch a wave. Plus the conditions and waves are more volitale, grown adults need to get rescued by lifeguards on the regular out there.



If you want less crowded, hit Sarasota, Venice, that area. Nice quiet towns out there, you could really make a geed few days out there to decompress from the Orlando Chaos. Im sure this applies to north of Tampa as well, but I havent ventured northwest of Florida that much to advise.

[cfenn006]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

If you’re going to be in Orlando and don’t want to subject yourself to a 2 hour drive to Gulf beaches, just go to Cocoa Beach. It’s more than good enough. I’ve never had issues with people on watercrafts endangering my kids — never even really noticed much of that. I’ve been going there since they were toddlers.
Melbourne beaches are good too.

You werent paying attention, I said jetskis on the Gulfside and they are not much of a concern because they are generally too far out. If somebody has the choice to take a toddler to a pool or a wave pool, the choice is easy.



Can you take a toddler to Cocoa or Melbourne???
Sure, you just got to watch out more for skimboarders, surfers, handboarders, riptides, and and possibly large waves. I dont know any toddlers who can swim at an expert level, and as a parent you would NEED to be just in case (not everybody is and its dangerous to assume so). You wont have to watch out for any of that on the gulfside, just keep an eye on any skimboarders and any jetskiers looking to land on shore.

[CVAlicia]

We are looking at going to St. Augustine Beach in June. How are the water conditions there? I know it won't be gulf-side-calm, but is it calmer than Cocoa or Melbourne?

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by CVAlicia

We are looking at going to St. Augustine Beach in June. How are the water conditions there? I know it won't be gulf-side-calm, but is it calmer than Cocoa or Melbourne?

Same ocean but in summer the Atlantic usually becomes Lake Atlantic unless there is a TS or hurricane off shore within 500 miles of the coast.

But for the most part, surfing waves happen more off Brevard County. The water might actually be warmer in Melbourne than in St. Augustine in June.

[bmw335xi]

I spent a few years in my early childhood in Daytona Beach and never had issues with the ocean. It’s nothing like West Coast beaches, it’s a lake in comparison. Thousands of young children swim, boogie board, etc in Daytona, Smyrna, Cocoa, Melbourne. Use common sense, supervise your children, which you should be doing regardless.