Bob & Ann
Vinemont AL
Senior Member
Joined: 01/24/2002
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
 Offline
|
If you do not want to travel a long distance into Florida the Panhandle beaches are faqntastic. The beaches are sugar white soft sand from gulf Shores Alabama past Panama City Florida. The towns with the most to do are Gulf Shores AL, Destin FL and Panama City FL.
Bob and Ann
One HAPPY Schnauzer - Della
One FRISKY Chihuahua - Lola
One FLUFFY 14 Year Old Cat - Frazier
2005 37 DB Allegro Bay
Workhorse Chassis
GM 8.1L (496 CID)
340 HP
Onan 7000 Watt
Double Slide
2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara Toad
|
michelb
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Senior Member
Joined: 04/11/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
I have to agree with most of the opinions here. The nicest beaches are in the panhandle. However they are cool / cold about half the year.
There are also very nice beaches pretty much all along the coast from Clearwater down to Marco Island however the water isn't always as nice. However the water is pretty much always very calm.
IMO, the water itself is usually nicer (color) on the Atlantic side from Jacksonville down to Miami Beach but you often have to be a much stronger swimmer and depending on the conditions that might not even be enough. Although there usually aren't huge waves on the Atlantic in Florida (nothing like Hawaii or California), the current can be very strong and it can make even standing in the water challenging much less actually swimming.
As others have said, the keys are much more the exception when it comes to beaches compared to the rest of Florida.
|
tlbj6142
Ohio
Full Member
Joined: 09/13/2010
View Profile
Offline
|
Doesn't Sanibel/Ft Myers Beach beaches have "shelled" bottoms? Not coral, but not a whole lot of sand either. I recall spending a week at Ft Myers Beach a long time ago and I didn't care for the bottom as it was covered by shells (sand dollars?).
2012 Roo 233S
2008 Ford Expy
|
MegaJohn
NW Geogia
Senior Member
Joined: 08/21/2010
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
I also recommend the gulf side for fine, white sand and clear water. We've visited St Andrews, SP in Panama City Beach. The camp sites are on the bay side and there are two beaches on the gulf side within the state park... probably too far to walk, but a nice bike ride to them.
We are visiting Ft Pickens in Pensacola again this year. We like loop A... it's the older loop. The other loops look like a field with campers parked. They're ok, but we prefer loop A. Also, from loop A you walk across the road, through the dunes, and you're on the beach with little or no others. There is a public beach with life guards & such within the park. You can also ride bikes down to the old fort and watch the Blue Angels practice in the mornings (check their schedule on line).
The drive in Ft Pickens park is really slow for a bit due to nesting birds & crabs... the speed limit is like 10-15 for about 1.5 miles or so. The rest of the park has normal speed limits. The park really gets very little traffic during the week. We visited June 2010 about the time the area had oil washing ashore from the spill. We never saw any oil the whole week... only news & clean up crews down at the public beaches.
There are LOTS of really good places to eat around that area... and if you go, visit the Naval Air Museum (no charge).
We're looking forward to visiting Ft Pickens this year... We'll be driving down for Memorial Day week (May 26-Jun 3). Last time I checked there are no loop A sites available for that week... but sites in the other loops were available.
We checked the weather channel's website for average temperatures to see when it would be warm enough for us to enjoy the beach. We debated going for spring break, but we decided to visit when it was warmer.
Happy Camping!
John.
Stock 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 MegaCab, 5.9L Cummins, Automatic, 2WD, Dually
- 30' 2006 Pilgrim Interntional travel trailer, dry weight ~7k pounds, GVWR ~9k pounds
- Husky weight distributing hitch, friction anti-sway control, electronic brake controller
|
dieharder
Ottawa, ON
Senior Member
Joined: 09/10/2009
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
Anywhere there are waves you'll have sand. No waves (like the Keys) = no sand. No natural sand, that is. Sand in the Keys has been imported, per se.
1999 Itasca Sunrise
|
|
|
michelb
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Senior Member
Joined: 04/11/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
tlbj6142 wrote:Doesn't Sanibel/Ft Myers Beach beaches have "shelled" bottoms? Not coral, but not a whole lot of sand either. I recall spending a week at Ft Myers Beach a long time ago and I didn't care for the bottom as it was covered by shells (sand dollars?).
Sanibel does have a lot of shells. Fort Myers Beach is fine sand (as are Naples and Marco Island in that area)
|
Rickyrocket
Coventry,RI
Senior Member
Joined: 04/09/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
65* TOO cold !
|
tatest
Oklahoma Green Country
Senior Member
Joined: 05/14/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
Night time freezing temperatures right on the Gulf Coast are rare, from Florida to Texas. Same for the Atlantic coast of Florida (and Georgia and South Carolina, for that matter). Freezing temperatures for a long enough period to freeze RV plumbing would be quite unlikely any time right on the coast. You would have to be 5-10 miles from the shore to get away from the warming effect of the water.
When is it warm enough to go in the water? That is pretty much up to the person going in the water. For some people 50 F is warm enough, for others 75 F is too cold.
When I was living in Myrtle Beach, visitors from Canada were going into the water in February and March, whatever it was, it was warm enough for them. People from North Carolina generally would not come to the beach and go into the water before May, but being from Michigan we were usually in the Atlantic by early April, when the temperatures were much like Great Lakes summer temperatures.
When we were coming down from Detroit to central Florida for Christmas, we would be swimming in the Gulf around Hernando County in December, on nice days.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B
2001 Ranger Edge
|
