Thinking about taking your family to Florida for a beach vacation? There are several considerations that you’ll want to decide upon before making your arrangements.
The Florida beaches vary widely in their environmental makeup. Some beaches are covered with very fine white sands that are similar to the consistency of flour or baby powder. Other beaches have sands that are rough and very course. These beaches are made up of broken sea shells or coquina. The consistency varies widely area to area across the state. On one beach the sand is compacted hard enough that cars can readily drive along the beach. Another area has beaches which are porous and soft enough that car and recreational vehicles tires get stuck. These different types of sand will play a large part on your beach-side enjoyment.
If you and your family want to spend time swimming and enjoying building sand castles, you’ll want sand that allows for coolness and workability. However, if you are looking for sea shells, star fish, or sand dollars, then you’ll need to find a beach where these items are present. Selection of the right beach for the family is important to your enjoyment.
Let’s examine six different beaches. Daytona Beach has hard and compact sands where you can drive on the beach and enjoy the views. September through November is quiet time on the beach if you need solitaire time. Compact sands are also down at Clearwater and Stuart Beach, but the water is clearer than Daytona.
Further north on the beach is St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S. The beach is formed from coquina rock. You can find star fish and other sea shells if you’re a collector. It’s not one for walking barefoot down the beach.
Crossing over to the panhandle of Florida brings us to the whitest and finest sands in the world. This 200-mile stretch of beach is a national seashore. The white sands of Florida’s Emerald Coast are like sugar and the Gulf waters are aquarium clear and emerald green.
Coming south down the Gulf side of Florida is Tampa and St. Pete. This sand provides good opportunities for finding sand dollars, starfish and clam shells.. It is courser sand.
Finally, Key West has finer sands than either east or west coastal sands, but not as fine as the northern. It has coral as a base.
