Beach Trip Help/advice

Hi there! I was born and raised here and the one thing I have learned is DO NOT swim with a tropical system active and within 200 miles of the shore you want to go to. This makes rip tides even more dangerous and brings jellyfish closer to shore. Jelly fish HURT. If you get stung see one of the life guards and they should have a spray bottle of amonia handy. If they dont, I'm not kidding here, urine will stop the sting.

I always bring the kids and myself some very loose fitting cloths for the trip home. After a long day in the sand you will want to shower and redress so there isnt any sand stuck anywhere makeing the trip home abrasive!

I have found the gulf coast better for finding shells and harder on bare feet and the east coast nicer to your feet but a much smaller amout of shells for collection.
Good luck and have fun.
A.

The biggest public beach is Clearwater, its usually busy but with school back in session it will be quiet. I usually don't go here because of the crowds, but they have a nice kid area, public bathrooms, and LIFEGUARDS.
I like going to Indian Rocks Beach, because it is empty. But that means there are no lifeguards, which with non-swimmers you might want to have around.
Biggest tip: Living in Florida the children need to take swimming lessons. Both my children were trained young, 1 year and 9 months. Infant Swimming Resource is a nationwide program that has been around for over 42 years. They focus on aquatic survival. Infants learn to hold their breath, orient themselves in the water, and flip to a float. Older children learn to hold breath, orient, swim short distance, float, swim They continue the sequence until the reach the waters edge or an adult reaches them. You can check out their website at www.infantswim.com You can find an instructor close to you by typing in your zipcode. With drowning being the leading cause of accidental death in Hills county for children ages 1-4 its imperative that parents take steps to provide their children with aquatic skills.
Have fun at the beach and welcome to Florida

My favorite beachtip is to bring baby powder. When you get to your car (as you are leaving), sprinkle it on the kid's legs (anywhere that's sandy) and the sand just brushes right off! I don't know how or why it works, but it does! Ft. Desoto park is very nice, but we usually go down to Sarasota (but that's because I have family there). Tell your kids to shuffle their feet as they walk through the water - if there are sting rays (I honestly do not ever see them, but I've always been told to this) they will sting if you step directly on them, but if you shuffle your feet and bump them they will swim away rather than sting. Have fun!

J.

I would recommend Sand Key Park in Clearwater. It is a beautiful beach and has life guards on duty. Just bring your change for the parking meters.

It's Florida, we do get dangerous aquatic animals (sharks, alligators, sting rays). Look for the purple flag and if you see it, don't go in the water. In fact, with non-swimmers, make sure the flag is green, and that there is one.

In summer, I liked Ben T. Davis. Not the cleanest, but the water is shallow very far out, making toddler supervision easier. It's also near Tampa, so if the weather changed I would have invested less time. I hear good things about Picnic Island, too. They both have directions on line (google by name, or by Tampa Parks and Recreation.

THE BEACH is Sand Key, which is out beyond Clearwater. Cold water, some waves, but very gorgeous - just bring a relative so the girls can have one on one in the water.

Pier 66 is crowded, but there's a lifeguard year round.

Have fun!

E., who loves the beach but now that they're teens hardly ever gets there!

I would definitely choose a beach with lifeguards and nice sand. The quality of the sand isn't so great at Indian Rocks and I think they have problems there with rip currents. Honeymoon and nearby Caladesi are both beautiful beaches but I don't think they have lifeguards. Caladesi was just named best beach.

We love going to Honeymoon Island State Park. They also have a ferry (cost extra) to Caladesi Island that is very nice. This is in Dunedin. You can find more info here: http://www.floridastateparks.org/honeymoonisland/

By far our favorite beach is Siesta Key. It is about 1 1/2 hours from Lakeland. The sand is like baby powder and the water is a beautiful clear blue. We usually go down for 3 days sometime May-August as this is their "low season" and you can rent a condo for 3 days (usually they require 1 week rentals). Lots of things to do in the area too!

Have fun!!