BEST BEACHES IN FLORIDA
June 21, 2020
We know many of you are limiting travel during these uncertain times. Although we continue to feature trips and places to visit, we are not encouraging you to visit them until it is safe. We want to support Florida's attractions and businesses during this situation, and hope you will plan to visit them when things get better. In the meantime, enjoy them virtually from the comfort of your home.
Everybody has an opinion about which are the best Florida beaches, and that opinion is subjective. It all depends on what you like when you go to the beach.
A surfer has different needs than a kite flyer.
Florida family vacations may include a beach, and each family member may have a different idea of the kind of beach they like.
A swimmer has different desires than a surf fisherman. A surfer dude has different desires than a shell gatherer.
A man who likes to admire bikini clad beauties has different desires than a man with a metal detector looking for treasure or jewelry.
Here are the things we like about our list of the best Florida beaches.
- The beaches are usually quiet and often uncrowded. Florida beach vacations near these places can be very relaxing.
- They have nice clean sand that is comfortable to walk on barefoot or with flip flops or crocs.
- They have a dune crossover, some picnic shelters, a
shower to wash the sand off your feet when you're ready to leave,
restrooms, and picnic facilities.
- They may or not be good for surfing or surf fishing.
- Safety is important at the beaches I like, but there are no guarantees about that matter on any beach.
- Lots of shells make a beach uncomfortable to walk on,
so I haven't listed any well known shell beaches. You can find these by clicking the link at the very bottom of this page. You will learn about Sanibel and others.
- I wear clothes or a swimming suit when I go to the
beach, so I haven't focused on nude beaches, also known as "clothing
optional".
A couple of well known nude beaches are Playalinda and Apollo just north of Kennedy Space Center, part of the Canaveral National Seashore, and Haulover Beach north of Haulover Inlet near Bal Harbour.
Haulover is legally clothing optional, while Playalinda and Apollo are supposedly not, it seems to be tolerated with signs directing people to the clothing optional beaches at both the north and south ends of Canaveral National Seashore.
There are many more factors that are important to some people. Dr. Beach, the famous expert, has 50 criterion that he uses to evaluate his lists of the best beaches.
Many of the things that we like in a Florida beach require regular maintenance. That's why our list contains a lot of public beaches that are kept in good shape by the area's parks and recreation department or by the Florida State Park system.
Our list has at Florida beaches in each of the 8 geographic regions of the state. There is usually an admission fee of around $4.00/car to get into the State Parks to enjoy their great beaches.
Our list of the best Florida beaches is organized by the geographical regions of the state. Just click on the links below to see the beaches.
BEST BEACHES IN FLORIDA
NORTHWEST
Grayton Beach State Park, Grayton Beach.
Panama City, beaches stretch both east and west.
Pensacola, great beaches all the way to the Alabama line.
Seaside, wonderful beaches soft white sand.
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, Santa Rosa Beach.
NORTH CENTRAL
- Ichetucknee Springs State Park, Fort White.
NORTHEAST
- Anastasia State Park, St. Augustine.
- Flagler Beach, no condos on the ocean side.
Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach.
Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area, Flagler Beach, camping allowed.
Jacksonville Beaches. Numerous beaches near Jacksonville, including the towns of Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Ponte Vedra Beach, all of them beautiful.
CENTRAL EAST
- Brevard County Parks and Recreation, some of the best beaches in the state are in Brevard County with one of the longest Atlantic Ocean shorelines in the country with soft sand beaches.
- Cherie Down Park, Cape Canaveral. Small county park in quiet neighborhood.
- Canaveral National Seashore, New Smyrna and Titusville.
- Cocoa Beach, lots of activity and a great ocean pier.
- Indialantic, public boardwalk and miles of beach.
- Melbourne Beach. This area of the state has many public access beaches, all nice.
- Vero Beach. The municipal beach on the Atlantic Ocean, downtown beachside, is one of the best beaches in Florida.
CENTRAL WEST
- Pinellas County Beaches, from Clearwater to Pass A Grille.
- Sarasota, all its beaches and barrier islands.
- Venice, nice beaches in town and on Casey Key.
SOUTHWEST
Anna Maria Island, end of road town with quiet beach.
Boca Grande, miles of uncrowded beautiful sand.
Captiva Island, and Sanibel. Miles of white sand beach and sea shells.
Delnor Wiggins Pass State Park, Naples.
Fort Myers Beach, busy beach on Gulf.
Lovers Key State Park, Fort Myers Beach.
Englewood. Charming small town with great beaches.
Marco Island, Tigertail Beach, other white sand beaches.
Naples Beaches. Every east-west avenue in Naples ends at a beautiful white sand beach with a dune crossover. Every one of them is among the best beaches in Florida.
SOUTHEAST
- Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key. One of few sand beaches in the Keys.
Delray Beach. Numerous beaches within the city limits with easy access to the ocean.
Fort Lauderdale, great beaches with lots of dining places.
Haulover Beach. Great white sand, clothing optional but people with swim suits are welcome also in a separate area.
Key Biscayne. Many beaches within the city limits with easy access to the ocean, including the beautiful white sand beaches of Crandon Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park is on the barrier island in North Palm Beach. Great beach, boardwalk, pavilions, and nature trails.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Florida's 12 Coasts and Their Popular Names
A statewide resource page on this website is beach and seashell related.
READ ABOUT FLORIDA BEACHES AND SEASHELLS
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