Need beach vacation destination!

Help! Vacation boredom has crept in and I need someplace new to take the family for a spring vacation. The problem is that in the PK era (pre-kid) era, Mrs. Grouse and I loved to vacation in places like the Carrib, Mexico, city breaks, etc and all these options are not kid-friendly due to cost, long flights, and lack of stuff the kids like to do.

Unfortunately, my kids’ spring break is the week before Easter, so all the usual resort prices were crazy and have been for the whole fall and winter. Mexico, DR, etc was all ruled out, I’m just not going to pay that kind of crazy money for a week. Also

We decided to move things back into April to see if prices are lower post-Easter.

Requirements are simple. We need a beach where it will be warm and calm enough for the kids to swim in early April. We need a pool for the kids. And maybe a decent water park for a day out. We’re only going for maybe 4 nights and 5 days or so.

Long airplane flights and complicated transfers are a no. Disney is a no, Mrs Grouse was once hugged by a giant rodent against her will during a business conference at a Disney property and is still nursing a grudge.

Does anyone have any fresh ideas?

I was thinking maybe…

– Gulf Shores. Anyone been down there. It looks really nice enough for a quick break.

– Florida MUST have something to offer besides the mayhem that is Orlando>? I’ve been to FL 3 times and I’ve left underwhelmend and unimpressed every time. Expensive, crowded, cold water, windy beaches, cloudy, etc. Are there good beach vacation spots that are NOT so damn crowded, windy, and with cold water?

Can anyone throw out any new ideas, please?

Many thanks.

Grouse

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com

-J.

We stayed at a place last year in the FL Keys with our 2 yr old and it was good. We rented through VRBO – it was a big condo facility with a massive pool inside a gated community. It was a little south of Key Largo so you had access to grocery stores, restaurants, etc. We grilled in a couple nights and went out a couple of others. I’d recommend it as very kid friendly. Not a great beach but there is a state park with beach a half mile away.

You could also shore fish! Drop me a PM if interested and I’ll track down the name of the place.

I’d stay away from the panhandle as is can still be quite cool down there. I’d be looking at flying into Tampa, Sarasota, or Ft. Meyers. Odds are much better for warmer weather and water that far south. Not to mention missing the whole Orlando crowd!

South Padre Island, TX. Weather seems nice in the mid 70’s right now. Ocean front hotels, I bet you could find a fishing charter, pools at the hotel and best of all it’s NOT Florida(sorry Pug). I have actually been looking for a place in TX for the wife and I for a spring get away. I don’t have anything pinned down yet though.

My wife and I just got back from Clearwater Beach. We stayed at the Sheridan Sand Key. Nice place. I guess you could say it was all inclusive in that they have a huge beach, pool area, activities and restaurants. So if you chose to, you could just stay on site. It’s south of the main beach area at Pier 60 so it’s not anywhere near as crowded. Lots to do around Pier 60, large beach, jet skis, boat rides (dolphin tours), fishing charters, food, shops… The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is close by. This has been a cold year so the gulf was a bit cool, 64 I think, but it wasn’t horrible. Traffic wasn’t quite as bad as other places I’ve been as long as you don’t try to get around when everyone is trying to leave the beach at sunset. Tampa is 40 minutes away so there is a bunch of stuff there obviously. I’ve been to Fort Myers Beach also. That was in the middle of March a 2 years ago. Great weather, calm water, especially at Lovers Key SP. Fort Myers itself has some neat things to do away from the beach too.

Funny you ask because we just got back from vacation and basically had the exact same requirements as you. I have a 2 and 5 year old and the idea was to keep the trip as simple as possible and be right on a beach.

Rented a condo on Mission beach, San Diego / La Jolla area. Both Ocean and Bay access. The condo itself was perfect for kids. You have your own private lanai, private beach area, and connected to the massive public beach. They had a box of beach toys, life jackets, games, ect to use. Also free access to the posh resort next door for the pool, hot tub, restaurant ect. Even let you do a bonfire on the beach at night. Seaworld was a 10 min drive. We also took day trips to various beaches in La Jolla and Torrey Pines State Park(not that you’d need to)

Had perfect weather. Also like you, I’ve had crappy weather in FL. Seriously…. this place was great for someone with little kids I’d go back for sure. PM me if you want……

I was in Biloxi/Gulfport in November and really liked it. It was pretty much casino hopping and sipping cocktails, so IDK what it has to offer for kids. But the people were warm, friendly, seafood was amazing and cheap, I would definitely go back for a long weekend. The beaches were very nice with white sand, the downfall would be the water isn’t crystal clear since you get some of the Mississippi River mixing in. It reminded me of a MN lake on a windy day, not dirty or stained, just not clear.

My parents are now spending 2 months in Miramar beach, FL, next to Destin. They are loving it and there is tons to do in the area.

Being you will be visiting with a family and near college spring break, you really need to do your homework on which cities will be kid friendly come that time. My family once took me to Daytona Beach back in the late 90’s, when it was the college spring break capital. BAD IDEA. It was like the equivalent of taking your family of 5 to the apple river on a 90 degree day, but amplified by the thousands. On the bright side, I saw LOTS of milk jugs. Places to currently be concerned about would be South Padre Island, Panama City Beach and Daytona Beach. I may or may not have partook in a South Padre Island spring break while I was in College…

LindyRig79, My wife an I just got back from mission beach are in San Diego also. We stayed at the Bahia resort and would definitely take my 7 and 5 year olds there. The resort has a pool heated to 80 degs and has a private beach in the bay. We did Sea world on Thursday and it was a not busy at all, the main attraction the killer whale show the bleaches were 1/3 full.

broth82 wrote:

LindyRig79, My wife an I just got back from mission beach are in San Diego also. We stayed at the Bahia resort and would definitely take my 7 and 5 year olds there. The resort has a pool heated to 80 degs and has a private beach in the bay. We did Sea world on Thursday and it was a not busy at all, the main attraction the killer whale show the bleaches were 1/3 full.

Nice, we could see the Bahia resort from our condo. We were just a little north of you on the beach, right next to the Catamaran Resort and Spa. As I mentioned, the condo rental also came with a card to access the Catamaran facilities anytime.

Avatan in East Bethel MN has a pretty nice pool from what I hear.

Mission beach is a great place and you also have the san diego zoo for a day trip also.

Hmm, if there was only someone you knew who had some good info.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

– Florida MUST have something to offer besides the mayhem that is Orlando>? I’ve been to FL 3 times and I’ve left underwhelmend and unimpressed every time

Jim Stoeckel wrote:

Not to mention missing the whole Orlando crowd!

Yeah, I feel you guys, I hate Orlando too.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Requirements are simple. We need a beach where it will be warm and calm enough for the kids to swim in early April. We need a pool for the kids. And maybe a decent water park for a day out. We’re only going for maybe 4 nights and 5 days or so.

You can pretty much pick any place along the gulf for that, although you’ll need to be closer to a metro area for a water park. What else would you be interested in as a requirements?

We are going back to Anna Marie Island in April for our anniversary. Compared to other areas it is more laid back and less crowded.

If you are thinking about St. Pete, I’d stay at Guy Harvey’s Outpost.

Islamorada is sweet and you can take the kids to Theater of the Sea and also take them to Robbies to feed tarpon. There are a lot of nice resorts there. We’ve stayed at Guy Harvey’s and Postcard Inn at Islamorada.

Hawaii was as cheap as Florida from Minneapolis. Less than 200 bucks a night at a hotel on Waikiki. The flight was nonstop from MPLS.

Look guys, we need revenue to pay my state taxes. Stop with the other suggestions. (Sorry sticker)

Does it have to be in America?

I lived in San Diego and Orange County CA for about 18 years and would agree that San Diego is a great winter destination. The ocean water will probably be cool and rough, but Mission Bay is protected and warmer. The shore fishing is awesome as well. PM me if you would like more information.

All these suggestions save at most 1 hour vs a direct flight to Cancun. Some are also pretty far from the airport, in Cancun the hotel zone is only 15-25 minutes from the airport depending on where you stay. You’d need to be staying at some pretty fancy places for it to be more expensive than anywhere in the US and there’s less chance of the weather not being what you hoped for. There is plenty of stuff for kids to do there, there are two waterparks, and it’s comparitively cheap to get wherever you want to go. I don’t understand why Mexico is ruled out.

Little Harbor

We’ve stayed there in Ruskin FL just outside of Tampa (30 mins or so) twice now. Playground for the kids, pool, decent beach, shore fishing and not super expensive. Also a restaurant on site and surrounded by other good places to eat.

Mexico is ruled out because of this….

Quote “Unfortunately, my kids’ spring break is the week before Easter, so all the usual resort prices were crazy and have been for the whole fall and winter. Mexico, DR, etc was all ruled out, I’m just not going to pay that kind of crazy money for a week. Also”

Orange Beach aka The red neck riviera is great, good fishing, great beaches, goo restaurants not crazy expensive. But the Weather can be a bit on the cool side compared to than southwestern FLA.

From Clearwater to Tampa and South is a great place to be. Good fishing nice beaches a lot of activities. I rented a 19′ center counsel boston whaler with a 150 opti for $150 a day on a groupon deal. A manatee trip is about $50 a person, we saw 100 manatee in the rental boat and caught tons of fish in and off shore.
DO yourself a favor and go with VRBO.

Once you get to Naples and Marco (Wont ever go back crasy expensive and you cant see the beach from a car anywhere you go. it gets pretty expensive for young families. But he weather is warmer.

Punta Gordo FL is nice. On warm water gulf side and not super touristy. Much cheaper than the tourist traps. Do not have specific resort etc. Sorry. Try renting a condo from someone. VRBO is a good website for this if Im not mistaken in its name. Good luck and enjoy.

robby wrote:

Punta Gordo FL is nice. On warm water gulf side and not super touristy

And the tarpon will bill in Boca Grande Pass

I absolutely hate Florida but spent a week in Pensacola in February two years ago for my daughter’s wedding and loved it. Orange Beach, Alabama is just a few miles away with tons of great beaches. Water was cold then but might be ok by April. Great downtown area and a very nice minor league baseball park. Told my wife this is the only place in Florida I would ever consider spending a month in during late winter.

Seychelles. Giant Trevally, Milk Fish, Bonefish. Just sayin’

SR

Mexico Beach, Port St. Joe’s, Appalachicola, St. George Island… really the panhandle isn’t so bad in April, bu the later the better… Not a lot of Spring breakers in that area. Also I think that Panama City said they couldn’t come any more, I think… but ya might want to check on that…

We used to do the last week of March into the early April. we’d be there and if the north wind is blowing the beach isn’t so much fun. Out of the wind is plenty warm. I will not offshore fish, because the water temps are just getting into the 60’s and is still too cold to get a really good/great bite going on shore and to go offshore… well why, the water is colder out there and who wants to dress in the stuff you flew out in. but I know my Dad used to complain when they stayed in to the middle of April about how hot it would/could get.

Not a lot of kid friendly that I know of but quiet!!! And if you checked with any of the above cities chambers, you might find out there is some kid friendly stuff. The food is outstanding and reasonable at most of the places we have been in that area. But most of all its quiet…

Other places in FL too, been intrigued with Plantation in Crystal River north of Tampa. My niece is moving to Sarasota area, so we’ll have some input there in a few years as well.

Mark

I’m surprised at how many people do warm weather vacations at the end of March and into April. In my opinion, you’ve already made it through winter and Spring is awesome.

If I’m going to spend the time and money on a beach vacation I’ll do it in Winter. February preferably.

For some us, late March/April is the worst month/time of the year…..
It is nowhere near spring up here, still snow on the ground mostly mixed with mud. When I retire, the first thing that I will do is make sure that I am nowhere near this area from March 1 until early May.

We have done late March trips to Florida quite a few times, as my in-laws winter down there. They are about 75 miles south of Orlando (Sebring area). It is really a crap shoot for weather. We have had gorgeous weather in the 80’s all week, and we have had cold winds and 50’s. If you really want to have the best chance of warm weather late March/early April (as in swimming in the water warm), I’d head for the Keys. Plus you can take a rod/reel and fish many of the bridges, even if its just for smaller grunts, snapper, grouper etc that hang around them.

Appreciate all the suggestions guys, keep them coming.

Why wait until March/April? Because that’s when we can go. The kids school and sports schedules and Mrs. Grouse’s work and work travel schedules really dictate when we can go. If yours truly had any say in it, YES, we’d be going in January.

Nothing against Mexico, it’s just that the prices are freaking crazy for resorts and flights during the times we can go.

Will PM some of you for more info. Many thanks for the suggestions.

Grouse