Bethany Beach or Daytona Beach?

Both towns are built around wide Atlantic sand, but Daytona has more of it and warmer water. Its 37km of hard-packed beach lets you drive onto marked stretches, the sea reaches about 28°C in summer, and the swimming season runs from late spring well into autumn. The trade-off is greenish water and serious rip currents.

Bethany's beach is shorter and calmer, with a small boardwalk and lifeguards on the main stretch. Swimming is really limited to high summer. Its advantage is the variety nearby, from the wild dunes of Delaware Seashore State Park to the sheltered Inland Bays, which suit toddlers.

Neither town is a reason to travel for food, and the difference lies in the seafood. In Bethany it is Mid-Atlantic: steamed blue crabs on paper-covered tables, crab cakes and boardwalk fries, plus Rehoboth's bigger restaurant scene and breweries a short drive north. In Daytona it is Southern and Floridian: grouper sandwiches, smoked fish dip and oysters on decks over the Halifax River, with chain restaurants lining the main roads.

Daytona has a real sightseeing day or two. The Speedway and the town's history of land-speed records on the sand give it a clear identity, the Museum of Arts and Sciences holds an unusual collection of Cuban art, and you can climb Florida's tallest lighthouse at Ponce Inlet.

Bethany has almost nothing in this line. There is the carved totem pole, a small collection on the town's church-camp origins and the wartime watchtowers along the shore. Anyone who wants museums will spend time in the car.

Bethany calls itself the Quiet Resort. An evening there is dinner and a stroll on the boardwalk, and anyone who wants to stay out late drives to Dewey Beach or Ocean City.

Daytona has a proper night out, though of one particular kind: beach bars, sports bars, tiki bars at sunset and the biker saloons of Main Street, which overflow during Bike Week and Biketoberfest. Cocktail bars and clubs are scarce in both towns.

Both sit on flat barrier islands, so the outdoors means water and birds rather than hills. Daytona has the richer wildlife: dolphins in the Mosquito Lagoon, birding at Merritt Island, manatees wintering at Blue Spring and live-oak trails at Tomoka.

Bethany offers gentler paddling and crabbing on the Inland Bays, osprey and heron watching, and the wild ponies of Assateague Island within an hour. In both places summer heat and insects push outdoor plans to the morning.

Daytona is far better placed for outings. St Augustine's Spanish fort and old streets, the rockets at Kennedy Space Center and the Orlando theme parks are all about an hour away, and New Smyrna Beach and DeLand are closer still.

Bethany's outings are pleasant but smaller in scale: historic Lewes and its maritime museum, Berlin's Victorian main street, and the ferry across Delaware Bay to Cape May. They make good half-days, but none matches the pull of St Augustine.

Bethany has the edge for families because it is calm and small. Children can bike to a guarded beach, go crabbing off a dock and spend summer evenings at the bandstand, though it has no zoo or aquarium and most of it closes after summer.

Daytona has more to do, with arcades and rides by the pier, a water park and Orlando's parks an hour away. Parents have to plan around rip currents, the intense heat and the noisy race and bike weeks.

You need a car to reach either town, but once you arrive, Bethany is far easier. Rentals, the beach and the shops are close together on flat streets, so many families leave the car parked all week, and a seasonal bus runs along the coast road.

Daytona spreads along wide roads on both sides of the river, the buses are infrequent and only the boardwalk area can really be done on foot. The firm sand is a good place for a walk or a bike ride, but it does not take you anywhere useful.

Both are poor for shopping, and both rely on outlets. Bethany's own shops are beach boutiques and bookshops, while the large tax-free outlet spread outside Rehoboth and the galleries of Lewes are nearby. Daytona has an outlet centre and a regional mall, and adds its own touch with the motorcycle gear on Main Street and a few galleries on Beach Street.

Daytona is the cheaper stay. It has a large stock of older oceanfront motels and condos, and casual places keep meals moderate. Rates jump only during the Daytona 500, Bike Week and other big events.

Bethany is expensive in July and August, when most people rent a beach house or condo by the week and hotels are few. Going in June or September, cooking your own meals and the absence of sales tax all help.

Daytona has a real if modest calendar. The symphony society brings visiting orchestras and soloists each winter, the Peabody Auditorium hosts touring Broadway shows and a community playhouse puts on plays.

In Bethany, performance means free summer concerts at the bandstand by the boardwalk, with cover bands and brass groups playing to families on blankets. The nearest theatre and the autumn jazz festival are in Rehoboth.

Neither town has a spa tradition, and both offer rest through their slow pace more than through treatments. In Daytona the resort spas and condo pools are the main options, but the calm disappears in race and bike weeks. Bethany has fewer spas, but its leafy streets and the near silence of spring and autumn suit long walks and reading.