Boca Raton or Daytona Beach?

Both make a strong beach vacation, but the beaches are very different. Boca Raton has a string of separate parks with soft pale sand, dunes and sea grape. You can snorkel the reef at Red Reef Park, high-rises are held back, and the water stays swimmable through the winter.

Daytona's beach is one huge strip of hard-packed sand, about 37km long, firm enough to drive on. It has more surf, greenish water, real rip currents and a busy boardwalk and pier at its centre. If you want quieter sand, go north to Ormond Beach or south to New Smyrna.

Boca Raton eats better, though neither town is a food destination. Its strengths are polished dining rooms around Mizner Park, stone crab in season and a real tradition of Jewish delis and bagel bakeries.

Daytona is simpler and more about fried seafood. The best meals are at the old fish camps on the Halifax River and towards Ponce Inlet, eaten on a deck over the water, and away from those places chains dominate.

Neither town gives much sightseeing, and both can be covered in a day or two. Boca Raton's interest is architectural: Addison Mizner's 1920s Mediterranean Revival stucco and arcades, a decent art museum and the Morikami Japanese Gardens nearby.

Daytona's is the history of speed. The Speedway tour and the old land-speed runs on the sand set its character, and it adds the Museum of Arts and Sciences with its Cuban art, plus a climb up Florida's tallest lighthouse.

Daytona has the livelier nights, though only in a particular style: beach bars, sports bars and the biker saloons of Main Street, which overflow during Bike Week, Biketoberfest and race weeks.

Boca Raton is mostly wine bars and restaurant terraces around Mizner Park, and the town is quiet before midnight. Its nearest late street is Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach.

Daytona has more wild country within reach. Canaveral National Seashore's undeveloped dunes and the Mosquito Lagoon are good for paddling among dolphins, Merritt Island is excellent for birding, and Blue Spring draws manatees in winter.

Boca Raton's outdoors is mostly at sea: reef snorkelling and diving, Gulf Stream fishing charters and turtle walks at Gumbo Limbo. The Loxahatchee refuge gives a glimpse of the Everglades about half an hour inland.

Daytona's outings cover more ground. In one direction you can reach the Spanish streets and fort of St Augustine, and in the other Kennedy Space Center's rockets or Orlando's theme parks, each about an hour away.

Boca Raton's trips are easier but more alike: Palm Beach's Flagler Museum and Worth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale's canals and Miami's Art Deco and Little Havana, all along the same urban coast.

Boca Raton is the calmer, tidier choice with children. Its beach parks have lifeguards, shade and picnic tables, Red Reef's shallow reef makes a gentle first snorkel, and the sea turtle tanks at Gumbo Limbo are a reliable favourite. Bigger attractions such as Lion Country Safari mean a drive of about an hour.\n\nDaytona gives children more noise and fun: wide sand to run on, arcades and small rides by the boardwalk, a water park, and Orlando's theme parks about an hour inland. The trade-off is rougher water with rip currents, and event weeks and spring break are best avoided.

Both are built for the car, and in neither town do the local buses help much. Boca Raton has one clear advantage: Tri-Rail and Brightline trains stop there, so Miami and Fort Lauderdale are realistic without driving.

Daytona has no such link, and traffic jams badly during big events. Its compensation is the beach itself, which makes a long, easy route for walking or cycling.

Boca Raton is much the better place to shop. Its large enclosed mall carries luxury and designer labels and draws shoppers from across the region, while Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place add open-air boutiques and galleries. All of it is polished rather than characterful.

Daytona's shopping covers the basics: an outlet centre, a regional mall, swimwear and souvenirs, and motorcycle gear on Main Street. You would not plan a day around it.

Daytona is far easier on the wallet. Older oceanfront motels, condos with kitchens and casual seafood places keep a beach stay reasonable by American standards, provided you avoid the Daytona 500 and Bike Week.

Boca Raton is one of Florida's wealthiest towns. Winter rooms and restaurants are priced to match, and you also pay for beach parking. Summer rates fall, but it never becomes cheap.

Boca Raton's stage life includes dance and young classical musicians. A local ballet company performs through the season and the Lynn University conservatory gives recitals. A regional theatre puts on Broadway-style musicals, and the Mizner Park Amphitheater hosts open-air concerts. For opera and big touring shows, the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach is within easy reach.\n\nDaytona's strongest offering is the symphony society's winter series, which brings visiting orchestras and soloists. Touring Broadway and comedy fill the Peabody Auditorium. In summer, when Boca's calendar thins, the oceanfront bandshell has free evening concerts.

Boca Raton is the more restful choice. The quiet is reliable, the big resorts have full spas, and yoga and day spas serve a health-conscious town, though neither place has any bathing tradition.

In Daytona, rest means a condo pool, early walks on the hard sand and sunset by the river. Engines and crowds break that calm in race weeks and Bike Week.