Boca Raton or Marco Island?

Both are fine beach destinations, but the beaches are different in kind. Boca Raton has a chain of Atlantic beach parks over the bridges, with lifeguards, dunes and sea grape, and a reef at Red Reef Park close enough to snorkel from the sand. Expect some swell, rip-current flags and the odd drift of summer seaweed.

Marco Island has one long Gulf crescent with no real surf. The water is shallow enough for wading and the low tide is good for shelling, while Tigertail's lagoon and sandbar and the undeveloped Keewaydin Island, a short boat ride away, add variety. It is calmer and more sunset-focused, though cooler for winter swimming.

Boca Raton has the wider table. Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place cover steakhouses, Italian, sushi and brunch, and a strong Jewish deli and bagel tradition gives it something local. Delray Beach's Atlantic Avenue is close by when you want more choice.

Marco Island eats almost entirely from the Gulf: grouper sandwiches, shrimp and stone crab at waterfront grills, with the docks of Goodland adding a looser fish-shack side. It is pleasant but narrow, and a serious dinner usually means the drive to Naples.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Boca Raton has a real story to show. Addison Mizner's 1920s stucco and barrel-tile town survives in the Old Town Hall and the pink-towered hotel, the art museum in Mizner Park runs changing shows, and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens are a memorable visit just north.

Marco Island, built mostly from the 1960s, offers little beyond its historical museum, which is worth an hour for the Calusa people and the carved wooden figures found on the island.

Boca Raton is quiet by big-city standards, but it does have an evening. Mizner Park's wine bars and cocktail lounges stay lively into the night, students keep a few bars going near campus, and Delray's later, louder Atlantic Avenue is fifteen minutes away.

On Marco Island the night is mostly the sunset drink and dinner. Apart from resort lounges, marina bars and Goodland's dockside afternoons in winter, it is quiet early, and there are no clubs at all.

Marco Island has much the richer outdoors. It sits at the edge of the Ten Thousand Islands, so mangrove paddling, dolphins, manatees and some of Florida's best inshore fishing start from the island, and Everglades National Park, Big Cypress and the Fakahatchee Strand are all within an hour.

Boca Raton's nature is more about the open Atlantic: a nearshore reef for divers, Gulf Stream charters for sailfish and mahi-mahi, and turtle-nesting walks at Gumbo Limbo. For wildlife it has Loxahatchee, a smaller taste of the Everglades half an hour west.

Boca Raton's location in the middle of the Gold Coast gives it the better choice of days out. You can reach the Flagler Museum and Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, the canals of Fort Lauderdale, and Miami's Art Deco district, Little Havana and Vizcaya, the last of them even without a car by train.

From Marco Island the outings are fewer and further apart. Naples is half an hour away, Everglades City and Chokoloskee make a characterful morning out, and the Edison and Ford Winter Estates and Sanibel are about an hour north. The best of them lead into nature rather than towns.

Boca Raton gives children more to do away from the sand. The Children's Science Explorium, the playgrounds and trails of Sugar Sand Park and the turtle tanks at Gumbo Limbo fill the hot middle of the day, and the beach parks have lifeguards, shade and picnic areas.

Marco Island's strength is the water itself. The Gulf is shallow and usually calm for small swimmers, the Tigertail lagoon is made for wading, and dolphin-spotting boats and resort children's programmes fill the rest of the day. For a zoo or a children's museum, you drive half an hour to Naples.

Boca Raton has train stations, and Marco Island has none. Tri-Rail and Brightline both stop in the city, so a car-free day in Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach is realistic, and the blocks around Mizner Park are pleasant on foot. Everywhere else, wide multi-lane roads and slow buses mean a hire car or ride-hailing.

Marco Island is small and flat, with cycle paths along the main roads that make the beach, the shops and dinner an easy ride in the cooler months. Leaving the island means driving: the only public transport is a limited bus to Naples, and the nearest major airport is about three quarters of an hour away by road.

For shoppers, Boca Raton is in another league. Its enclosed mall is among Florida's most upscale and draws people from across the region, while Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place add open-air streets of boutiques and galleries. It is polished rather than characterful.

Marco Island's plazas sell resort wear, beach gear and shell décor, and anyone serious about shopping drives to Fifth Avenue South in Naples.

Neither is cheap, and both are at their dearest in the winter months, when resort rooms are priced for a wealthy seasonal crowd. Boca Raton adds parking fees at its beach parks, though its delis and casual seafood places give you a few cheaper meals.

Marco Island has fewer cheap places to eat. Its savings come from weekly condo rentals with kitchens, which suit families and groups. Both are much cheaper in summer, in return for the heat and storms.

Boca Raton has a modest but genuine winter season: open-air concerts and the Festival of the Arts at the Mizner Park Amphitheater, Broadway-style musicals, a ballet company and conservatory recitals at Lynn University. The Kravis Center and Miami's Arsht Center are within reach for bigger productions.

Marco Island has a community theatre and bands in resort bars in the evenings. For its philharmonic orchestra and touring shows, you drive to Naples.

Marco Island has the slight edge for switching off, because the whole island moves slowly and the resort spas look out over the Gulf. A week of beach, massage and sunsets is easy to arrange.

Boca Raton offers the same kind of resort spas plus more day spas and yoga studios around town, but with more going on around you. Neither has thermal baths or any bathing tradition.