Boca Raton or Orange Beach?

Both shores are excellent, but they differ in sea and setting. Boca Raton's beach parks sit along a low-rise barrier island backed by dunes and sea grape, and Red Reef Park lets you snorkel a rocky reef straight from the sand. Above all, the Atlantic stays swimmable through the winter.

Orange Beach has the classic Gulf look of fine white quartz sand and green, clear water, with a gentle slope that suits waders. Condo towers line much of it, though Alabama Point and the state park beaches give more space. The swimming here belongs to the warm half of the year.

Neither town is a reason to travel for food, but they eat differently. Boca Raton has the wider and more polished range: steakhouses, Italian dining rooms and sushi around Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place, plus a strong tradition of Jewish delis and bagel bakeries.

Orange Beach is narrower but more rooted in place. Here you eat Gulf seafood at waterside fish houses on the back bays: Royal Red shrimp, chargrilled oysters, snapper and West Indies salad. Beyond a few good seafood dinners, both rely on nearby towns for variety.

Boca Raton has a modest but real cultural layer, which Orange Beach lacks almost entirely. Addison Mizner's 1920s stucco and barrel-tile town survives in the Old Town Hall's history museum, the Museum of Art fills Mizner Park with changing shows, and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens just north is a memorable half-day.

In Orange Beach the only sight is a small museum of Native American and fishing history. The forts and old quarters of the coast need a day out.

Both are early-night towns, but the evenings feel different. Boca Raton is dinner and a drink in wine bars and cocktail lounges around Mizner Park, with Delray Beach's livelier Atlantic Avenue fifteen minutes north and the clubs of Fort Lauderdale and Miami within a drive.

Orange Beach is beach bars and waterfront decks, led by the Flora-Bama roadhouse on the state line, with sand underfoot and a crowd that stays late on summer weekends. It is loud in spring break and summer and very quiet in the rest of the year.

Orange Beach offers more variety outdoors. A long paved backcountry trail runs through pine woods and wetland past alligator ponds into Gulf State Park, the back bays suit paddling, dolphin cruises leave from Perdido Pass, and Bon Secour refuge is good birding during the migrations.

Boca Raton's outdoors is almost all water: kayaking the mangroves of the Intracoastal, snorkelling the nearshore reef and boarding the Gulf Stream fishing charters. Gumbo Limbo's turtle walks and the alligators of the Loxahatchee refuge are the highlights on land.

Boca Raton has the stronger list of outings because it sits in the middle of a continuous run of cities. Palm Beach's Flagler Museum and Worth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale's canals and a full day in Miami are all close, and the trains make Miami possible without a car.

From Orange Beach the outings are further apart and more historic: Pensacola's Spanish quarter, its naval aviation museum and brick forts, Mobile's antebellum streets and Fort Morgan at the mouth of the bay. They are worthwhile, but each needs a car and a fair drive.

Orange Beach is more thoroughly built for children. Kitchen-equipped condos, shallow sloping water, the marina Ferris wheel, mini golf and dolphin boats are all on hand, and a water park, small zoo and theme park lie within about half an hour. Rip currents are the main worry.

Boca Raton is safe and orderly, with lifeguarded beach parks, Gumbo Limbo's turtle tanks, the Science Explorium and Sugar Sand Park. However, the bigger attractions are an hour or more away, and its warm winter is when it works best with young children.

Plan on a car in either place. Boca Raton has two advantages, though: a pleasant walkable core around Mizner Park, and Tri-Rail and Brightline stations that make car-free trips to Miami and West Palm Beach realistic.

Orange Beach is strung along one coastal highway with almost no useful public transport, and summer traffic on that road slows to a crawl. A bicycle on the paved trails is the best alternative.

Boca Raton is a shopping destination in its own right. Its enclosed mall west of downtown is among Florida's most upscale, Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place add open-air boutiques and galleries, and Worth Avenue is a short drive. It is polished, not quirky.

Orange Beach sells beachwear, fishing gear and souvenirs along the main road. For brands, visitors drive twenty minutes to the outlet mall in Foley.

Orange Beach is the cheaper of the two, though neither is a budget destination. Its rates fall sharply from late autumn to early spring, groups can share a big condo and cook, and the beach costs nothing.

Boca Raton is one of the wealthiest towns on the Florida coast. Its winter high season is expensive, restaurants are priced for well-off locals, and even the beach parks charge for parking. Only its hot, stormy summer brings real savings.

Both are thin on live performance, but in different genres. Boca Raton leans towards classical music and theatre: Lynn University's conservatory recitals, Broadway-style musicals, a local ballet and the Festival of the Arts at Mizner Park, mostly in winter, with the Kravis Center close by.

Orange Beach is about touring country and rock shows at the marina amphitheatre, bar bands most nights in season, and the Frank Brown songwriters' festival each November.

Boca Raton is better set up for a restful stay. The big resorts have full spas, there are yoga studios and day spas across town, and the city is quiet in every season.

Orange Beach has only a few spas, and its calm depends on the calendar. Autumn to spring brings empty mornings and sunsets over the back bays, while spring break and summer weekends are noisy.