Boca Raton or Sarasota?

These are two equally strong beach towns on opposite coasts, and the difference is in the kind of beach. Boca Raton's Atlantic parks have pale sand, dunes and sea grape, and at Red Reef Park there is a reef you can snorkel from the shore. The water is warm enough to swim in all year, though summer can bring seaweed and rip currents.

Sarasota's Gulf beaches are about the sand and the stillness. Siesta Key's quartz is finer and whiter, the water shelves gently with no surf, and Venice adds fossil shark teeth to look for along the shore. The catch is a sea that turns cool in midwinter, and the occasional red tide.

Neither city is a place to plan a trip around meals, and each has the same mix of upscale dining rooms and seafood by the water. What sets Boca Raton apart is its Jewish deli and bagel tradition, while Sarasota has fish shacks on the keys and the Amish and Mennonite family cooking of Pinecraft in winter. For more variety, Boca Raton has Delray Beach and Miami within an easy drive, which Sarasota cannot match.

Sarasota has far more to see. The Ringling alone, with its Baroque art museum, Ca' d'Zan on the bay and the circus museum, is worth a full day, and the mid-century houses of the Sarasota School of Architecture give the town a design story of its own.

Boca Raton's cultural interest comes mostly from Addison Mizner's 1920s Mediterranean Revival buildings and a modest art museum. The Morikami Japanese Gardens just to the north are its best cultural visit, and serious sightseeing means going to Miami or Palm Beach.

Both cities wind down early, but the evenings feel different. In Boca Raton you go out for cocktails and wine around Mizner Park, with some student bars near the university, and Delray Beach's Atlantic Avenue a few minutes north for something later and louder. Sarasota's best evenings are sunset drinks at the open-air bars of Siesta Key Village, with an older crowd, and a proper night out there means driving to Tampa or St Petersburg.

Both cities are flat and both are at their best on or by the water. Boca Raton leans to the sea, with reef snorkelling and diving, Gulf Stream fishing charters, and turtle-nesting walks at Gumbo Limbo. Loxahatchee is the place for alligators.

Sarasota's wildlife is easier to find. Myakka River State Park has open prairie and a treetop canopy walk, and paddling the bay and the Lido mangrove tunnels often brings dolphins and manatees close.

Boca Raton's position in the middle of the Gold Coast gives it more outings. Palm Beach's Flagler Museum and Worth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale's canals and a full day in Miami are all within an hour, and you can reach most of them by train. The drawback is that most of them are versions of the same urban coast.

Sarasota's outings are fewer but more varied. You can see Dalí in St Petersburg, the Cuban cigar heritage of Ybor City, the Greek sponge town of Tarpon Springs and Edison's winter estate at Fort Myers, though each takes a longer drive.

Both are safe and easy with children, and Sarasota comes out slightly ahead. The surf-free water off Siesta Key and Lido Key is about as gentle as the sea gets, and Mote Marine's sharks and manatees plus the Ringling's miniature circus fill rainy afternoons. Vacation rentals with pools are common.

Boca Raton's family days revolve around lifeguarded beach parks, a first snorkel at Red Reef and the turtles at Gumbo Limbo. For a bigger attraction you face a drive of about an hour to Lion Country Safari.

You will want a car in both, but Sarasota is a little easier without one. Downtown, St Armands Circle and Siesta Key Village are each walkable, a free trolley runs along Siesta Key, and the drives between sights are short, although the bridges clog up in winter.

Boca Raton is spread out along wide multi-lane roads, and only the area around Mizner Park is pleasant on foot. Its one advantage is rail: Tri-Rail and Brightline make car-free trips up and down the coast genuinely practical.

Boca Raton is the stronger place to shop if you are after brands. Its big mall is one of the most upscale in the state, Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place add open-air streets of boutiques, and Worth Avenue is close by.

Sarasota offers resort browsing rather than serious shopping. You will find resort wear and galleries on St Armands Circle, independent shops on Main Street and Palm Avenue, and a Saturday farmers' market, but little luxury depth.

Neither is cheap, but Sarasota is easier on the wallet. Its public beaches are free, its state parks cost little to enter, and staying on the mainland rather than the keys brings room rates down.

Boca Raton is among the wealthiest towns on the coast, with hotel and restaurant prices to match in season and charges for parking at its beach parks. In both cities, summer is the season to save.

Sarasota has far more on stage than most cities its size. It has its own opera in a restored 1920s theatre, a ballet company known for Ashton, a full orchestral season, the Asolo Rep and touring shows at the Van Wezel, mostly from autumn to spring.

Boca Raton offers open-air concerts at Mizner Park, Broadway-style musicals and conservatory recitals. For opera or a major orchestra, residents drive to West Palm Beach or Miami.

For rest, the two are much alike: quiet, slow towns where relaxing means resort spas, yoga and early nights. The one real difference is Sarasota's access to Warm Mineral Springs, a spring-fed pool that has drawn bathers for generations, while Boca Raton has nothing beyond the paid spa. On the other hand, Boca Raton stays calmer in high season, when traffic on Sarasota's keys can take the edge off the peace.