Clearwater or Cocoa Beach?

Clearwater has the better beach for swimming. Its sand is powdery and white, and the Gulf is clear, calm and shallow, so you can wade a long way out. When the main stretch around Pier 60 gets crowded, there are quieter options at Sand Key, the wild shores of Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island, which has no development at all.

Cocoa Beach is a fine beach of a different kind. The sand is wide and firm and runs the length of the island, but it faces open Atlantic, so the water is greenish, there is always a small surf and rip currents are a real risk. That suits surfers and people who like long walks, and there is wilder sand towards Cape Canaveral.

Neither town is somewhere to travel for the food. Both mostly offer seafood grills and chain restaurants, though Clearwater has slightly more range. Its grouper sandwich, stone crab in season and smoked fish spread give it a clearer local flavour. A few downtown places and the Greek tavernas and bakeries of Tarpon Springs give you better options for a proper meal.

In Cocoa Beach the best of the eating is rock shrimp from Port Canaveral, fish tacos, raw bars and big breakfasts before a morning surf, served on decks by the river or at the port.

Clearwater has a modest historic downtown and real museums within reach, while Cocoa Beach has a pier and the occasional rocket. On Clearwater's bluff you will find early twentieth-century buildings, the restored 1920s Capitol Theatre and a few small history collections. None of them will fill a day, but the art museums of St Petersburg and Tampa are less than an hour away.

Cocoa Beach has almost nothing to visit in town. What it does have is the sight of a rocket climbing from Cape Canaveral, which you can watch from the beach. It is unforgettable, but it only happens on launch days, so it can't replace having places to visit.

Both towns have relaxed, cover-band evenings rather than real nightlife, and both get louder at spring break. Clearwater has a little more energy because its evenings begin with the crowd that gathers at Pier 60 for the sunset, then spread out to tiki decks along the beach. If you want more, Ybor City and downtown St Petersburg are an easy drive.

In Cocoa Beach the evening centres on a few blocks around the pier and is mostly sports bars and beach decks that close early. The nearest clubs are in Orlando, about an hour away.

Cocoa Beach has the richer natural setting. Behind the town, the Indian River Lagoon is full of mangrove islands, where you can paddle among manatees and, on summer nights, through water lit up by plankton. North of the Cape, Merritt Island refuge and Canaveral National Seashore offer alligators, superb winter birding and turtles nesting on undeveloped dunes. There is also reliable surf.

Clearwater's version is gentler. You can kayak in the mangroves and walk the pine-flatwood trails on Caladesi and Honeymoon islands. Dolphins are common in the harbour and manatees gather there in winter. The long, flat Pinellas Trail is good for an easy bike ride.

Clearwater has more and better day trips. St Petersburg has the Dalí Museum, and Tampa has Ybor City's old cigar factories and Cuban social clubs. You can also visit the Greek sponge docks at Tarpon Springs or Sarasota's Ringling Museum and Ca' d'Zan mansion, all well within a day.

From Cocoa Beach, one outing stands out: the Kennedy Space Center, which can easily fill a whole day. Orlando is closer from here, at about an hour, but the other options are smaller: a half day in Cocoa Village, the modest museums in Titusville, or a long return trip to St Augustine.

Clearwater is the easier choice with young children. The water is calm and shallow, there are lifeguards and a playground at Pier 60, and children love the Clearwater Marine Aquarium with its rescued dolphins and turtles. Busch Gardens and Adventure Island in Tampa are about forty minutes away.

Cocoa Beach suits older children better. Surf lessons, rocket launches and the space centre are big draws, and Orlando's theme parks are an easy day out. With small children, though, you have to stay close to the lifeguards because of the currents.

In both towns you can get by on foot near the beach, but you will need a car for most outings. Clearwater makes the island easier without one. A beach trolley runs down to Sand Key, and a ferry and water taxi cross to downtown, but expect causeway traffic on busy weekends.

Cocoa Beach is one thin strip along a single road. A bicycle will cover downtown and the pier, but buses are infrequent and the nearest major airport is about an hour away in Orlando.

Shopping in both towns is mostly beachwear, sunscreen and souvenirs, though you will find a little more variety on the Gulf side. Away from Clearwater's beach strip, downtown has a few small independent shops, and Tarpon Springs sells natural sponges and Greek goods, the most local things to take home. If you want department stores or luxury brands, Tampa is within easy reach.

In Cocoa Beach, nearly all the shopping is for surfers. The landmark is a huge round-the-clock surf store on the main road that has been there since the 1960s, and smaller shops sell boards made by local shapers. For boutiques, you would cross the causeway to Cocoa Village.

Overall costs are broadly similar, with Cocoa Beach a little gentler. In Clearwater the pressure comes from beachfront hotels in the late-winter and spring peak, so staying on the mainland or further down the coast saves a good deal. Summer and autumn rooms are cheaper too, if you can put up with the heat.

Cocoa Beach has older motels and condos that stay affordable outside the busy weeks, though rates rise on launch weekends. Over a week, the costs that add up are the hire car, the space centre ticket and park admissions inland.

Clearwater is clearly ahead for live performance. Ruth Eckerd Hall brings in touring rock and pop acts, comedians, Broadway tours and orchestral concerts, and the 1920s Capitol Theatre puts on smaller concerts in an intimate hall. For opera and ballet, Tampa's large arts centre is close by.

In Cocoa Beach, live performance mostly means cover bands on bar decks. For a play or touring show, you would drive to the community playhouse in Cocoa Village or the regional arts centre in Melbourne.

Clearwater is the more restful base. It is a slow, low-rise retirement town, and the larger resort hotels have proper treatment rooms, though there is no bathing tradition behind them. Days settle into a routine of pools, long lunches and evenings in the waterfront park below the bluff.

Cocoa Beach has a few day spas and beach yoga classes, and its calm comes from early walks on the sand, sunsets over the river and quiet weekdays. For a real spa resort, you would need to go to the hotels around Orlando.