Clearwater or Fort Lauderdale?

Both have first-rate beaches, so the choice comes down to which sea you want. Clearwater's sand is powder-white and very fine, and the Gulf is so shallow and still that you can wade a long way out. Wilder sand lies a walk or a ferry ride away on Caladesi and Honeymoon Island.

Fort Lauderdale has a wide Atlantic beach lined by a palm-shaded promenade, with clear water and a reef you can snorkel straight from the shore at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Its sea stays warm all winter, which Clearwater's doesn't, but summer can bring patches of seaweed.

Neither is a food destination, but Fort Lauderdale has more range. Las Olas has a long run of sit-down restaurants, brunch is a local habit, and the Jamaican, Haitian and Cuban communities across Broward give it cooking with real character.

In Clearwater you mostly eat a blackened grouper sandwich at a dockside shack and a lot of chain and tourist grills. The Greek tavernas and bakeries of Tarpon Springs are the best meal out nearby.

Sightseeing is thin in both, but Fort Lauderdale fills a curious visitor's day. You can see the Bonnet House artists' estate in its gardens, the Stranahan House trading post on the New River and the modern collection of the NSU Art Museum. Clearwater has its bluff-top downtown and the restored Capitol Theatre but nothing to plan a day around, so people with an interest in art go to St Petersburg.

Fort Lauderdale has the livelier nights. Himmarshee Street runs late with a young crowd, Las Olas has wine bars and terraces for a calmer evening, and Wilton Manors is one of the best-known gay neighbourhoods in the country, with drag shows along Wilton Drive.

Clearwater's evening centres on watching the sunset from Pier 60, followed by a cover band on a tiki deck. It gets louder only in spring. For a real night out, both towns send you elsewhere: Clearwater to Ybor City, Fort Lauderdale to Miami.

Both are flat and their outdoors is mostly on the water, but Fort Lauderdale has more to offer. Offshore reefs and wrecks give real scuba diving close to the coast, the canals and Intracoastal are good for paddling, and the Everglades, with airboats and alligators, are less than an hour west.

Clearwater's version is gentler. You can kayak through mangrove channels, see dolphins in the harbour and manatees in winter, and walk the trails in the Caladesi and Honeymoon Island state parks. The long, flat Pinellas Trail is good for an easy bike ride.

Both have plenty within reach, but the trips are different. From Clearwater the outings have more heritage: the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Ybor City's cigar factories, the Greek sponge harbour at Tarpon Springs and the Ringling estate in Sarasota, with Orlando two hours away.

From Fort Lauderdale the big draw is Miami, which you can reach by fast train for Art Deco South Beach, Wynwood's murals and Little Havana. Palm Beach's Flagler Museum lies to the north and Key Largo is just within a long day, but there are few old towns to explore.

Clearwater is the stronger family base. The sea is almost waveless where small children paddle, the dolphin and sea turtle rescue aquarium is a favourite, and pirate boat trips leave from the marina. Busch Gardens, Adventure Island and the Orlando parks are all reachable for a day.

Fort Lauderdale works well too, with a broad lifeguarded beach, a good hands-on science museum and Everglades airboat rides. But Orlando is about three hours away, too far for a day trip.

Both are built for driving, and a car makes life easier in either. In Clearwater you can manage on foot on the beach island, with a trolley to Sand Key and a ferry to downtown, though weekend traffic on the causeway can be slow. Fort Lauderdale has a larger area you can manage without a car, with water taxis and trolleys linking the beach, Las Olas and downtown, and trains to Miami and the Palm Beaches that Clearwater has nothing to match.

Fort Lauderdale is clearly ahead. Las Olas Boulevard makes for an easy afternoon among galleries, swimwear and resort fashion, and the huge outlet mall in Sunrise draws bargain hunters from abroad. There is also a long-running flea market.

Clearwater offers flip-flops, sunscreen and mainland chain stores. The one local souvenir is a natural sponge from Tarpon Springs, and for anything more you drive to Tampa.

Both are expensive beach towns, and you pay American resort prices plus tips in either. The difference is in the low season. Clearwater's cheaper rooms come in summer and autumn, when its sea is at its warmest, so swimmers who can live with the heat give up little.

Fort Lauderdale's sea is warm all year, so its cheaper summer mainly means trading the dry winter for storms. In both towns most visitors hire a car and pay to park near the sand, and a self-catering apartment a few blocks back from the beach is the usual way to save.

Fort Lauderdale has a slight lead. The Broward Center on the New River puts on touring Broadway, ballet and concerts, the Parker Playhouse adds more, and a few downtown venues bring indie bands.

Clearwater does well for a resort, with touring acts and orchestral nights at Ruth Eckerd Hall and smaller shows in the 1920s Capitol Theatre. Neither has a resident opera, so serious classical evenings mean a drive to Tampa or Miami.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and spas in both are the standard resort kind. Clearwater's rest comes from being a quiet retirement town, with pool days and evenings by the marina below the bluff. Fort Lauderdale's comes from sunrise yoga on the sand and long promenade walks, and its warm, dry winter suits a restful escape from the cold better than Clearwater's cooler one.