Clearwater or Marco Island?

Both have first-class Gulf beaches with fine pale sand and shallow, calm water, so the difference is in character. Clearwater is a busy main beach around Pier 60 with a crowd for the sunset, and you escape it by heading to Sand Key or to the wild sand of Caladesi and Honeymoon islands.

Marco Island is one broad crescent made for shelling and long walks at low tide. The tidal lagoon and sandbar at Tigertail are good for wading, and the undeveloped Keewaydin Island is a short boat ride away. In midwinter its water is a little less cold than Clearwater's.

Neither is a place to travel for food. Both are built on grouper sandwiches, shrimp and stone crab in season, eaten with a view of the water. Clearwater's beachfront leans towards chain restaurants, and its best outing is the Greek tavernas and bakeries of Tarpon Springs.

Marco has more resort dining rooms and the dockside fish shacks of Goodland. For a more ambitious dinner, people on Marco drive to Naples, while people in Clearwater cross the bay to Tampa and St Petersburg.

Neither has much to see, but what little there is differs. Clearwater's interest lies in its downtown on the bluff and the restored 1920s theatre, and in being within an hour of the Dalí Museum and Tampa. Marco Island is mostly canals and condominiums, but its Historical Museum tells the story of the Calusa people and the carved wooden figures found on the island, an angle Clearwater cannot offer.

Clearwater has the livelier evenings. The sunset crowd at Pier 60 spills into beach bars and tiki decks with cover bands, spring brings a younger and louder crowd, and Ybor City is close enough for a proper night out.

On Marco Island the evening usually ends with a late dinner. A few resort lounges and marina bars stay mellow, the Goodland docks are busiest on winter weekend afternoons rather than at night, and even the nearest alternative, Naples, is restrained.

Marco Island has much the wilder setting. It opens onto the Ten Thousand Islands, so mangrove paddling, dolphin trips, manatees in the canals and some of Florida's best inshore fishing start from the island. Rookery Bay, Big Cypress, the Fakahatchee Strand and Everglades National Park, with alligators and airboats, are all within an hour.

Clearwater's nature is gentler and closer to town. You can walk trails through pine flatwoods on Caladesi and Honeymoon islands, watch dolphins in the harbour and see manatees in winter, and the Pinellas Trail is good for easy cycling.

Clearwater has the richer list of outings, mostly to cities. St Petersburg has the Dalí Museum, Tampa has the cigar factories of Ybor City, and Tarpon Springs has its sponge-diving harbour. Sarasota's Ringling Museum is about an hour away and the Orlando parks are within reach.

From Marco Island the town trips are fewer: Naples, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, and Sanibel and Captiva beyond. The more memorable days head into the swamp, to Everglades City and the old trading post at Chokoloskee.

Clearwater does more for children. Pier 60 has lifeguards and a playground, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium with its rescued dolphins and turtles is a favourite, and pirate boat trips leave from the marina. Busch Gardens, Adventure Island and the Florida Aquarium are all within about forty minutes.

Marco Island works well in a simpler way: soft sand, calm shallows, shelling and wading at Tigertail, and resort children's programmes. For anything more, families drive to the zoo and children's museum in Naples, and older children will enjoy an Everglades airboat ride.

Both assume a car, but Clearwater gives you a bit more without one. The beach strip is walkable, a trolley runs down to Sand Key, and a ferry and water taxi cross to downtown, although causeway traffic can be heavy on busy weekends.

Marco Island is small and flat, and its cycle paths are pleasant in the cooler months, but the bus to Naples is limited. The airport, the Everglades and every outing off the island need a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, and the islands themselves offer much the same beachwear, shells and souvenirs. The difference is in the nearby towns. From Marco, Naples is only half an hour away, with upmarket boutiques and galleries along Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South, which gives it the slightly better choice. Clearwater's most local buys are natural sponges and Greek goods from Tarpon Springs, and for luxury brands you drive to Tampa.

Clearwater is the less expensive of the two, although neither is cheap. Mainland motels and rentals further down the Pinellas coast cost noticeably less than beachfront rooms, and the beaches are free apart from parking.

Marco Island is priced for a well-off winter crowd, has little cheap food, and the hire car you need adds to the bill. In both places summer brings lower room rates, and condos with kitchens help families keep costs down.

Clearwater has more to offer here, because Ruth Eckerd Hall brings in touring bands, comedians, Broadway tours and orchestras all year. The 1920s Capitol Theatre puts on more intimate concerts, and for opera and ballet you drive to Tampa.

Marco Island has only a community theatre and resort musicians in winter. Its real option is the Naples performing arts centre and its philharmonic orchestra, and that mainly runs in the winter season.

Marco Island is the more restful place. The whole island goes quiet early, the big beachfront resorts have full-service spas with pools looking over the Gulf, and yoga and day spas are easy to find in the island's plazas.

Clearwater offers the same slow routine of pools, balconies and early nights, and the waterfront park below the bluff is a calm spot in the evening. Its spas are mostly hotel treatment rooms, though, and spring break and the crowds at Pier 60 break the peace more often.