Clearwater or Naples, Florida?

Both have excellent beaches of fine pale sand and shallow, calm Gulf water. What differs is the setting. Clearwater Beach is a resort strip on a barrier island, busy around Pier 60. Quieter sand is a short trip away at Sand Key or on the wild shores of Caladesi and Honeymoon Island.

In Naples the beach runs along the town itself, with sandy paths from the streets of Old Naples down to the wooden pier. Clam Pass, Delnor-Wiggins and Barefoot Beach to the north feel wilder, and the shelling after winter storms is a particular pleasure. Naples has two drawbacks to know about: occasional algae blooms, and stingrays in the shallows.

Naples eats better, though neither town is worth travelling to for its food. Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South offer white-tablecloth steak, Italian food and wine bars for a long evening, and the dockside fish houses around Tin City serve good stone crab and grouper.

Clearwater's eating is more casual: grouper sandwiches and shrimp baskets at open-air shacks, with plenty of chain grills along the beachfront. Its best food outing is a drive to the Greek tavernas and bakeries of Tarpon Springs.

Neither town has much to see, but Naples has a little more within its own limits. The Baker Museum has a decent collection of modern and American art, the Revs Institute's historic racing cars attract real enthusiasts, and Palm Cottage and the Mediterranean-style streets of Old Naples fill an afternoon.

Clearwater has little beyond its bluff-top downtown and the restored 1920s Capitol Theatre. Its advantage is distance: the Dalí Museum and Tampa's Ybor City are both within an hour.

Clearwater has the livelier evenings. Crowds watch the sunset at Pier 60 and then move on to tiki decks and beach bars with cover bands, and in spring a younger crowd keeps things going late. For a proper night out, Ybor City and downtown St Petersburg are an easy drive.

In Naples an evening means dinner, a glass of wine or a piano lounge on Fifth Avenue South, and bed before midnight. There are almost no clubs, and the nearest real nightlife is in Fort Myers Beach or as far away as Miami.

Naples has the stronger wild country nearby. Big Cypress, the western Everglades, the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp and the Fakahatchee Strand are all within an hour, with alligators and wading birds, and paddling through the Ten Thousand Islands is a memorable day.

Clearwater's nature is gentler and closer to the beach. There are trails through pine flatwoods on Caladesi and Honeymoon Island, dolphins in the harbour, manatees in winter and easy cycling on the long Pinellas Trail. Neither place has a single hill.

Clearwater has more within reach. St Petersburg's Dalí Museum, Tampa's cigar-making quarter in Ybor City and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs are all under an hour away, Sarasota's Ringling Museum is about an hour south, and Orlando can be done in a long day.

From Naples the choice is shorter and calmer. The best outings are the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, shelling on Sanibel and Captiva, and Everglades City. Sarasota and Miami are each about two hours away, which is a stretch for a day trip.

Clearwater is the better choice with children. The beach by Pier 60 has lifeguards and a playground, the marine aquarium cares for rescued dolphins and turtles, and Busch Gardens, Adventure Island and the Florida Aquarium are all within about forty minutes.

Naples is safe and easy, and children love its calm water and shell hunting. Its attractions are smaller, though: the zoo with its primate-island boat ride, a children's museum and the botanical garden. With no theme park nearby and Orlando more than three hours away, there is less to fill a week.

Both are car towns. Clearwater makes a car-free beach stay a little easier, because a trolley runs along the island to Sand Key and a ferry and water taxi link the beach with downtown. Any trip off the island, though, means driving, and the causeway traffic can be slow.

In Naples the flat grid of Old Naples is pleasant on foot or by bicycle, from the pier to Fifth Avenue South. Outside it, wide roads, a thin bus network and spread-out northern beaches make a car essential.

Naples is much the better town for shopping. Shaded Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South are lined with galleries, jewellers and linen and resort-wear boutiques, an open-air mall north of downtown has the international designer names, and big outlets are half an hour away.

Clearwater offers beachwear and souvenir shops on the island and regional malls on the mainland. The most distinctive things to take home are natural sponges from Tarpon Springs, and luxury shopping means driving to Tampa.

Neither is cheap, but Naples is the more expensive. Its beachfront resorts charge premium rates through the winter season, restaurants are priced for a wealthy crowd, and almost everyone needs a hire car.

Clearwater's beach hotels are also expensive in late winter and spring, but motels and rentals on the mainland or further down the Pinellas coast bring the cost down considerably. Condos with kitchens help as well. Both towns are cheaper in the hot, stormy summer.

The two are about level, but they offer different kinds of evening. Clearwater relies on touring acts: Ruth Eckerd Hall books rock and pop concerts, comedians and Broadway tours, the Capitol Theatre puts on smaller shows, and the beach bars have live bands most nights.

Naples has resident companies. The Naples Philharmonic plays in its own hall, and there are a professional theatre company, chamber music and jazz evenings. Most of this runs from late autumn to spring, so a summer visitor finds little on.

Both are easy places to slow down, and neither has a bathing tradition. In Naples the large beachfront resort spas are open to non-guests, and golf and long sunset walks along the Gulf set the pace.

Clearwater's spas are mostly hotel treatment rooms. Here rest means pool days, shaded balconies and evenings in the waterfront park below the bluff, though spring break weekends can bring noise that Naples rarely has.