Clearwater or West Palm Beach?

Clearwater's case is stronger and simpler. The hotels sit right on a long barrier-island strip of powder-white sand, and the Gulf is calm, clear and shallow enough to wade far out. Caladesi and Honeymoon Island add wilder beaches close by.

In West Palm Beach you cross the lagoon bridges to reach the sand. Midtown Beach, Singer Island and Juno are still fine Atlantic beaches, and Peanut Island has sheltered snorkelling. Its advantage is the winter sea, which the Gulf Stream keeps warm while Clearwater's turns bracing.

Neither is a food destination, but you will eat better in West Palm Beach. Clematis Street and Rosemary Square have waterfront terraces and seafood rooms, and Northwood is more local. Away from the centre there are Cuban and Haitian bakeries.

Clearwater's high point is a grouper sandwich at a dockside shack, followed by a sunset drink on a beach deck. Beyond that the beachfront relies on chains, and the best meal nearby may be Greek food in Tarpon Springs.

West Palm Beach has real sights, and Clearwater has hardly any. The Norton Museum of Art, Flagler's marble Whitehall and the Mediterranean Revival streets of Palm Beach make two or three good days.

Clearwater has a restored 1920s theatre and some old buildings on the downtown bluff. Visitors who care about art drive to the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg.

Both are quiet after dark, and the difference is in the setting. Clearwater's evening starts with the sunset crowd at Pier 60 and moves on to tiki decks and beach bars with cover bands, and it gets louder in spring.

West Palm Beach goes out in town instead, along a few blocks of cocktail bars, rooftop terraces and a couple of dance spots on Clematis Street at weekends. For a big night, Clearwater heads to Ybor City and West Palm to Miami.

Both are flat, watery coasts where being outdoors means paddling, fishing and early starts before the summer heat. Clearwater's strengths are its wild barrier-island parks, the dolphins in the harbour and the long Pinellas Trail for cycling.

West Palm Beach has more to see underwater and inland. The shore dive under the Blue Heron Bridge has seahorses and octopus, and there are Gulf Stream reefs offshore. Inland, the Loxahatchee refuge has Everglades boardwalks, and sea turtles nest on the beaches at Juno.

Both have good outings, but of different kinds. Clearwater's trips are real changes of scene: the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Ybor City's cigar factories, the Greek sponge docks at Tarpon Springs and Sarasota's Ringling Museum. Orlando's parks are also within reach at a stretch, and nearly all of these need a car.

West Palm Beach has the biggest single prize in Miami, about an hour away by fast train. Closer to home there are the Morikami gardens in Delray and Jupiter's lighthouse, but most of its other neighbours are more beach towns.

Clearwater is the better bet with children. Its calm, gently shelving Gulf beach suits toddlers, and the marine aquarium is built around rescued dolphins and turtles. Busch Gardens and Adventure Island are nearby, and Orlando is much closer than it is from the Atlantic side.

West Palm Beach is still easy for families, with Peanut Island's lagoon, the drive-through Lion Country Safari and the free Manatee Lagoon. However, every beach day starts with a drive, and there is no big theme park within easy reach.

Both need a car for most outings, but West Palm Beach copes better without one. Its compact downtown has a free trolley, Palm Beach is a bike ride over the bridges, and fast trains run to Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

In Clearwater you can walk the beach strip and take the trolley down to Sand Key. The mainland, though, is sprawl with slow buses, and the causeway backs up on busy weekends.

The gap here is wide. West Palm Beach has Worth Avenue, a palm-lined street of luxury fashion and jewellery houses with tiled vias. Designer resale shops are close by, and the dealers on Antique Row are worth an afternoon.

Clearwater has beachwear and souvenirs on the strip and malls on the mainland. The most memorable thing to take home is a natural sponge from Tarpon Springs.

Neither is cheap, but Clearwater is the less expensive place to stay. Motels and rentals on the mainland or further down the Pinellas coast cost less than the beachfront, and condos with kitchens help families.

West Palm Beach is priced for its wealthy winter visitors. Palm Beach hotels are among the costliest on the coast, and rates are high across the area from December to April. In both places, summer brings lower rates in return for heat and storms.

West Palm Beach has the fuller programme. The Kravis Center brings Broadway tours, orchestras, dance and the Palm Beach Opera, and Palm Beach Dramaworks stages serious plays. The Society of the Four Arts adds concerts, though most of this runs from late autumn to spring.

Clearwater has Ruth Eckerd Hall for touring acts and the intimate Capitol Theatre, but no opera or theatre company of its own. For ballet or opera you drive to Tampa.

Neither has a spa culture worth travelling for, and both rely on a slow pace instead. West Palm Beach has the grander options in the oceanfront resort spas of Palm Beach. The quiet, manicured island also suits a morning walk along the lagoon.

Rest in Clearwater is simpler: hotel pools, shaded balconies and evenings by the marina in a low-rise retirement town. Avoid spring break weekends if quiet is what you want.