Cocoa Beach or Myrtle Beach?

Both places have long strands of pale sand and the same greenish Atlantic, so the difference is in the feel. Cocoa Beach faces steady small surf that brings out surfboards and calls for care with rip currents. The water also stays swimmable for more of the year.

Myrtle Beach slopes more gently and its waves are usually smaller, which suits toddlers and anyone who just wants to float. Its shoreline runs for some 100km, from loud, tower-lined central blocks to dune-backed stretches at Surfside and Garden City.

Neither place is somewhere to go for food. Myrtle Beach has a little more depth: past the buffets and pancake houses there are boat-to-table shrimp and flounder at Murrells Inlet, Calabash-style fried seafood over the state line, and shrimp and grits or she-crab soup on many menus.

Cocoa Beach keeps it simpler, with Port Canaveral rock shrimp, fish tacos, raw bars and dockside grills on the Banana River. That suits a post-surf meal, but most visitors will cover it within a few evenings.

Cocoa Beach has almost nothing to visit in town beyond the pier. Its one real cultural moment is a rocket launch seen from the sand, and it depends on the launch schedule.

Myrtle Beach goes a little further. Brookgreen Gardens sets American sculpture among live oaks on a former rice plantation and tells the story of the people enslaved there. Next door is the Moorish-style Atalaya house, which makes a good day of sightseeing.

Myrtle Beach is clearly the place for a night out. The boardwalk blocks and the big entertainment complexes have rooftop decks, themed bars and dance clubs that stay open late in summer. North Myrtle Beach also keeps alive the shag, the Carolina beach dance, in its long-standing Main Street clubs.

Evenings in Cocoa Beach are beach bars, sports bars and cover bands around the pier, and most nights end early. Anyone after a club has to drive to Orlando.

Cocoa Beach has the richer wildlife on its doorstep. You can kayak the Indian River Lagoon among manatees and dolphins, or through bioluminescent water on summer nights. The Thousand Islands are an easy paddle, and north of the Cape lie Merritt Island's marshes and the undeveloped dunes of Canaveral National Seashore, where turtles nest. It is also one of the east coast's dependable learner surf spots.

Myrtle Beach offers gentler outings, such as birding on the marsh boardwalks at Huntington Beach State Park and paddling the cypress swamps of the Waccamaw River. Its real outdoor draw is the long line of golf courses along the Grand Strand.

These two are about even on day trips, and they lean in different directions. From Cocoa Beach the highlight is the Kennedy Space Center, half an hour north, with the Saturn V and the shuttle Atlantis. Orlando's theme parks are an hour inland.

From Myrtle Beach the trips are about history. Charleston's antebellum streets and harbour forts are two hours away, and Georgetown's rice-era waterfront, Wilmington and Southport are closer. St Augustine is Cocoa Beach's nearest equivalent, but it makes a longer day.

Both are easy with children, but Myrtle Beach is built for it. It has an aquarium, water parks, a seaside amusement park with a wooden roller coaster, an observation wheel and themed mini-golf on almost every corner. On top of that come gentle waves and resort hotels with lazy rivers.

Cocoa Beach gives children rocket launches, the space centre and beginner surf lessons, and Orlando's parks are within reach. In town, though, there is little beyond the sand and the pier, and the stronger currents mean staying near the lifeguards.

You need a car in both places, but the layouts differ. Cocoa Beach is a thin strip along one road, so the sand is always close and a bicycle covers downtown and the pier. The nearest major airport is an hour away in Orlando.

Myrtle Beach spreads along about 100km of multi-lane highway with few pavements, and summer traffic on Kings Highway can crawl. Walking only really works within the boardwalk blocks or along the beach itself.

Myrtle Beach has more to buy. There are big outlet centres at each end of the city, waterfront complexes that mix shops with attractions, and the Market Common on the old air base. South along the coast road you can find sweetgrass baskets.

Cocoa Beach shopping is mostly surf culture: boards from local shapers, beachwear and a famous all-night surf store on the main road. Anything more means Cocoa Village's boutiques or a drive to Orlando's malls.

Myrtle Beach is usually the cheaper stay. Its huge supply of motels, hotels and condos keeps oceanfront rooms cheap outside summer, and kitchens help with food. Timing still matters, because July and long weekends cost far more.

Cocoa Beach costs a little more for what you get. Older condos and motels help, but rates rise on launch weekends, and a car, the space centre ticket and park admissions inland add up over a week.

An evening show is much easier to find in Myrtle Beach. Several big theatres put on country, gospel and Christmas revues, there are knights-and-pirates dinner shows, and touring country and rock acts play the main entertainment complex. None of it is serious drama, but it makes a polished night out.

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

Neither has a spa or bathing tradition, so rest here depends on the pace of the place. Cocoa Beach is calmer day to day, with early walks on the sand, sunsets over the river and quiet weekdays. Its spas are small day studios.

Myrtle Beach has more hotel and golf-resort spas, but its main strip is loud and car-bound in summer. For a slower stay, go in spring or autumn or base yourself down at Pawleys Island.