Cocoa Beach or Sarasota?

Both have long beaches close to wherever you stay, but the sea is quite different. Cocoa Beach faces the open Atlantic: one firm, pale strand runs the length of the island, the water is greenish, and the steady small surf is fun for learners. That surf also brings rip currents, so families stay near the lifeguards at the pier and the town parks.

Sarasota has the edge for swimming. Siesta Key's powder-fine quartz sand slopes into calm, shallow Gulf water with no waves, Lido, Longboat and Anna Maria are quieter alternatives, and at Venice you can hunt for fossilised shark teeth. Red tide can occasionally close a beach, so check conditions before you go.

Neither is a place to travel for food, but Sarasota gives you more choice. Cocoa Beach means fried fish, Port Canaveral rock shrimp, fish tacos and big pre-surf breakfasts, served at beach grills and dockside places on the Banana River, with chain restaurants along the main road.

Sarasota adds grouper sandwiches and stone crab claws, bistros and wine bars on Main Street and St Armands Circle, and farmers' markets. It also has the curiosity of Pinecraft, where Amish and Mennonite family restaurants serve hearty cooking and pie.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Cocoa Beach has the beach, the pier and the rockets, and its one real cultural moment is watching a launch rise from Cape Canaveral. For museums you have to leave town.

Sarasota has the Ringling, which fills a full day: Rubens canvases, John Ringling's Venetian Gothic mansion Ca' d'Zan on the bay, and the circus museum. Add the mid-century Sarasota School buildings and the 1920s houses of Burns Court. There is no old quarter, but a curious visitor has several days of looking.

Evenings end early in both, and for clubs you have to drive, to Orlando from Cocoa Beach or to Tampa or St Petersburg from Sarasota. The difference is the crowd. Cocoa Beach means sports bars and cover bands on decks around the pier, with a younger, louder crowd at spring break, while Sarasota means wine and cocktail bars on Main Street and sunset drinks in Siesta Key Village, with older company, especially in winter.

Both are flat coasts rich in wildlife, but Cocoa Beach has more variety. Behind the town, kayakers on the Indian River Lagoon find manatees, dolphins and, on summer nights, water glowing with bioluminescence. Merritt Island refuge and Canaveral National Seashore add alligators, winter birdlife, undeveloped dunes and nesting turtles, and the town is a steady surf spot for beginners.

Sarasota's answer is Myakka River State Park, with its prairies, treetop canopy walk and alligators on the riverbanks, plus the mangrove tunnels off Lido Key and calm paddling in the bay. In both places, summer heat and storms push serious outings into the cooler months.

Both have short lists with a couple of strong days out, so the choice comes down to what you want from them. From Cocoa Beach it is space and theme parks: the Kennedy Space Center fills a day, Orlando is about an hour inland, and St Augustine's Spanish fort is a long day at around two hours each way.

Sarasota's outings are more about towns and history: the Dalí Museum and waterfront in St Petersburg, Ybor City in Tampa, Greek Tarpon Springs, and the Edison and Ford winter estates at Fort Myers. Orlando is too far for an easy day from there.

With children, the real difference is the kind of fun on offer. Cocoa Beach has the big thrills: surf lessons for beginners, rockets rising off the Cape, the Saturn V and shuttle at the space centre, and Orlando's theme parks close enough for a day. The open-ocean surf can pull hard, though.

Sarasota is gentler and better for small children, with shallow, waveless water off Siesta and Lido Keys, sharks and manatees at the Mote Marine Laboratory aquarium and the huge circus model at the Ringling. The nearest big theme park is Busch Gardens in Tampa, more than an hour away.

You will want a car in either. Cocoa Beach is one long strip along a single road, easy on foot or by bike for the pier and downtown, but the buses are infrequent and the nearest major airport is an hour away in Orlando.

Sarasota is a little easier, with three walkable areas in downtown, St Armands Circle and Siesta Key Village, a free trolley on Siesta Key and short drives between them. Expect winter traffic on the bridges to the keys.

Shopping is a sideline in both, but Sarasota has far more to browse. Cocoa Beach is all surf culture: a vast round-the-clock surf store on the main road that has been a landmark since the 1960s, smaller shops selling boards from local shapers, and beachwear and gift shops.

In Sarasota, St Armands Circle has resort wear, jewellery and galleries, Main Street and Palm Avenue add independent boutiques, and there is a Saturday farmers' market downtown.

Both charge full US prices plus tipping and both need a hire car, but Cocoa Beach is easier on the wallet. Motels and older condos keep rooms within reach outside spring and launch weekends, and the beach grills are fair value. The space centre ticket and inland park admissions are what add up.

Sarasota costs more, especially on Siesta Key and Longboat Key from January to April. Coming in summer or early autumn, or staying on the mainland, brings the bill down, and the beaches and state parks cost little or nothing.

Here the two are worlds apart. In Cocoa Beach, live performance mostly means a cover band on a beach-bar deck. A regional arts centre in Melbourne and a playhouse in Cocoa Village are there for those who go looking.

Sarasota has an opera in a restored 1920s theatre, a ballet known for its Ashton repertoire, a full orchestra season, the Asolo Repertory Theatre on the Ringling grounds and touring shows at the purple Van Wezel hall. Plan for autumn to spring, because the programme thins out in summer.

In both towns the slow pace does most of the work, and neither has a bathing tradition. Sarasota adds more on top: resort and day spas on Longboat and Lido Keys, sunrise yoga on the sand and, forty minutes south, Warm Mineral Springs, a spring-fed pool that stays warm all year.

Cocoa Beach has a few day spas and beach yoga classes, early walks on the sand and sunsets over the river. For a proper spa resort, you have to look to the hotels around Orlando.