Cocoa Beach or St. Pete Beach?

Both towns sit on barrier islands with one long strand of pale sand, but the sea is different. St. Pete Beach comes out ahead. Its fine quartz sand faces calm, shallow Gulf water with little surf, Pass-a-Grille's wide beach looks west into the sunset, and Fort De Soto and the boat-only sands of Shell Key add emptier beaches close by. The one drawback is red tide, which occasionally spoils the water.

Cocoa Beach faces the open Atlantic. The water is greenish, small waves arrive all the time and rip currents need watching, so families keep to the lifeguarded stretches near the pier. The same waves are the reason surfers come, and wilder sand lies north towards Cape Canaveral.

Neither town is worth the trip for food alone, but St. Pete Beach eats a little better. Grouper sandwiches, smoked fish spread and stone crab claws in season go well with the sunset dinners on Gulf decks, and Pass-a-Grille and Corey Avenue have a few relaxed sit-down places. St. Petersburg's more ambitious kitchens and craft breweries are half an hour away.

Cocoa Beach keeps to fish tacos, Port Canaveral rock shrimp, raw bars and big breakfasts before a surf, served in beach grills, dockside places on the Banana River and chains along the main road.

There is little to see in either town, but St. Pete Beach has a bit more. It has the pink 1920s Don CeSar hotel, Pass-a-Grille's historic district with its old beach cottages and small museum, and the Spanish-American War batteries at Fort De Soto. The Dalí Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts are just across the bay.

Cocoa Beach has the pier and very little else in town. Its one striking experience is a rocket launch, seen from the beach or the causeways. It is unforgettable, but it is a single event and not something to fill several days with sightseeing.

Evenings are quiet and about equally modest in both towns: beach bars, cover bands and an early end to the night. At Cocoa Beach the action gathers around the pier and the downtown strip, and spring break and long weekends bring a louder, younger crowd. For clubs you have to drive an hour to Orlando.

St. Pete Beach builds its evening around the sunset at the tiki decks and Pass-a-Grille, with a few livelier bars on Corey Avenue. Its later scene is easier to reach, since downtown St. Petersburg is only half an hour away.

Both coasts are flat and best enjoyed from the water, but Cocoa Beach has slightly more wild land around it. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore protect marsh and undeveloped dunes, with alligators on the drive-through trails and turtles nesting in summer. On summer nights kayaks glide through bioluminescent water on the Indian River Lagoon, and the beach breaks are among the steadiest on the east coast for learning to surf.

St. Pete Beach is about paddling through mangroves at Fort De Soto and Shell Key, spotting roseate spoonbills and fishing from the piers or charter boats. Manatees come into Tampa Bay in the cooler months.

St. Pete Beach has the wider choice of day trips: St. Petersburg's waterfront and the Dalí Museum, Ybor City's old cigar-factory streets in Tampa, Greek-rooted Tarpon Springs, and the Ringling estate and Anna Maria Island across the Sunshine Skyway. Orlando, though, is about two hours away.

Cocoa Beach has fewer options, but its best one is unique: the Kennedy Space Center, which easily fills a day. Orlando and Winter Park are only an hour inland. St Augustine is the one real historic town within reach, and it makes a long day.

Both towns are easy with children, so the choice comes down to the age of the children and what they enjoy. St. Pete Beach's shallow, calm water is gentler for toddlers. Days off the sand mean dolphin boats, shelling at Shell Key and the aquariums in Clearwater and Tampa.

Cocoa Beach suits older children who want to try beginner surf lessons. They will also love a launch and the space centre, and Orlando's theme parks are much closer. The Atlantic currents mean staying near the lifeguards.

You will want a car in either town, but St. Pete Beach is a little easier without one. A beach trolley runs along Gulf Boulevard, Pass-a-Grille and Corey Avenue are pleasant to walk, and Tampa's airport is closer.

At Cocoa Beach a bicycle covers downtown and the pier, but buses are infrequent. The space centre, the wildlife refuge and the Orlando airport are all a drive away.

Shopping is limited in both towns, and the difference is in style. Cocoa Beach is all surf culture, built around Ron Jon Surf Shop, a landmark since the 1960s, and smaller shops selling boards from local shapers. St. Pete Beach leans towards galleries, with a few independent boutiques on Corey Avenue and small art and craft shops in Pass-a-Grille. For anything bigger, you drive inland from either town.

Cocoa Beach is the easier of the two on the wallet, though neither is cheap. Its dearer spells are short and scattered: spring, long weekends and launch weekends at the Cape. Between them, motels and older condos keep a room near the sand within reach. The extras are what build up, since the hire car, park admissions inland and the space centre all come on top of the stay.

St. Pete Beach has one long, costly high season, from February to April, when people escaping the northern winter fill the beachfront resorts. To spend less, take an older motel a block back from the Gulf or come in the quieter late summer, when a cheaper stay is easier to find. The sand itself costs nothing beyond parking, but in both towns a sit-down meal comes at full American prices with a tip on top.

Neither town has much live performance beyond cover bands. St. Pete Beach is better placed, with St. Petersburg's theatres and the Florida Orchestra's season half an hour away and Tampa's large arts centre for touring musicals and opera.

From Cocoa Beach the nearest options are a regional arts centre in Melbourne and a community playhouse in Cocoa Village. For anything bigger, you go to Orlando.

St. Pete Beach is the more restful choice. Its larger resorts have full-service spas, and Pass-a-Grille's low-key streets and the evening sunset over the Gulf slow the day right down.

Cocoa Beach has only day spas, massage studios and beach yoga classes. The calm is in early walks on the sand and quiet weekdays, with sunset watched over the river rather than the sea.