Daytona Beach or St. Pete Beach?

These are two very different beaches. Daytona's 37km of wide, hard-packed sand faces the open Atlantic. It is firm enough to drive on in places, and the waves and greenish water bring good surf near Ponce Inlet and real rip currents everywhere, so you swim between lifeguard flags.

St. Pete Beach comes out ahead for swimming and lying on the sand. Its fine, pale quartz sand slopes into calm, shallow Gulf water that you can stay in for hours. Pass-a-Grille faces west into the sunset, and Fort De Soto and Shell Key add quiet stretches with no buildings behind them.

Neither town is a reason to travel for food, and both rely on grouper sandwiches, fried shrimp and smoked fish dip. At Daytona the best meals are at the old fish camps on the Halifax River and around Ponce Inlet, with Southern breakfasts in between. St. Pete Beach has stone crab claws in season and the habit of eating dinner on a deck at sunset, and St. Petersburg's more ambitious cooking is only half an hour away.

Daytona has more to see, though you will cover it in a day or two. The Speedway and the town's land-speed history on the sand give it a real identity, the Museum of Arts and Sciences holds a notable collection of Cuban art, and the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, the tallest in Florida, can be climbed.

St. Pete Beach has the pink 1920s Don CeSar hotel, the old cottages of Pass-a-Grille and the batteries at Fort De Soto. For anything more you cross the bay to the museums of St. Petersburg.

Daytona gives you more of a night out, but it is a rough-edged one: sports bars, beach bars and the biker saloons of Main Street, which overflow onto the street during Bike Week, Biketoberfest and race weeks. Outside those events it settles into tiki bars and hotel lounges.

St. Pete Beach is built around sunset drinks on the tiki decks of Gulf Boulevard and Pass-a-Grille, usually with a cover band, and most people are done soon after dark. For a later night you drive half an hour to downtown St. Petersburg.

The outdoors is about equal in the two places. Both are flat, watery and full of birds, but the settings differ. From Daytona you head out to Canaveral National Seashore's undeveloped dunes and the Mosquito Lagoon, to Merritt Island for some of Florida's best birding, and inland to Blue Spring, where manatees gather in winter.

At St. Pete Beach the wildlife is closer to your door. Kayak trails run through the mangroves at Fort De Soto and Shell Key, roseate spoonbills feed on the flats, and dolphins and winter manatees come into Tampa Bay itself.

Daytona has the stronger set of outings, and each is about an hour by car. The Spanish fort and narrow streets of St Augustine lie to the north, the rockets at Kennedy Space Center to the south, and the Orlando theme parks inland.

St. Pete Beach's best trips are to the city next door: the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Ybor City in Tampa, the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs and the Ringling estate in Sarasota. Orlando, though, is a long two-hour drive each way.

St. Pete Beach is the safer bet with young children. Its shallow, usually calm water and soft sand suit toddlers, and dolphin boats, shelling at Shell Key, the fishing pier at Fort De Soto and the aquariums at Clearwater and Tampa fill the days.

Daytona has the boardwalk's arcades, small rides and a water park, and Orlando's theme parks are much closer. But rip currents call for constant watching in the sea, and families usually stay away during Bike Week and spring break.

You need a car in both, but St. Pete Beach is a little easier without one. A beach trolley runs the length of its single long strip, and Pass-a-Grille and Corey Avenue are pleasant to walk or cycle.

Daytona spreads along wide roads on both sides of the river, and the buses are too infrequent to be much use. The hard sand makes a good walking and cycling route, but traffic jams during the big events.

Neither place is worth visiting for shopping, but Daytona covers the practical side better. It has an outlet centre and a regional mall for brand names, biker gear along Main Street and a few galleries on Beach Street. St. Pete Beach sells swimwear and souvenirs, with a few boutiques on Corey Avenue, and sends you inland to St. Petersburg or Tampa for anything else.

Daytona is noticeably cheaper. Older oceanfront motels and condos with kitchens are easy to find, and meals at the fish camps and diners stay modest. Avoid the Daytona 500 and Bike Week, when room rates jump.

St. Pete Beach's beachfront resorts charge high rates, especially from February to April, when visitors from the north come for the warmth. You can keep costs down at the motels a block back from the sand, and in the quieter late summer.

Daytona has a real, if small, calendar. A long-running winter series brings visiting orchestras and soloists, the Peabody Auditorium hosts touring Broadway shows, and the oceanfront bandshell puts on free concerts on summer evenings.

At St. Pete Beach live music means cover bands at the beach bars. Concerts and theatre mean driving to the Florida Orchestra's season in St. Petersburg or to Tampa's large arts centre.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, and spas in both are mostly in the resorts. St. Pete Beach is the better place to unwind because the whole town moves slowly, with unhurried Pass-a-Grille and a sunset that people stop to watch every evening. Daytona can be just as peaceful on an early walk along the sand, but race weeks and Bike Week bring noise that makes careful timing essential.