Miami Beach or St. Petersburg, Florida?

Both coasts are long, wide and pale-sanded, but Miami Beach has the edge because the beach is right there. The whole Atlantic side of the island is sand, a beachwalk runs behind it and the water rarely feels cold, even in January. You can choose your mood by stretch, from the crowds and pastel lifeguard huts of South Beach to the quieter sand of North Beach.

St. Petersburg's best beaches lie on the barrier islands to the west, so from downtown a beach day starts with a drive or a bus ride. Once there, the Gulf is calmer and shallower, Pass-a-Grille and Fort De Soto feel less crowded, and the sunsets over the water are the daily event. The trade-off is a chillier sea in midwinter and the occasional red tide.

Miami Beach has more to seek out. Its Cuban and South American communities bring croquetas, cafecito, arepas and ceviche, and Florida stone crabs in winter are a local event, with Joe's Stone Crab as the old institution. The catch is Ocean Drive, where tourist menus are ordinary, so the better meals are on the side streets, in North Beach and across the causeway in Little Havana.

St. Petersburg eats more casually, at fish shacks selling grouper sandwiches and smoked fish spread. Its real strength is the craft breweries along Central Avenue. It is pleasant rather than memorable, and its best Cuban cooking is across the bay in Ybor City.

The two are evenly matched but offer different things. Miami Beach's great sight is a whole townscape: hundreds of 1930s Art Deco hotels along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, best seen on a walk, with the Wolfsonian and the Holocaust Memorial as indoor stops.

St. Petersburg puts its weight in museums instead. The Dalí Museum on the waterfront is the headline, and the Museum of Fine Arts, the Chihuly glass and the Arts and Crafts museum are all close by. Choose Miami Beach for architecture in the street and St. Pete for galleries you can spend a rainy afternoon in.

There is no real contest here. South Beach is one of the world's famous party districts. Big clubs fill after midnight and run until dawn, hotel courtyards host afternoon pool parties, and Collins and Washington Avenues stay loud into the early hours. It comes with dress codes, door policies and table service, and Sunset Harbour offers quieter cocktail bars for anyone who wants them.

St. Petersburg's evenings are a few drinks on Central Avenue, a rooftop terrace or a beach tiki bar at sunset. Anyone wanting to dance late drives across to Ybor City in Tampa.

St. Petersburg puts more wild water within easy reach. Mangrove paddling trails at Weedon Island and Shell Key, dolphins and manatees in winter, Fort De Soto's birding and the long Pinellas Trail for cycling are all part of an ordinary day.

Miami Beach itself is built up from end to end, so its outdoor life is on the bay, out at the offshore reefs and wrecks, or a drive away. Oleta River is close, and the Everglades and Biscayne National Park, about an hour off, are bigger draws than anything near St. Pete. Neither city has hills.

The two are level on day trips, and both need a car or a tour for most of them. From Miami Beach the best outings are urban: Little Havana, Wynwood, Vizcaya and Coral Gables on the mainland, Palm Beach's mansions to the north, and Key Largo to the south as a taste of the Keys.

St. Petersburg offers more variety in character. There are the cigar-factory streets of Ybor City, the Ringling estate in Sarasota, the Greek sponge docks at Tarpon Springs and Anna Maria's old beach villages. Orlando's theme parks are within a long day's reach.

St. Petersburg is the easier family base. The Gulf shallows suit toddlers, the beach resorts are set up for children, and Great Explorations, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Busch Gardens and the Florida Aquarium give plenty for the days off the sand. Most of those outings involve driving.

Miami Beach offers lifeguarded, gentle water and quiet stretches in Mid-Beach and towards Surfside. Its zoo and science museum are on the mainland, though, and South Beach's party crowds at weekends and during spring break are not ideal with young children.

Miami Beach is easier without a car. South Beach is flat and compact, free trolleys and buses run the length of Collins Avenue, and the beachwalk suits bikes, so a beach stay needs no wheels. Leaving the island is slower, with no rail link and causeway traffic.

In St. Petersburg, the downtown waterfront and Central Avenue are easy to walk, and a rapid bus reaches St. Pete Beach. Everything else, from Fort De Soto to Tampa, is far easier with a hire car.

Miami Beach has the bigger draw. The open-air mall at Bal Harbour gathers most of the major European fashion and jewellery houses, and Lincoln Road's palm-shaded pedestrian mall makes for a pleasant evening stroll among the chain stores.

St. Petersburg has no luxury street at all. What it does better is independent shopping: vintage and record shops along Central Avenue, local glass and prints in the galleries, and a winter Saturday market. Brand names mean a drive to Tampa's malls.

Neither is cheap, but Miami Beach costs more. Winter oceanfront rates, resort and parking fees, service charges and South Beach cocktail and club prices all add up quickly. Side-street hotels, North Beach and summer stays soften the bill.

St. Petersburg carries ordinary American beach prices, with a hire car and beach parking on top for most visitors. Staying downtown and visiting in summer or early autumn bring costs down further.

Miami Beach offers more for an evening out. The New World Symphony plays in its Frank Gehry hall, sometimes projecting concerts onto the outside wall for a free audience on the lawn, and Miami City Ballet is based on the island. The Colony and Jackie Gleason theatres add touring shows.

St. Petersburg's Mahaffey Theater hosts the Florida Orchestra and touring productions. It is a modest scene, but bands play in bars and in an open-air courtyard more often than in Miami Beach, where club music leans towards DJs.

For spas and resort wellness, Miami Beach is the stronger choice. Its large hotels run full hydrotherapy circuits with saunas, steam rooms and plunge pools, and sunrise yoga on the sand or in the beachfront parks is easy to join. None of it grows out of an old bathing tradition, and South Beach stays loud late into the night, so for a restful week book in Mid-Beach or north towards Surfside.

St. Petersburg has fewer spas, mostly in its historic beach hotels, plus a handful of day spas and yoga studios downtown. Its advantage is pace. Pass-a-Grille's streets stay sleepy after dark, and the banyan-shaded waterfront parks are easy places to sit for an hour, especially in the low humidity of winter.