Naples, Florida or Orange Beach?

These are two of the best stretches of sand on the Gulf, and the difference is in character. Naples has pale, fine sand and usually calm, shallow water, with access paths at the ends of Old Naples streets, the pier as a meeting point and the wilder dunes of Barefoot Beach and Clam Pass further north. The sea is mild enough for wading through the winter, and shelling after storms is a real pastime.

Orange Beach has whiter quartz sand and greener water, with more room at Alabama Point and in the state park away from the condo towers. Swimming here is a summer pleasure, and the rip current flags matter more than they do on Naples' quieter shore. In Naples the things to watch for are algae blooms and stingrays.

Neither is a place to travel for food, but Naples offers more variety and more polish. Along Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South there are white-tablecloth dining rooms and wine bars, and the dockside fish houses around Tin City serve grouper sandwiches and stone crab claws in the cooler months.

Orange Beach is more casual and more repetitive. Its best meals are Royal Red shrimp, chargrilled oysters and West Indies salad on a waterside deck by the back bays. Beyond that, the main road mostly offers the same fried platters, and fine dining is rare.

Naples has enough culture to fill a day. That means the modern and American art in the Baker Museum, the Revs Institute's collection of racing and sports cars, Palm Cottage and the old railway depot, and the Mediterranean-style streets of Old Naples.

Orange Beach has almost nothing to compare. Its own heritage comes down to one small museum of Native American and fishing history, so anyone who wants sights has to drive out of town.

Orange Beach is the livelier of the two, at least in season. The Flora-Bama, a ramshackle roadhouse with sand underfoot right on the state line, keeps going late on summer weekends, and the bars around the marina and Perdido Pass fill up on warm nights. Spring break brings a loud, young crowd.

Naples goes to bed earlier and is older and more refined: wine bars and piano lounges on Fifth Avenue South, then a sunset drink at a tiki bar on the water. Neither town has dance clubs.

Naples has the wilder setting on its doorstep. Big Cypress, the western Everglades, Corkscrew Swamp's cypress boardwalk and the Fakahatchee Strand are all within an hour, and kayaking through the mangrove channels of the Ten Thousand Islands is the outing to plan a day around.

Orange Beach's outdoors is gentler and more active. There is a long paved trail through pine woods and wetland for cycling, back bays for paddleboarding, and a large charter fishing fleet with artificial reefs offshore for anglers and divers. Bon Secour refuge is good for birding during the migrations. Both landscapes are flat, and both are hard work in the heat of summer.

Orange Beach has the more rewarding history nearby. Pensacola's Spanish and colonial quarter, its naval aviation museum and its brick forts are under an hour east. Mobile's antebellum streets and battleship memorial park are a little further, and a car ferry crosses from near Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island.

The outings from Naples lean more towards islands and estates. There are the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, cycling and shelling on Sanibel and Captiva, and old Everglades City. The Ringling museums in Sarasota and the city of Miami are both a long drive away. Either way, every trip needs a car.

Orange Beach is set up for children more completely. Rentals with pools and kitchens, a Ferris wheel by the marina, mini golf and dolphin boats fill the time between beach days, and a water park, a zoo and a small theme park are all within half an hour.

Naples is quieter but no less easy, and its calmer, shallower water is kinder to toddlers than a beach with rip currents. Naples Zoo's boat tour past the primate islands and the Golisano Children's Museum cover rainy days. There is no big theme park nearby, though, and Orlando is too far for a day.

Both need a car, but Naples gives you somewhere to leave it. The flat grid of Old Naples links the pier, the beach and the restaurants on Fifth Avenue South on foot or by bicycle.

Orange Beach is strung out along one coastal highway, so a walk rarely gets further than your own block, and the summer traffic crawls. The paved trails are the one place where a bike is the better choice.

Naples is the stronger choice for shopping. Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South mix galleries, jewellers and resort-wear boutiques under the palms, an open-air luxury mall brings in the designer names, and there are outlets half an hour north.

Orange Beach mostly sells swimwear, souvenirs and fishing tackle along the main road. For brand names, visitors drive twenty minutes inland to the outlet mall in Foley.

Orange Beach is easier on the wallet, especially for groups sharing a big rental with a kitchen. The two towns' high seasons fall at opposite ends of the year. Orange Beach is expensive in summer and becomes good value from late autumn to spring, while Naples charges most in winter, from about January to April.

Naples' summer is cheaper, but it is also its hottest and stormiest time. In any season its restaurants are priced for a wealthy clientele, so staying inland or in Fort Myers and self-catering is the usual way to cut costs.

Naples has a real stage culture, carried by its wealthy winter residents. The Naples Philharmonic plays in its own hall, and there are touring Broadway shows, chamber music and a professional theatre downtown, from late autumn to spring.

Orange Beach is about live music rather than theatre. Country and rock tours play the marina amphitheatre in the warmer months, cover bands play the beach bars, and the songwriters' festival on the state line every November is the highlight of its year.

Naples is made for slowing down. Large resort spas welcome non-guests, golf is everywhere, and much of the town is there to unwind, so sunset walks along the Gulf are part of the routine.

Orange Beach offers the same kind of calm only part of the year. Its few spas are modest, and its quiet mornings and back-bay sunsets are at their best from autumn to spring. Spring break and summer weekends are noisy.