St. Pete Beach or West Palm Beach?

St. Pete Beach has the better beach life. Its whole barrier island is one long run of fine quartz sand, usually right outside the hotel, with shallow, gentle Gulf water and the sunset-facing sand of Pass-a-Grille. Fort De Soto and the boat-only sands of Shell Key add emptier stretches.

West Palm Beach's downtown faces a lagoon, so beach days start with a short trip to Midtown Beach, Singer Island or Juno. The Atlantic there is clearer, and it is warmer in winter thanks to the Gulf Stream. Peanut Island adds sheltered snorkelling that the Gulf coast lacks.

West Palm Beach gives you more range. Clematis Street and Rosemary Square have terraces and seafood rooms, and Northwood is more local. Palm Beach has formal dining rooms, and Cuban and Haitian bakeries sit away from the centre. In season there is a Saturday green market.

St. Pete Beach eats well at the simple end, with grouper sandwiches, smoked fish spread and dinner on a deck at sunset. Beyond that, Gulf Boulevard is mostly chains and resort restaurants, and anything ambitious means a drive to St. Petersburg.

West Palm Beach has real sights. The Norton Museum's American, European and Chinese collections, Henry Flagler's marble Whitehall and the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens fill two or three good days. Palm Beach's villas and estates are worth an afternoon on foot.

St. Pete Beach has the pink Don CeSar hotel, Pass-a-Grille's old cottages and the fort batteries at Fort De Soto, and little more. Its serious museums, including the Dalí, are in St. Petersburg.

Neither has a club scene, but West Palm Beach keeps going later. On weekends, the few blocks of Clematis Street and Rosemary Square fill with cocktail bars, rooftop terraces and a couple of dance spots. In St. Pete Beach the evening peaks at sunset on a tiki deck with a cover band and fades soon after dark. Its bigger nights are half an hour away in downtown St. Petersburg.

Both are flat, watery and best explored in the early morning, but the wildlife differs. St. Pete Beach is about the surface of the water: kayak trails through the Fort De Soto mangroves, dolphins from the boat, manatees in the cooler months and roseate spoonbills on the flats.

West Palm Beach goes underwater and inland. You can dive the Gulf Stream reefs or snorkel with seahorses at the Blue Heron Bridge, see alligators on the Everglades-edge boardwalks of Loxahatchee, and find sea turtles nesting at Juno and Jupiter.

The choice of outings is about equal, but the kind differs. From St. Pete Beach the trips are varied but need a car. There are the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Ybor City in Tampa, Greek-rooted Tarpon Springs, the Ringling estate in Sarasota, and Orlando at the far edge of a day.

West Palm Beach has the bigger single prize: Miami, about an hour by fast train, with South Beach and Little Havana. Most of its other outings, such as Delray's Japanese gardens and Boca Raton, are more coastal towns of a similar feel.

St. Pete Beach is a little easier with young children, mainly because calm, shallow water and soft sand sit right beside the hotel pools. Shelling on Shell Key and dolphin boats fill the days. Clearwater's aquarium and Busch Gardens are within an hour.

West Palm Beach answers with the drive-through lions and giraffes of Lion Country Safari, the zoo and the free Manatee Lagoon centre. But each beach day starts with a drive, and no big theme park is close.

West Palm Beach is the easier base without a car. Its compact downtown is walkable and served by a free trolley, the Lake Trail makes cycling to Palm Beach pleasant, and trains run south to Miami.

St. Pete Beach is one long strip with a beach trolley, and only Pass-a-Grille and Corey Avenue are made for walking. Fort De Soto, St. Petersburg and every day trip mean driving, because the buses to the mainland are slow.

This is where the two differ most. West Palm Beach has Worth Avenue's luxury fashion and jewellery houses set around tiled Mediterranean vias, plus consignment shops selling designer pieces from Palm Beach wardrobes. On the mainland there are the antique dealers of South Dixie Highway and the brands at Rosemary Square.

St. Pete Beach sells swimwear, beach gear and souvenirs, with a few boutiques and craft shops on Corey Avenue and in Pass-a-Grille. Anything more serious means a trip to St. Petersburg or Tampa.

Neither is cheap, but St. Pete Beach goes easier on the budget. Older motels a block back from the sand and casual seafood places make a modest stay possible, and the quiet late-summer weeks help further. Its peak runs from February to April.

West Palm Beach's high season is longer, from December to April. Palm Beach hotels are among the costliest on the coast, and restaurants are priced for a well-off crowd. Summer brings rates down at both, and both need a hire car.

West Palm Beach has a proper stage of its own. The Kravis Center hosts Broadway tours, visiting orchestras and the Palm Beach Opera, Palm Beach Dramaworks stages serious plays, and the Society of the Four Arts adds concerts. The calendar is busiest from late autumn to spring.

In St. Pete Beach, live performance means acoustic sets and cover bands at beach bars. The Florida Orchestra and Tampa's large arts centre are a drive away.

Both offer resort spas and a slow pace rather than any bathing tradition, but the feel differs. St. Pete Beach relaxes in a barefoot way, with morning walks on the sand, long afternoons and the shared sunset at Pass-a-Grille, outside the spring-break weeks. West Palm Beach is more polished, with grander oceanfront resort spas, Palm Beach's quiet, manicured streets and the lagoon promenades for an evening stroll.