Family Beach Vacations in US or Mexico? Reccomendations?

MonkeyMel21

Well? We're not trying to go all out money wise, but shoot me some ideas if you have them! Family of 3, child is 7 years old.

PrincessMel72

We live in Clearwater Beach, FL. It's a great place - the west coast of FL. And not too expensive, although I don't know where you'd be coming from.

SomebodyWakeUpHIcks

Well, if money is part of the equation, what is the nearest beach to you?

MonkeyMel21

We're in Oklahoma. There are technically a lot of beaches here I guess, lol. I'm talking about under $2500, $3k with spending money, if that helps.

PrincessMel72

So FL isn't too far off if you're flying. Try the Destin, Ft. Walton beach area. Gorgeous!

MonkeyMel21

indigoblue9572 wrote: »

So FL isn't too far off if you're flying. Try the Destin, Ft. Walton beach area. Gorgeous!

Thanks! DH has been wanting to go to Florida for a while.

pinuplove

The Florida panhandle (emerald coast) is probably going to be your best bet from Oklahoma (hi, fellow Okie!) Pretty easy drive, beautiful white sand beaches, and much cheaper than trying to fly somewhere. We went in October and the weather was just gorgeous.

Motorsheen

Kid friendly?

St. Peter Beach in Florida is good.

Also, Coronado in San Diego is awesome. We took our kids there and stayed at the hotel del.

PrincessMel72

Motorsheen wrote: »

Kid friendly?

St. Peter Beach in Florida is good.

Also, Coronado in San Diego is awesome. We took our kids there and stayed at the hotel del.

Coronado is one of my favorite places in the entire world, but highly expensive!

Motorsheen

indigoblue9572 wrote: »

Motorsheen wrote: »

Kid friendly?

St. Peter Beach in Florida is good.

Also, Coronado in San Diego is awesome. We took our kids there and stayed at the hotel del.

Coronado is one of my favorite places in the entire world, but highly expensive!

Yeah, not a cheap date.

We ate chocolate ice cream for dinner every night for a week. The kids did not complain.

The hotel del is great, if not a bit overrated. I'm still glad we stayed there.

It's better than any Disney Vacation by a mile.

kschwab0203

We have been going to Pensacola Beach, Fl every summer since I was little. The beaches are beautiful and it is a very family oriented little place.

JeepHair77

You could probably do a vacay in Mexico on your budget (flights in my area are CHEAP to Mexico, but might not be so cheap from OK), and the beaches are breathtaking. BUT, with a young-ish child, I'd do a U.S. trip, too. The thought of dealing with a passport and an international flight with long customs lines plus a long cab/shuttle ride to the resort thereafter, with a 7-year-old, makes me feel very twitchy. There's a lot of concern about the safety in Mexico right now. (I think it's quite safe, but it's important to make smart travel choices and it's very helpful to speak the language).

I love Coronado. Love it. San Diego is a fantastic city and you'll find plenty of other fun things to do, too. But it might be hard to do on that budget. I'm not sure, but I think of it as a pretty spendy city. We're doing Destin, FL this summer.

PrincessMel72

Motorsheen wrote: »

indigoblue9572 wrote: »

Motorsheen wrote: »

Kid friendly?

St. Peter Beach in Florida is good.

Also, Coronado in San Diego is awesome. We took our kids there and stayed at the hotel del.

Coronado is one of my favorite places in the entire world, but highly expensive!

Yeah, not a cheap date.

We ate chocolate ice cream for dinner every night for a week. The kids did not complain.

The hotel del is great, if not a bit overrated. I'm still glad we stayed there.

It's better than any Disney Vacation by a mile.

I wanted to move to San Diego so badly - well, for about 5 yrs now. We visited, made plans, tried to find suitable employment and housing. The salaries just don't add up to the high cost of living. So, we set our sights on the opposite coast. We're now happy residents of Clearwater, FL and while we may not be earning as much as we did in Colorado, we go to the beach whenever we damn well please and that makes it all worth it!

vikinglander

Eastern Long Island, NY...on the south fork...the Hamptons, if you can afford the summer rents or hotel rooms. Beautiful clean white beaches, great small towns, Class A restaurants, good night life,.
You might find some decent AirBnB deals...
Also, the Atlantic ocean is warmed from June to late September by the Gulf Stream; it's NOT the Caribbean, but it's warm enough...

MommysLittleMeatball

Tampa Bay Area local, however, I lived in San Francisco and traveled up and down the coast of CA (absolutely wonderful place), I would not recommend CA for a budget friendly trip. Ever. So expensive.

Clearwater is nice and all, but a huge tourtist trap, therefore more expensive.
St. Petersburg (literally right next to Clearwater) is better, in my opinion. Places like John's Pass will have very affordable beach houses and/or rooms to rent. Pass-A-Grill is a nice area in St Pete as well. Fort De Soto is one of my favorite beaches and parks in St Pete. There's plenty to do in Downtown St Pete, farmer's markets, museums (I highly recommend the Dali Museum). Tampa is close by and there are more museums (a really cool Children's Museum), aqcuarium, Lowry Park Zoo, and Busch Gardens is a roller coaster amusement park. All of the above would be way more affordable than going to Disney World and a lot of fun variety. You can always rent boats, jetskiis, go on fishing charters, even take the kids on a huge pirate ship.

Savannah, GA is wonderful! To me it's like a small southern charm San Francisco. One of my favorite places. I'm not sure how old your kids are, so may not be super fun for them.

Orlando has more to offer besides Disney World. If the kids are older, I would recommend Universal Studios and Island of Adventure. They offer a ton of packages for tickets, rooms, food packages, etc. Or even if you stay around Lake Buena Vista and hit up the water parks it would be a lot of fun. Downtown Disney (now called Disney Springs is really nice.)

St. Augustine is really cool too. Lots of sight seeing and history tours available. Great food. Beaches too.

Blue Ridge, GA is great for cabin trips. If you and the kids are outdoorsy it would be a nice get away. Blue Ridge is a nice small town. Lots to explore.

If you haven't already check out Groupon. They have some pretty great values for hotels and trips.

Motorsheen

MeganAM89 wrote: »

Well I'm steering clear of Mexico for a while because I'd like to get pregnant in the fall and I have serious zika concerns. But if you're not worried about that then it doesn't matter.

I've taken our kids to Mexico, twice.

It's a lot easier to stay stateside with small children.

cwolfman13

I'm partial to Mission Beach San Diego...we and our kids love it and there's lot to do in the area. We go just about every year and rent a condo on Homeaway...last year we stayed at a condo right on the beach which was a little pricey but totally cool to just walk out onto the beach...prior to that we've stayed at one that is walking distance but not right on the beach and it was around $130/night and we had our own little yard and grill area.

For us, it's a no brainer...airline tickets are fairly inexpensive from ABQ and it's a direct 1.5 hr flight on a bad day and boom...we're on the beach.

mhwitt74

One of our favorite places is Hilton Head, South Carolina. It's an island just off the coast. The beaches aren't crowded, no obnoxious partiers and the food is AMAZING! Also it's very close to Savannah, Georgia which is an awesome city with an awesome historic district. If you want any more info just ask and I will gladly tell you more about it. LOL, I live in VA so not trying to sell you on anything even though I sound like a travel agent. We just really love it there.

MonkeyMel21

Thanks for the response guys!! DH actually mentioned Destin, Fl!! Good to know so many people recommend it!