Reach for the beach
Clearwater Beach promises not only miles of white sands complete with shady cabanas (stay at the newly renovated Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach, balanced between the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the picturesque Intracoastal Waterway), but a lively sunset setting too on Pier 60, with street performers, artisans – and pelicans. The Little Toot Sunset Dolphin Cruise is a low-set boat that takes you and the children closer to the dolphin action. (If this isn’t enough, check out the brand new rescued dolphin habitat at Clearwater Marine Aquarium).
Drive to nearby Honeymoon State Park and take the ferry to nature-lovers paradise Caladesi Island, where beachcombing and paddle boarding await amongst the mangroves. A few minutes’ drive further along the coast, St Pete Pier is south-east Florida’s newest – and largest – waterfront playground, an extension of St Peterburg’s vibrant and flourishing downtown. Expect open green lawn space, observation decks, interactive exhibits, artwork and installations from local artists, an artisan marketplace and fishing deck.
How to do it: Seven nights at the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa costs from £1,385pp including flights from Heathrow and car hire. Price based on two sharing, room only, departing September 21, via Virgin Holidays (0344 472 9646; virginholidays.co.uk).
Florida for adventurers
Florida is, famously, not a place of mountainous altitude. Its highest point, Britton Hill, rises to all of 345ft – and even then, is so north-westerly that it all but straddles the border with Alabama. But while this is not a state that offers adrenalised elevation, it does adventure in low places – in the swamps of Everglades National Park (nps.gov/ever), and in the scope for extended road trips along those long coasts. Furthermore, while little of Florida could be called “undiscovered”, there are unheralded marvels at the end of the map, like the peaceful sandbars of Gulf Islands National Seashore (nps.gov/guis), and the outpost of Dry Tortugas National Park (nps.gov/drto), a 70-mile boat trip from Key West.
Ever ready
There are few greater examples of wilderness on the doorstep of “civilisation” than the Everglades ecosystem, which begins barely 20 miles west of Miami (and barely further from the Gulf coast). Here is a densely vegetated area where alligators doze at roadsides, and cicadas keep up a near-constant chorus. It can be explored quietly, along the hiking trails of the national park – or at enormous volume, via an airboat tour run by the likes of Coopertown Airboats (coopertownairboats.com; £19). Any of the Gulf resort towns south of Tampa Bay sit within reasonable driving distance of it all, but Naples is the closest. From here, you can spy on other glorious parts of this natural wonderland, such as the mossy treescape of Big Cypress National Preserve (nps.gov/bicy), and the big-cat oasis that is Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (fws.gov/refuge).
How to do it: A five-night stay at the five-star LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort, near Naples, costs from £1,449 a head, with flights, via American Sky (01342 395 370; americansky.co.uk).
