Vero Beach- Anyone Been? Suggestions?
 

Hey All- my mom and I are starting to plan a vacation for this summer, and we're thinking about Vero Beach. We haven't been, but I'd looked it up awhile back and it looked pretty nice. Any of you all been there, or know anything about it?

Much Love,
Ethan

Happy New Year!!

Quite honestly, I've never been there (I'm not a person who can spend a vacation lounging on a beach), but it does sound like a nice place. Depending on how many people you're going with, Disney has a Vacation Club resort there with rooms that can handle any size gathering

It'll just be my mom and I- maybe my sister. We're also thinking about Cocoa Beach as well!

Isn't that where Major Nelson and Jeannie have their home?

If I could save time in a bottle...

I've been to the Atlantic quite a few times NC, and SC but never in Florida. But plenty have told me the water and beaches don't get nice until you get to about Fort Lauderdale. My personal opinion of the Atlantic is it's too cold, too rough, way too murky, and always smelled like fish stew.

How about Chicago? Or Washington, DC?

A beach is a beach is a beach, especially in Florida.

To me, they're not. I've been from Tampa-Clearwater all the way to Naples and every beach in between, and the quality of sand and water can differ at each one depending on what the Gulf washes up. One beach can be pristine and you can leave 5 minutes down the coast to another and it look quite different. Both in water clarity and sand. So they do have their uniqueness. :nod:

I guess I'm thinking in terms of the geography of the land bordering the beach, not necessarily the water/beach quality (which is based on the local environment/maintenance or lack thereof more than anything else). In that sense, the difference between, say, a Northern California beach and Southern would be pretty dramatic.

Then again, I'm biased- I would rather live in Detroit than Miami- so don't listen to me :wavey:

It's ok. The geography of the southern half of Florida is flat. Everyone knows that. I love all the islands though around the water. Personally I'd rather live here than California. For a few reasons. I like the Florida feel and climate but I wouldn't live in Miami either.

Miami can be pretty but it's like a Third-World country in and of itself.

Indeed. Miami is nasty and frightening. On one side of an avenue you can have a $20M mansion, and on the other, a monstrous third world crack slum. I think the discontinuity of the whole city is just so strange! I just don't really care for the contiguous sprawl that starts with the Palm Beaches and stretches all the way to Homestead/Florida City, either. I've been the the Florida panhandle a couple of times too and am as equally "meh" about it.

I love the middle/lower Keys myself. I used to drive to Key West every year, and the drive through the Keys never got old (except the painfully slow traffic). Bahia Honda is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been on. No development, perfectly crystal clear water, tropical fish swimming around your feet, coral reefs = no waves... it's just paradise.

http://www.floridakeysnews.info/phot...campground.jpg

http://www.tropicalsnorkeling.com/im...hiaHondaL6.jpg



http://www.floridakeysnews.info/phot...da-camping.jpg

I completely and wholeheartedly agree with you. I've been going to Florida since I was about 4 or 5. I love the state, everywhere is different, and would love to live there some day, so I adore the place, and respect it very much!

My fear about potentially Cocoa Beach is that it might be a bit outdated or whatnot. I've gone to Destin more than anywhere, and a lot of the more touristy places seem to me appear to be a bit more "glitzy", whereas the older nature of the Space Coast seems to be more natural, and residential! :nod:

I have yet to find time to make it down to the Keys, I'd even settle for the middle Keys and be happy but when I do go, I want to drive down. Whether it's Rt 41 or I75 to Miami and the Keys, either way it's supposed to be so scenic. I have heard good things about Bahia Honda State Park and the middle keys and wanna go. The Travel Channel is always showing stuff about Florida and theres so much yet to do in this big state. I believe they keep the speed limit at 35 all along the Seven Mile Bridge through the Keys and have heard it takes about 3 hours just to reach Key West from Miami, but the slow drive would seem half the fun! I must go while I'm here already. It's a definite must although I wouldn't trade my SW FL life for one in the Keys. I love the mainland, more to do! lol :nod:

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2...gefloridak.jpg

It depends where you're at in the Keys as to the speed limit. Most of the way it's 55, but big stretches are 45. Through a couple of the little towns, it is indeed 35. Mainly through Big Pine Key and the surrounding Keys, it's 45 or under due to the tiny endangered Key Deer. I want to see one SO BADLY!! Yeah, the drive from Miami is probably closer to 4 hours these days, and traffic is always bumper to bumper. But it's soooo worth doing. Just astoundingly gorgeous! Key Largo is pretty trashy and touristy, but once you get to like Islamorada and below it's breathtaking. I'd never fly directly into Key West... the drive really is part of the experience. Plus, we always stop off and picnic and swim at Bahia Honda, probably the prettiest place I've ever seen. We used to go to the Keys every Summer... I miss them so badly. That's the off season down there, so rooms are dirt cheap. The water is prettiest in late winter through the spring tho, before the seagrass grows in for the summer. Go sometime when you get the chance... you'll not regret it!! :wavey: