Longboat, Lido or Siesta Key. Which is best?

Which would be the best for the first family vacation with our young daughter?

So many choices that I am afraid of making a horrible mistake!!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Longboat, Lido or Siesta Key. Which is best?

Although all are located in the Sarasota area, they are different.

What are you looking for?

If you would like a full service beach resort, I would recommend the Lido Beach Resort on Lido Key..www.lidobeachresort.com. The units are very nice and the location is great. Goof place for families.

If you want a condo on the beach I would recommend Siesta Key.You can find rentals at www.vrbo.com or www.siest4rent.com.

There are many types and price ranges. Most families prefer the quartz sand on Crescent Beach. There is also a website for the Chamber of Commerce. You can find accommodations, photos and info on the area:

www.siestakeychamber.com/index.php?id_cat=44

Longboat Key is more upscale. You can go to their Chamber of Commerce page and see options.

You can%26#39;t make a mistake......the area is perfect for families.

~SRQgirl

Longboat, Lido or Siesta Key. Which is best?

If you will have a car, probably would make no difference which you choose. All are good. Other factors will determine your choice. Do you want to be directly on the beach? What is your budget for accommodation? Do you want an onsite restaurant? And so on.

Our preference would be walking distance to the beach, restaurants. However we will be renting a car so if we end up getting a great deal with a minute or two drive to the beach then I am not going to be disappointed.

Currently, there are some condos on VRBO and a few other sites that rent for $500 or less per week which is great because that will offset the expensive car rental (we%26#39;re flying into Tampa) I was in Kauai in March and paid $18 per day and in Tampa it is around $40 per day through many discount websites. YIKES.

Any other advise, suggestions would be soooooo greatly appreciated. TA has helped me plan my last 4 trips and these forums have really helped me.

One determining factor should be the age of your daughter. Is she old enough to be on the beach by herself? If not, then a property on the beach would be to advantage where she can play in the sand and where you could still keep an eye on her from the condo.

Flying into Tampa is not all that bad, if the airfare is right. It is an easy 1-hour drive if you don%26#39;t arrive at a time when there is afternoon rush hour traffic in Tampa. What is your arrival time (and day - if it is a Sat or Sun, then it doesn%26#39;t matter)?

If I may also suggest (and make your decision even harder, LOL) you should read the Anna Maria Island forum.

As the others have said, you can%26#39;t go wrong with any of the keys off of Sarasota, though I can appreciate how hard it may be for you to make a decision; too many good things to choose from!

When you say ';young daughter';, I wonder how old she is? Small toddler, she (and you) will be happy no matter where you end up. The beaches are gently sloping, with no major waves, simply slightly lapping water (people looking for big surf would be disappointed). Just a bit older, she%26#39;d probably love going to Mote Aquarium (as would you) and also the GWiz science museum in downtown Sarasota, maybe the Circus museum at the Ringling. For these, a place on Lido Key or Longboat would be a bit more convenient.

Again, though, you%26#39;re not going to be disappointed in any of your choices.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have now opened up my search to Anna Maria island thanks to one reply. UGH, there are so many options.

So now I think I%26#39;ve narrowed it down to two - Siesta Key or Anna Maria Island.

Thanks for all the help.

Siesta and Anna Maria are both terrific, and each has it%26#39;s own character. Siesta has one of the top beaches in the country, perhaps a few more activities, and seems a bit more tropical to me; Anna Maria has a very good beach, a wonderful free tram, and is a bit quieter.

Now you get to agonize over which specific place to stay in on on or the other key (LOL!). Chuts and SRQgirl should be a big help in that regard.

If the daughter is 7 or younger, I would choose Anna Maria Is. only because it will be a less crowded beach and in general, the area will be less crowded than Siesta Key. You should be able to find a place right on the beach where your daughter can play in the sand and where you can keep an eye on her, while you sip a cold one on the porch.

Look through some messages in the AMI forum for posts by RustyKat. She usually vacations on AMI and has some good suggestions. In fact I%26#39;m surprised she has not made a suggestion yet.

Rusty, where are you? LOL.

Thanks. I booked a week on the beach on AMI. After reading reviews I think that was the best choice for our first family vacation.

26 days and counting.

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