Being one month out from our family vacation to Sandestin has me thinking about my love for the state of Florida! I lived in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area for a short time when I was 18 (Hallandale Beach), but I loved it even before then from taking family vacations as a kid to Disney World and Destin. I remember driving over the bridge to Destin with my parents and seeing the turquoise water and white sand beaches for the first time. I had never seen anything like it! I was mostly a Miami girl throughout my 20s, but now that I’m a mom, our vacations take place at less hip and trendy locations (although I did get to experience some Miami fun on a girl’s trip last year!). My husband and I have taken our girls on four Florida vacations already, so I thought I would share my favorite family-friendly Florida vacation spots!
St. Pete Beach/Disney
The first time we traveled as a family to Florida was to the St. Pete/Clearwater area when Bella was one (her first trip to the beach!). I don’t have any resort recommendations for this location because we actually house-swapped with friends of ours for this trip. We did spend our beach days at Sirata Beach Resort and the beach service was great and the pool looked beautiful. We were also near the Tradewinds Island Resorts which I looked into because it looked magical for families with small kids. They have a huge inflatable slide on the beach as well as an inflatable waterpark in the ocean. The reviews were mixed but it looked like a lot of fun! We were also told by friends of ours that The Don Cesar is the best place to stay there. My husband and I passed it jet skiing (you can’t miss the pink palace!) and it definitely looked very grand from the water. That would probably be my pick if we were to visit that location again.
The Clearwater area seemed much more crowded, so we preferred the beaches in St. Pete. The dining also seemed more upscale in St. Pete as opposed to Clearwater. We were actually staying in Tampa, so the only restaurant we ate at near the beaches was Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill which is oceanfront in Clearwater. They had great food and a really fun beach atmosphere. Palm Pavilion next door also looked very nice. That would have been my first choice if we didn’t have a huge party with a lot of kids.
We also visited the John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk during our trip which was a really cute area with lots of shopping and dining options. We went on a dolphin cruise there which was a lot of fun. We ate at the Bubba Gump Shrimp there as well. If it’s a cloudy day or you just need a break from the beach, I’d say this is a fun place to visit in the area.
I loved this vacation as a first trip to the beach for a little one. It’s a very beachy town with everything in close walking distance with a stroller or even has all-inclusive resort options like The Tradewinds. This is also very close to Orlando/Disney, so we did a few days at the beach followed by a few days at Walt Disney World. We just did one day at the Magic Kingdom, which was perfect. You can read more about that trip here. If you’re looking for a quick trip for a first family vacation, this was a great combo!
Destin
Our second Florida trip was as a family of 4 (Juliana’s first time at the beach!) to Sandestin Resort just outside of Destin. This (besides Disney) is my favorite Florida vacation spot. I wrote a whole separate blog post about that, which you can read about here.
Fort Lauderdale
For our third family vacation to Florida, we tagged along with my husband on a business trip to Fort Lauderdale. He was attending a conference at the Marriott Harbor Beach and let me just say, this place is AWESOME for families! I actually spent the first day of this trip solo with the girls because my husband was flying in from another work trip to meet us in the evening, and we had the best time… no stress! It feels like a tropical paradise from the moment you arrive there. The resort is oceanfront with a gorgeous pool and direct beach access. The staff there is so great offering any service you could ever need, they even blew up the inflatables that we bought at the gift shop.
The restaurants are great, although no mac and cheese anywhere to be found… which I found ODD for such a family-friendly resort. They did have a smoothie place that also served ice cream in the evenings which we all loved, as well as great poolside service for quick and easy lunches. The Fort Lauderdale area also offers a golf cart shuttle that will take you to nearby restaurants which was really fun to do in the evenings. We used a car service from the airport for this trip so we didn’t even need to rent a car.
This destination would DEFINITELY be my top pick if you are just looking for a quick family getaway. Flights to Fort Lauderdale are usually cheap and direct. There is no need to rent a car. It is an all-inclusive type of resort that you never need to leave (Even if you get sick of the food you could just do Uber Eats). The pool and beach are beautiful with the most fun tropical vibe. Fort Lauderdale has great weather pretty much year-round. I’d say this is a perfect long weekend type getaway with kids. They even have a kid's camp! We weren’t able to use it because our girls weren’t old enough, but when they are I would imagine that this would be an awesome perk for the kids AND parents! They also have a spa, so we would be able to use that as well (mental note- go back to this resort as soon as Juliana turns 5).
Another resort I’m wanting to try in Fort Lauderdale is the Pelican Grand Beach Resort. We had friends suggest this one as well. It seems like a more calm and relaxed vibe than Harbor Beach with white rocking chairs overlooking the ocean and an ice cream parlor. It also seems closer to some of the nicer restaurants in Fort Lauderdale which was my one and only complaint about Harbor Beach. I’m hoping to check this place out in the dead of winter for a quick getaway, so stay tuned for a review!
Atlantic Beach/Disney
Our last family vacation to Florida was another classic combo of the beach & Disney (Juliana’s first Disney trip!). My husband had another summer conference in Florida (lucky us!) so we tagged along to the One Ocean Resort & Spa in Atlantic Beach. I must say, this is a location we would have never traveled to on our own. I had never heard of this town, but I am so happy that we found it because it is so adorable. The resort is definitely the nicest one around. It is sort of like a magical palace in the middle of nowhere.
The resort itself is amazing with stunning decor and a perfect oceanfront setup. What we loved most about this trip though was the Beaches Town Center across the street from the resort. This little village-type area has tons of cool dining options, shopping, and ice cream shops. It felt like we were in a storybook. Our favorite restaurant there was Sliders Oyster Bar which had the cutest little putt-putt area for the girls to play under strands of twinkle lights. I wish there were places that family-friendly in our town! Joseph’s pizza was also amazing and Whit’s Ice Cream received many visits from our family :).
The girls and I had so much fun at the pool and beach during the day and then we would go get family dinners and ice cream in the evenings when my husband was finished with work. The resort had great pool service dining options so we were able to just have lunch in our swimsuits before heading up to the room before their afternoon naps. After a few days at the beach, we took the quick drive to Orlando to start our Disney vacation, which you can read more about here! If you are looking for a beach close to Disney World for a combo vacation, I would highly recommend this resort. Our family had a wonderful time here and we would definitely go back!
I hope you enjoy my top family-friendly Florida vacation picks! If you decide to take one of these trips for yourself, please tag @thisismymomoir and let me know how you like it! Also, if you have any questions about any of the locations in this blog post, feel free to email me at jen@thisismymomoir or you can fill out the contact form on my page. Happy travels!