Are there nice beaches on the West Coast of Florida?
 

I want to take a short weekend vacation to the beach -- I've been to St. Augustine and Daytona and from Delray down, Boca, Deerfield, Pompano, Ft. Lauderdale...Miami -- but looking for something different... I know the gulf stream is what keeps the water warm in the East coast -- I've never spent much time on the West coast of FL... is it worth it?

Check out Siesta Key... Hour south of Tampa in the Sarasota area.
White Sand beaches. Nice place to Relax. The Cheetah is in Sarasota if ya get bored.

Check out Clearwater Beach, Treasure Island and Madera Beach all close by each other Just West of Tampa

I was just in Naples - there are white powdery beaches. stayed at a place called la playa.

LaPlaya! love the grouper sandwich there :-)
I have always enjoyed the gulf side of Florida.....the beached are ten times better there. I would recommend Naples, Marco Island and Bonita.........can't go wrong at any of those places. Naples has a nice combination of beautiful beaches, kick-ass restaurants and shopping.....it is my fav.

marco island is nice.. kinda boring last time I went, but it may have been the season and that was 5 years ago.

Wow thanks guys for the great suggestions! I will look those up... Now I'm getting excited :p

i just got back from Ft Myers... its nothing fancy or outrageous, but i did enjoy the beach and the nightlife. felt like a "calm" spring break. beach was nice at nite too. :)

Miami beatish

St.Pete beach is great...spent a week there and hated leaving

I agree with Florida T Siesta Key is the place to be. Always rated one of the top beaches and there are plenty of sites to be seen.

I've heard the Miami Bitches are pretty nice too. Too bad they are on the east coast :1orglaugh

Fort Myers is really nice. The north part of the island outside Ft. Myers is pretty nice too (Cape Coral?? Not sure what it was called). Sweet houses out there and some hot chicks on the rocky beaches :)
Too bad the water is cold as #¤%&

if you in the mood to be spendy check out the Ritz in Naples....it is really nice!
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/resorts/naples/default.html