Daytona Beach

[kketterman]

My husband and I are planning on going to Daytona Beach in May and I would love suggestions about things to do and places to see.

 

Any suggestions???

[Cinnamonbite]

I live here and I don't go over there, LOL  as beaches go, the water is too cold for me.  I prefer the Gulf.  Daytona is a terribly podunk hillbilly area.  Does this mean you AREN'T going to Disney or Seaworld?  What about KSC?  There's Ponce Inlet.  You can rent bikes, fish, windsurf, and parasail there.  Everyone loves that restaurant too.  It's across the street from the lighthouse.  There's also a teeny weeeny marine science center there.  My boy grew out of it by age 3 but I guess if you don't live here, you might like it.  Dixie Crossroads is a restaurant that thinks very highly of itself, claims it's where all the locals eat, the only place you can get rock shrimp, blah, blah, blah.  Personally, I had a hard time finding anything truly clean to eat there.  I felt like I had to settle for a lesser meal.  And there are cheaper places that I've been to where I leave satisfied and the food doesn't make me sick later (I've got IBS.  I eat processed food or vegetable oil or grains, I better be at a toilet in 20 minutes) so if you aren't as particular as I am about eating, then I'd recommend that place (but the one by Ponce Inlet is better IMHO).  Avoid Jetty Park like the plague.  That beach is hideously crowded all year long.  Some pretty great seafood restaurants by the ships though.  The service is hit and miss.  If one can't get it's sh** together, get up and go to another.  We've had to do that more than once.  Are you renting a car?  Drive across the state, 2.5-3 hours and swim in the Gulf of Mexico.  Warm water, pure white sugar sand.  Eat at Guppys, go saling on a pirate ship. Stay at the Hyatt on Clearwater Beach.  You got Hyatt points from a credit card?  We stay there free a few times a year.  I used to know a place over in Pass-a-grill that custom made bikinis.  Daytona though?  Yeah.  Good luck to you. 

[kketterman]

I've never actually sent a day on the beach. I've walked on a beach in SC and collected sea shells but that's all the further it got. We are going to be in Orlando for about a week going to Islands of Adventure, Universal, and stopping at some shopping centers. I noticed that Daytona was only maybe an hour away so thought why not go and actually send a day lying out on a beach (lol). I'm also a big fan of lighthouses and I saw the one down from Daytona, Ponce Inlet, I think. Knowing me I might get bored just laying around so wanted to see what else there was to do. When it comes to eating I am picking about what I eat and I don't really eat seafood at all. Once in a while my husband will get me to try it but that's all the further I go. Any of them places serve anything other than seafood? We aren't renting a car this time, we are driving one of our vehicles from WV down and then around down there. I didn't think about the Gulf of Mexico, is it 2.5-3 hours away from Orlando? Or is that how far away it is from Daytona? Thanks for the advice!