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In our October 20, 2026 edition, the best beach near Orlando is New Smyrna Beach, followed by Clearwater Beach and Siesta Beach (Siesta Key). We weighed 16 options on public reputation, recognition from independent sources and how well each fits the people who go there; this is the October 20, 2026 edition.
Day trips from downtown Orlando · drive times are estimates, not door-to-sand guarantees
Orlando Weekly readers named New Smyrna Beach the area's best beach in both 2025 and 2026, and it is only about an hour and seven minutes from downtown.
Visit Florida calls it one of the state's leading surf spots, and the county's 184-acre Smyrna Dunes Park adds an inlet setting with dog-friendly river beaches.
Clearwater Beach is the highest-placed Florida beach in Tripadvisor's 2026 awards (No. 2 in the U.S.), was No. 2 in USA Today 10Best's 2025 Florida vote, and made Orlando Weekly readers' top three in both 2025 and 2026.
The city keeps lifeguards on the beach year-round and rakes the sand daily.
Siesta Beach was Tripadvisor's No. 1 U.S. beach in 2025, is still No. 6 in 2026, and Orlando Weekly readers ranked it second in 2026.
Parking at the county beach park is free, and Visit Sarasota lists lifeguards, a playground, picnic pavilions and concessions there.
Lori Wilson Park is the closest free-parking beach we checked, about an hour from downtown via SR 528.
Brevard County lists seasonal lifeguards, playgrounds, an off-leash dog park and launch viewing among its amenities.
Dr. Beach ranked Caladesi the No. 3 beach in the country for 2026, after No. 4 in 2024.
Because there is no road to the island, it stays undeveloped, and the state park offers shelling, swimming and kayaking through mangrove forest.
Orlando Weekly readers ranked St. Pete Beach second in 2025, and USA Today 10Best voters put it seventh in Florida the same year.
Public parking is split between the Upham Beach lot and more than 500 metered spaces along the Pass-a-Grille waterfront.
Jetty Park had the shortest drive of any beach we checked, about 56 minutes from City Hall.
Lifeguards are on duty from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and the pier looks out on the channel used by cruise ships.
The coast you choose sets the drive. The three Atlantic picks, Jetty Park, Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach and New Smyrna Beach, were 56 to 67 minutes from Orlando City Hall in Google Maps. The four Gulf picks, Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, Caladesi Island and Siesta Beach, took 128 to 142 minutes, measured once on a Tuesday afternoon.
Jetty Park day passes must be bought online in advance, and its gate takes no cash or cards. Siesta Beach parking is free with no time limit, but Visit Sarasota says the lots fill early from January to April. In Clearwater, street meters cap stays at five hours, while the Pier 60 lot charges $3.50 per hour.
New Smyrna Beach is a surf town, and its Smyrna Dunes Park adds an elevated boardwalk of more than 2 miles on Ponce de Leon Inlet. Siesta's pale quartz sand stays cool underfoot, according to Sarasota's tourism office. Lori Wilson Park has a 3,155-foot boardwalk through a maritime hammock, and Caladesi Island has no road at all.
For beaches we weigh public reputation, independent recognition, the drive from downtown Orlando and what each beach is best for, from surfing to calm water for kids.
Places are ranked by evidence, not by a single number, and nobody paid to be listed. Figures like drive times and prices change; each one shows where it came from and when. Read the full method.
Anna Maria Island (Manatee Public Beach), Caladesi Island State Park, Canaveral National Seashore (Playalinda Beach), Clearwater Beach, Cocoa Beach (Lori Wilson Park), Daytona Beach, Fort De Soto Park, Honeymoon Island State Park, Jetty Park (Port Canaveral), New Smyrna Beach, Ormond Beach (Andy Romano Beachfront Park), Sebastian Inlet State Park (Melbourne Beach), Siesta Beach, St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island Beach, Vero Beach (Humiston Beach Park).
Of the beaches we checked, Jetty Park at Port Canaveral was the quickest drive from downtown Orlando, about 56 minutes and 55 miles in Google Maps on Oct. 20, 2026. Cocoa Beach's Lori Wilson Park (about 1 hour, 58 miles) and New Smyrna Beach (about 1 hour 7 minutes) were close behind, while Gulf beaches such as Clearwater took more than two hours.
Orlando Weekly readers voted New Smyrna Beach the area's best beach in both 2025 and 2026. In national rankings, Clearwater Beach was No. 2 in the U.S. in Tripadvisor's 2026 Travelers' Choice awards, and Siesta Beach was No. 1 in 2025.
The National Park Service says the Playalinda District of Canaveral National Seashore has the closest view, but parts of it close around launches and NASA can close areas without notice. Jetty Park in Port Canaveral sells launch-day parking passes in advance, and Brevard County lists launch viewing as an amenity at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach.
It depends on the beach: Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach and Siesta Beach have free lots, while Jetty Park charges $15 per vehicle per day and Canaveral National Seashore charges $25 per vehicle for a 7-day pass. In Volusia County (New Smyrna Beach, Daytona Beach), visitors pay $20 a day in county off-beach lots or $30 to drive onto the beach.
Clearwater Beach has lifeguards all year, and Jetty Park keeps them on duty from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Visit Sarasota lists lifeguards at Siesta Beach, and Brevard County lists seasonal lifeguards at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach. Lifeguard coverage for the other three picks was not recorded.
Smyrna Dunes Park at New Smyrna Beach has dog-friendly river-shore beaches on Ponce de Leon Inlet, with a $10 vehicle fee. Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach has a divided off-leash dog park and free parking. On the Gulf side, USA Today named Fort De Soto Park its No. 7 dog-friendly beach in 2024.
Caladesi Island is reached only by boat. Park at Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin for $8 per vehicle and buy a round-trip ferry ticket there: $20 for adults, $10 for children 6 to 12 and free for ages 5 and under. Ferries leave hourly from 10 a.m., and stays last up to 4 hours.
Head to the Gulf. Clearwater Beach holds a nightly Sunsets at Pier 60 celebration with street performers, and St. Pete Beach is a west-facing Gulf beach town with public sand at Upham Beach and Pass-a-Grille. Both were a little over two hours from Orlando City Hall in Google Maps.
