The best Florida beach towns are cozy and quaint, reflecting an Old Florida ambience. Here are seven of our favorites, all small enclaves worth discovering.

Canaveral National Seashore is quiet and peaceful with bountiful wildlife scurrying through the dunes. You can always find your place in the sand.

Theare are so many things to do in Apalachicola, a charming, walkable small town full of history, good food & shops. It’s 20 minutes from the splendid beach on St. George Island. Hurricane Helene spared this area, which is back in business.

People and birds alike enjoy the beautiful beaches and sandbars plus the pristine mangrove creeks at Bunche Beach. There are several routes for kayakers or it’s a great place for just combing the beach and enjoying the wildlife.

Egmont Key is romantic, remote and historic. Located in the mouth of Tampa Bay, accessible only by boat, it is home to an intriguing fort, gopher tortoises, beautiful beaches and more.

The historic Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge couldn’t be in a prettier spot. It tells the story of a wild Florida of tall ships and pioneers. It’s one-of-a-kind, the last surviving refuge for shipwrecked sailors. There’s even a shipwreck to snorkel here.

Fall is a great time to visit Henderson Beach State Park as families wrap up summer vacations, but you’ll have to book way, way ahead for camping.

Hutchinson Island boasts some of the nicest beaches in Florida with easy public access on sandy paths through the dunes, the way Atlantic beaches used to be.

Ponce Inlet is a calm ocean-front town at the tip of a barrier island. It has free parking, the tallest lighthouse in Florida (which you can tour) plus parks, a beach and places to eat fresh seafood.

Honeymoon Island in Dunedin has a big, natural beach where you can get away from people, but also offers a cafe and bikes and kayaks to rent. Its history involves actual honeymooners drawn here during the Great Depression in a real estate scheme.

Surf fishing is a terrific family outing — or a quiet escape to get away alone. The gear you need and how to fish from shore.