With 1,100 miles of beaches, it's no wonder Florida has one to suit every visitor. Whether you're interested in birding, shelling, surfing, treasure hunting, people watching, snorkeling, history or romance, Florida has a beach to suit you. Read this insider's summary of the best beaches in the sunshine state.

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Best Beach for Birding: Shell Key, St. Pete Beach (877-352-3224, www.floridasbeach.com)
More than half of the 180-acre Shell Key is a bird sanctuary, but the beaches are accessible to human visitors. There are no buildings, no trash, no cars or telephone lines, just coconut palms, Australian pines, white sandy beaches lined with gentle, clear emerald surf and dunes topped with sea oat whiskers.


Best Tropical Beach: Bahia Honda State Park (305-872-3210, www.floridastateparks.org)
In this paradise of a park, palms wave in the breeze over pristine, sandy beaches. Widely considered to have the Keys' best beaches, Bahia Honda Key is a sheer tropical heaven, with mild, clear water and more than one lush and cozy beach from which to choose.


Best Beach for Surfing: Sebastian Inlet State Park (321-984-4852, www.floridastateparks.org)
Sebastian Inlet, south of Melbourne Beach, is the capital of East Coast surfing. The waves along this three-mile stretch of beach divided by the Sebastian River are consistent, hollow and fast. If any surf is breaking on the East Coast of Florida, it will be at Sebastian Inlet.


Best Beach for Feet: The Beaches of South Walton (800-822-6877, www.beachesofsouthwalton.com)
If you plant your soles on the glistening sands of the beaches of South Walton County, you will instantly become a spoiled-rotten sand snob. The grains are so fine, so white that you'll feel you are on packed sugar. The sand's secret is that it's almost pure quartz, washed down from the Appalachian Mountains over the years.


Best Beach for Treasure Hunting: Vero Beach (772-567-3491, www.indianriverchamber.com)
A Spanish fleet cracked open upon the reefs of Florida's East Coast in 1715, spilling its treasure into the sea. Sea Grape Trail in Vero Beach has proved lucrative for treasure hunters combing its sands. Finding a gold doubloon is rare because they are often so encrusted by the sea that it's hard to recognize them.


Best Beach to See a Millionaire: Palm Beach (561-233-3000, www.palmbeachfl.com)
Rent a Jaguar and drive to Palm Beach if you really want to see how "the Donald" lives. This 14-mile stretch has a well-deserved reputation as a playground for the rich and famous. But you don't have to be a millionaire to tan beside one here, second home to the likes of the Kennedy clan.


Best Beach for Shelling: Sanibel Island (800-237-6444, www.FortMyers-Sanibel.com)
With more than 400 varieties of shells, Sanibel Island is so popular with shell seekers that it holds an annual three-day Sanibel Shell Fair and Show in the spring and has a name for the shell seeker's posture: "The Sanibel Stoop." Sanibel is equally respected for its beauty and the community's commitment to preserving it.


Best Beach to Find Sharks Teeth: Venice Beach (800-522-9799, www.sarasotafl.org)
Venice Beach is the spot for finding fossilized shark's teeth from thousands of years ago. The beach concessionaire even rents out metal mesh scoops to aid in the process. Small teeth, the size of a Chihuahua's, are easy to find while walking along the shoreline and larger teeth by snorkeling along a ridge just offshore.


Best Beach to Be Pampered: Ponte Vedra Beach (800-653-2489, www.getaway4florida.com)
Ponte Vedra Inn and Club is one of the best places to find delicious spa treatments along a Florida beach. The resort sits on a beach lined with high dunes and towering palms. The roaring surf makes for exhilarating body surfing or a comforting bedtime song after a day of pampering.


Best Place to Feel Small: Canaveral National Seashore (321-267-1110, www.nps.gov/cana)
The Canaveral National Seashore, 24 miles of undeveloped coast, is lined with dunes, beaches and a range of wildlife. It's not unusual to see a blue heron on the seashore while a bald eagle soars over the shoulder-high marsh grasses. Bordering Kennedy Space Center, the seashore may also allow you to glimpse an equally astounding flight.


Best Snorkeling Beach: Dry Tortugas (800-352-5397, www.fla-keys.com)
For colorful fish and living coral reefs, pack your snorkeling gear and head to the Dry Tortugas National Park, about 70 miles west of Key West, reachable by ferry or seaplane, but well worth the trip. This cluster of seven islands, made of coral and sand, includes Garden Key, home to historic Fort Jefferson.