There's a beach vacation waiting with your name on it somewhere along Florida's southeast coast, where you can pick from a range of big cities and shore towns and choose activities running the gamut from sunbathing to golf to scuba diving.

A few exits north of Miami on Interstate 95, the Greater Fort Lauderdale area (www.sunny.org/visitors) covers a 23-mile stretch of beach cities from Hollywood north to Deerfield Beach. Tired of lingering winter chill? They thoughtfully provide the local temperature and a link to a live beach camera.

Clicking on "Beaches" takes you to links to Web sites for the individual cities, including Dania Beach, home of a huge fishing pier, and Hollywood Beach and its lengthy oceanfront Broadwalk. Click on "Getting Around" to see what airlines fly into Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, and get acquainted with a map.

Before you leave the Greater Fort Lauderdale Web site, click on "Sports" to pick up tips and links on boating and fishing, as well as scuba diving to the area's natural and artificial reefs. Grab some more fishing information for the whole region from Florida Sportsman Magazine (www.floridasportsman.com) including salt water fishing regulations, tournament dates and directories of charter outfits and guides.

Up the coast from Fort Lauderdale, see what's offered by the communities of Palm Beach County (www.palmbeachfl.com/Visitors) from Boca Raton up to Jupiter, an area that claims 150 golf courses and more than 1,000 tennis courts to go along with its miles of beach. Browse through "Activities" for brief descriptions of beaches of parks, a directory to scuba gear rentals and charters, and things to entertain the kids, including marinas and the Palm Beach Zoo. You can even turn your attention inland and rent a canoe on the Loxahatchee River, according to the "Eco-tourism" directory. "Transportation" will fill you in on airlines that can take you to Palm Beach International.

While you're in Palm Beach County, there's more to Boca than the beach. The Boca Raton Museum of Art (www.bocamuseum.org) has an eclectic collection and a schedule of exhibits and showings of films and videos. The Palm Beach County Cultural Council (www.pbccc.org) will direct you to other non-beach and non-golf activities countywide.

If you're driving into Florida from up north, you could get off the highway before reaching Palm Beach and stop in one of the cities of Martin County (www.martincountyfla.com) which has little photo galleries hidden under just about every heading, including the events calendar. You won't find any detailed descriptions, but there are brief directory listings for attractions, hotels, fishing charters and beaches.

In case the regional Web sites missed anything, try the state's official Visit Florida (www.flausa.com) and click on the map to reach features on selected cities. And the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (myfwc.com) has additional detail on fishing along the coast, including licenses and regulations.

03/2005