Look at St. Pete Beach or Treasure Island or perhaps Clearwater Beach (louder, more night life). Miami is no where near Tampa so don t worry about that.
Not to be an *** , but Tampa is NOT on the ocean ... it s a gulf. But assuming you want to stay on the west side of Florida (on the Gulf side), Sarasota is nice (used to live there ... very nice and smallish airport).peacet
The ocean is over two hours from Tampa. Closest spot would probably be Cape Canaveral.Now if you re looking at the Gulf, try St. Pete Beach.
Clearwater Beach
Captiva Island.http://www.southseas.com/