With the rise of “Florida Man” news headlines the past decade or so, I’ll admit that the image that first pops into people’s minds when you mention Florida may have slightly changed from what it used to be. But back in the day, outside of maybe Disney, the defining image of Florida was the beach – and for great reason! Other than Alaska, Florida has significantly more miles of beaches than any other state (and let’s be honest, who wants to go to the beach in Alaska?). Sure, this massive coastline has its disadvantages, especially when it comes to Hurricane Season, but our beaches are beautiful, accessible, and (mostly) free to any and all who want to enjoy them.
From the Panhandle’s Spring Break party beaches, the stunning stretch of Gulf Coast beaches from Clearwater down through Fort Meyers, the Florida Keys, and the massive East Coast stretching from Jacksonville to Miami – Florida has SO many beaches, but not all beaches are created equal. You’d think that you could just ask a Floridian and be directed to a great can’t miss beach, but what I’ve found is that most Floridians don’t even regularly go to the beach! The amount of people I know who live around here who haven’t even been to the beach in the past 12 months is staggering. Honestly, other than the year-round warm sunny weather and no state income tax, I have no idea why you’d want to live here if you didn’t regularly frequent the beach.
Unlike so many of my misguided friends, I love the beach and cannot get enough of it. Given the choice of anything to do on an even slightly warm and sunny day with nothing else to do, the beach is where you’re going to find me. However, despite how many non-Floridians think, the beach is not right down the road for most of us here. Florida is a very populated state and getting to the beach often requires over an hour of driving in traffic to reach even for someone like me who lives in Tampa. Most people in the godless interior of the state in a place like Orlando still have to drive two plus hours to reach the coast – Unless you’re a Disney Adult (adults without children who are often a bit over-the-top in their love for Disney Parks) I can’t imagine any reason to live anywhere near Orlando. No thank you.
With so many beaches and a bit of an effort to get to the beach while visiting Florida, I often get asked for beach recommendations from people visiting the state or even people who have lived here a while, so I wanted to compile my recommendations all in one place. Some of you long-time Floridians may come across this list and disagree me with, but chances are you are wrong and that you need to reevaluate your life.
To help, I’ve broken this list down into various areas of the state and have given a bit of a reason why you might want to choose the given beach over the others based on your situation. This first article will deal with the West Coast of Florida and will include my favorite beaches between just north of Clearwater and south to Fort Meyers
Sun Coast – Clearwater/St. Petersburg
Let me just start by saying this is the coast where it might be the hardest to find a good beach, despite the area being known for having great beaches. Honestly, I’m concerned writing these words that the Clearwater Board of Tourism isn’t already beginning to dispatch the team to silence me. So let me just say that this is a mixed bag of actual beaches that has the most of amount of traffic and the least amount of parking lots in a concentrated area. Clearwater Beach in general should just be avoided unless you love tourists, Scientologists, roundabouts, and enjoy walking across a white sand version of the Sahara to reach the actual water. If you do want to go to the beach along the Sun Coast, I recommend the following:
Madeira Beach
Madeira Beach – or if you want to make it sound like you’re at a much cooler beach to people who don’t know better, call it “Mad Beach.” Madeira Beach is smack in the middle of the whole St. Petersburg/Clearwater string of beaches and you may have a hard time knowing that you’ve gone from one beach to the next. I recommend Madeira Beach because there are slightly more parking spots than elsewhere in this tourist mecca and the size of the beach (the area from parking lot to the water) is in the Goldilocks size zone – not too short (yes I’m talking about you Redington Beach) and not too wide (the aforementioned Clearwater Beach). If you have to go to the beach in this part of the coast, Madeira Beach is where to be.
Pass-a-Grille
Pass-a-Grille – apparently this name came from the French (?) and literally means “Passageway of the Grillers” after the fishermen who set up camp here. My buddy Jack says the fishing is indeed good here, so maybe the name is valid. As far as the actual beach goes, this one is on the short side of things, but the rest of the little community at the far southern tip of the area more than makes up for the shortness of the sand. Plenty of parking, great beach bars, and plenty of quant little shops makes this a great beach to come to for dinner and sunset, or sunset and dinner.
Honeymoon Island State Park
Honeymoon Island State Park – Entrance Fee – On the far northern end of the Sun Coast is Honeymoon Island State Park. From the shores of the four miles of white sandy beaches, you can actually see the crowded sands of Clearwater beach to your south. Somehow, just knowing that all of that nonsense it miles away from you make enjoying this State Park all the sweeter. I haven’t done it yet, but you can also board a ferry from this Park to an even quieter beach on a nearby Caladesi Island. Both islands are known for their shelling and bird watching opportunities.
Fort Desoto State Park
Fort Desoto State Park – Entrance Fee – Winner of Trip Advisor’s America’s Best Beach award in both 2008 and 2009, and “Dr Beach’s” Best North American Beach in 2005 Fort Desoto is well deserving of awards. In addition to beautiful white sandy beaches, this Park also features an actual Fort that was built to protect the mouth of Tampa Bay after the Spanish-American War (This should be known as the American-Spanish War as I think the winner should get top billing) in the early 1900s. The Fort never had to do any actual defending, but it is well preserved and a really great place to the take the family to explore before or after enjoying the beach.
Cultural Coast – Bradenton/Sarasota
I was today year’s old when I learned that this coast is called the Cultural Coast. Maybe it’s called that because of the excellent Ringling Museum in the area, or maybe it’s because the people that travel to the beach here know that they are smarter and better than people who choose to go elsewhere. If you find yourself in Tampa or Orlando and want to go to the beach, I can’t recommend turning your car southward more. Here’s my favorite Cultural Coast beaches:
Anna Maria Island
Anna Maria Island (on the map as Beach Park Access) – on the other side of the mouth of Tampa Bay from Fort Desoto is the cool little island town of Anna Maria. This is probably my favorite beach to go to from the standpoint of just enjoying the day at the beach in Florida. The crowds are low (primarily because there are no large public beach parking lots – mainly only street parking), the beach is angled in such ways that water gets trapped when the tide goes out providing fun areas for kids to play in, and there are no large hotels or condos hogging access to the beach. Everything just seems to move slower on Anna Maria and the town has small, nice restaurants without the rowdy beach bar scene.
Holmes Beach
Holmes Beach (on the map as 36th St Beach Access) – This is my go-to beach when I’m by myself and I want to get to the beach quickly and leave just as easily. There is a large public lot that I avoid and instead drive a bit south to find a spot at one of the tiny public lots off one of the side streets. All these lots are heavily shaded and if you get there early enough in the day, you can easily find a spot and be set up on the beach within 5 minutes. As an added bonus, Skinny’s Place is a fantastic dive burger stand with ice cold beers and great burgers.
Coquina Beach
Coquina Beach – If I’m meeting up with other families with kids who I know don’t go to the beach often, this is where I tell them to meet me. The parking lots here are massive and free, between the parking lot and beach is heavily shaded with actual bathrooms/changing areas and picnic areas, and the beach is a solid size. What’s not to love?
Greer Island Park
Greer Island Park – okay, that’s not the name of this beach, but it does show up on Apple Maps with this name. Just south of the bridge from Coquina Beach is a tiny neighborhood parking lot that, if you’re lucky enough to find a spot in, will allow you to take a decent hike north to find an Instagram-worthy spot often strewn about with driftwood. If you’re with fun fussy-lite friends, or your kids are the easy-type that don’t require you to bring a trailer full of supplies, or you’re just by yourself and don’t mind walking a ways, this is one of the coolest spots on the coast. Thanks to the current of Longboat Pass, I don’t recommend swimming here as the current is strong, but this is the ideal beach to string up a hammock between the driftwood trees and enjoy swaying in the breeze. It’s also a great beach for photoshoots if you’re wanting to collect social media “likes” as the sun dried driftwood that gets massively rearranged during each storm is so very photogenic. In addition to the caution about the current, also know that if you catch high tide there, you’ll either find yourself walking back in the water, or trekking through a mangrove forest.
Caspersen Beach
Caspersen Beach – at the far southern end of the Cultural Coast is Venice, FL, also known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World. Shark Teeth have been found on these beaches and in the water for as long as humans have explored these shores. Not just run-of-the-mill shark teeth, but also teeth from prehistoric goliaths like the Megalodon. While most of the big teeth require going out and diving, it’s extremely common to find teeth while wading around or walking the beach, especially after a storm. Venice Beach has plenty of parking and nice beaches, but to get a higher chance of finding teeth, head a little bit south to Caspersen Beach. The parking lots are small, and the beaches small and covered with coarse sand, but there is nothing that beats the thrill of finding shark teeth both for young and old alike. Also, when driving from the Tampa area it may seem like Venice is a lot further of a drive, but due to the lack of development and the interstate being much nearer to the coast, you can get to the beach in the same amount of time as it takes to get to Anna Maria/Holmes/Coquina.
Lee Island Coast – Fort Meyers
Okay, I’m guessing the folks down in Fort Meyers just aren’t very creative and were like, “well all the good names were taken, so why don’t we just name our coast after that Island over there.” I haven’t spent too much time in this part of the state, but I do know that Sanibel Island just off the coast of Fort Meyers is amazing and is well worth the visit to this part of the state.
Bowman’s Beach
Bowman’s Beach – Honestly you can’t go wrong with any of the beaches on Sanibel Island, but Captiva is where I’ve spent the most time so that is the one that gets the highlight – and what a highlight this beach is! After winding through the chill and laid-back community of Sanibel Island, you should have no trouble finding a parking spot at Captiva Beach. There will be a short trek across a well-maintained boardwalk through a mangrove forest before you reach what might be the most shell-covered beach you’ll come across. Beautiful pastel-colored shells are everywhere here, and you might find it hard to know when to stop collecting them and get back to enjoying the rest of the beach. Once you’re done enjoying the beach and have filled your trunk with shells, be sure to get some food at any of the restaurants tucked away on this island. Each one is so full of character and deliciousness, that it’s hard to go wrong.
If you find yourself on the West Coast of Florida and want to visit it’s best beaches, you can’t go wrong with any of the above. The only sections of the West Coast I haven’t been to are the Nature Coast (which has next to no beaches due to mangrove forests along the coast and no development) and the Paradise Coast (which are the last bit of beaches before the Everglades take over in the South). Marco Island, which is smack in the middle of the Paradise Coast, is actually on my list to visit soon.
I’ve also written an East Coast Beaches Guide, which are so wildly different from the West Coast beaches that they absolutely deserve their own listing.