Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tampa Bay Area Beaches

Clearwater Beach
Clearwater is primarily well known because of its gorgeous beaches! Jenny and I want to make it very clear that there are many beaches extending south from Clearwater Beach (and a few north) and they all blend together. We generally reference the beaches as Clearwater Beach and St. Petersburg Beach, while in between you will find Redington Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach and John's Pass. In the coming months we will have a full beach review for each location, but in the meantime here are the basics.



Clearwater Beach is one of our most visited beaches, it has a nice long pier, a decent looking crowd and some chill restaurants for drinks and food. We generally frequent The Pavilion and Frenchy's which are both beach front. If you're in a party mood then head right over the Shephard's Beach Resort where you'll find an awesome party scene on the weekends. Shephard's has a large outside bar set right on the ocean and at night, you can go wild inside their nightclub "The Wave". Saturday nights seem to be the best night here and they play a wide variety of the current hits and trance/house music. Jenny and I learned that they do check women's purses on occassion, so if you want to bring a flask like we did make sure you hide it well. Right next to Shephard's is an awesome Holiday Inn with a beachfront restaurant and bar called Jimmy Iguana's. We come here often on a chill afternoon, drinks and food are responably priced.

*Parking Tip* If you're planning on going to Jimmy Iguana's on the weekend, there is usually a lot attendant at the Holiday Inn charging for parking. Tell them you are heading to Jimmy Iguana's and they won't charge you. If you're heading to Shephard's, it's almost always valet only.

Sand Key Beach
Progress farther down the sands and you'll find a chill State Park called Sand Key. It's just a state funded beach, watch out though, they watch your parking meter like a hawk and there is no alcohol permitted.

Indian Rocks Beach
Next you'll come across Indian Rocks Beach which aside from some beautiful homes is pretty boring. If you're looking for a secluded, less traveled beach this is the spot for you. There are a few public parking lots along the main road, but it's mostly residential.

Redington Beach
Continuing further you'll find Redington Beach, the gateway to Madeira Beach, Treasure Island and John's Pass. Redington isn't too bad, still a little residential and we haven't frequented the beach here too often as we tend to continue south.

Madeira Beach & John's Pass
Madeira Beach and John's Pass are awesome spots if you're looking for a good time. John's Pass has many bars and restaurants including The Hut, Bubba Gump, Gator's and several smaller locations. This is also one of the main spots to be if you're planning on renting a boat or jet ski as there are many vendors. Madeira Beach has a very nice beach and is within walking distance to John's Pass and the local bars.

Treasure Island
Treasure Island is just over the bridge from Madeira and is home to quite a few hotels, hotel bars and beach bars. In fact, just about every hotel has a bar on the sand (or right off the sand) and almost all are reasonably priced despite their location. Jenny and I were fortunate to discover Caddy's, a local beach bar that is teaming with young, good looking individuals. Caddy's is located in Treasure Island on West Gulf Blvd and is beachfront. Parking can be tight so I recommend you either valet (if you can) or hunt for a public lot. There are many residential homes in the immediate area and there are a lot of parking restrictions, if you decide to park on the street double check for any no parking signs.

Caddy's is what Jenny and I consider to be a 5-Margarita location in the Tampa area. It has a DJ, inside bars, outside bars, upper deck bars and a lot of satelite drink bars for beer. The beach was covered as far as the eye could see and just off the shore many boats were anchored creating a floating party.
The drinks were reasonable considering the atmosphere and location and the crowd was visually appealing and non-douchebaggy. We highly recommend this location if you're planning a trip to one of our beach bars!

*Caddy's Tip* Considering how many people there were the bathrooms were small and the lines were long. Also, there were a limited amount of bartenders which usually resulted in long waits when reordering.

St. Petersburg Beach
Located just south of Treasure Island, St. Petersburg Beach is the highlight of the St. Petersburg area. Lining the beach are many local hotels that mix it up with the bigger brands. As with Madeira and Treasure Island, almost all of the hotels have beach bars right on the sand and are a great place to begin your adventure. But before you can begin you need to know two things:

First, parking is usually available in the many public lots that dot the beach. Some are coin operated while most utilize the parking machines in which you pre-pay and then leave the receipt in your car window, these machines to take credit.

Second, unlike Clearwater Beach it is illegal to have alcohol on St. Pete Beach. This generally isn't an issue as long as you have a plastic cup, we've found the majority of the issues relate to glass.

If you're looking for a cool place to hang out on St. Pete Beach we recommend the Undertoe, 3828 Gulf Blvd, which has a really laid back atmosphere. I've heard a lot about the Undertoe since I moved to Tampa and only recently checked it out, it was a cool bar but not as much as it was hyped to be. The Undertoe has three volleyball nets on the beach, outside tables and a large covered bar that was shaded. The crowd was slightly less than desirable (quite a few bikers) but all in all we had a good time.

Our second recommendation would be the Sloppy Pelican, 677 75th Ave, which we really liked. This is a 2-story restaurant/bar located just off the sand at the mouth of the intercoastal. It has a dock for boats and the drinks are priced very nicely. We recommend the $5 rum runners, which were large and strong. Both the upstairs and downstairs has an outside deck while the upstairs also has an enclosed portion with a bar and dining area.

If you're looking to get some rays and hang out with a drink remember those hotel bars! You can walk from bar to bar on the sand, grab a drink and then continue on down the line. It's a very chill way to have a good time and grab some sun.



Brandon & Jenny - Caribbean experts on information you SHOULD know but nobody tells you! www.tips-fb.com

1 comment:

  1. This looks like a very nice place! I liked it so much and very interesting, too! Thanks for sharing the experience.
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