Clearwater Beach

Overview

Located along Florida’s central coastline, Clearwater Beach is an immensely popular beach that has soft white sand. This wide beach is situated in Pinellas County and spans over two-and-a-half miles. Clearwater Beach’s reputation as one of the United States’ premier beach destinations is not simply a tall claim - the beach has received many accolades from travel websites and media publications. The beach has been named the 5th Best Beach in the Top 50 Beaches in the United States list in 2022 by Randall Kaplan, the world's foremost beach expert who is known as "Mr. Beach" - and was also featured by Tripadvisor’s Travellers Choice awards in 2016, 2018, and 2019. USA Today also listed Clearwater Beach as the "best beach town in Florida" in 2013. A 1,000 feet-long concrete pier named Pier 60 is also present in Clearwater Beach.   

Clearwater Beach offers a wide variety of fun activities including sunbathing, biking, beachcombing, wildlife watching, picnicking, fishing, swimming, kitesurfing, windsurfing, paddleboarding, kayaking, canoeing, motorboating, sail boating, jet skiing, surf-skiing, parasailing, and snorkeling. The generally calm water near the beach makes it ideal for beginner swimmers, kayakers, canoers, snorkelers, kitesurfers, and paddleboarders.  Snorkelers also enter the water near this beach to explore its wonderful array of marine biodiversity - you can view an amazing variety of sea creatures here including pufferfish, sea stars, sea horses, and crabs. In addition, you can also spot Atlantic bottlenose dolphins in the water here.  However, it is important to note that the water near Clearwater Beach is not completely safe - the water can have unpredictable dangerous rip currents and has stingrays – and there have been shark attacks here.    

If you want to have a relatively safer yet fun experience in the water here, you can charter a boat from a nearby marina and enjoy an exciting tour along the Gulf of Mexico. Private concessions present in the marina offer many kinds of fun boat tours including snorkeling tours, fishing tours, and wildlife watching tours. Captain Memo’s Pirate Cruise offers interesting pirate-themed cruises around Clearwater Beach. This cruise is particularly popular among children, who can engage in many fun activities organized on the ship during cruises including storytelling sessions, games, treasure hunts, water-gun battles, and face painting sessions. While the beach’s crowded atmosphere may seem unnerving to visitors looking for a quieter beach experience, the northern part of Clearwater Beach is significantly less crowded than its central portion - this part of the beach is ideal for beachgoers looking for a calm spot for sunbathing or relaxing on the beach.  

As a fun fact, the beach gets its name from the freshwater springs which were earlier present in the nearby area. Clearwater Beach has many amenities including lifeguards, volleyball courts, restrooms, showers, and a children’s playground. If you want to engage in watersports or enjoy a simple sunbathing session here, rental facilities for water sporting equipment, cabanas, beach chairs, and umbrellas are also available near the beach. Dogs on leashes are allowed in the northern portion of Clearwater Beach. This dog-friendly portion is situated to the north of Somerset Street.   

Getting to Clearwater Beach is easy - if you are driving, you can easily access the beach by driving to the western terminus of Florida State Road 60. There are many paid parking lots and metered street parking spaces available near the beach. However, we recommend visiting early during summers and weekends as parking spaces are extremely difficult to find during these times. If you don’t like driving through heavy vehicular traffic, you can find other convenient ways to access Clearwater Beach. Ferry services to the beach are available from the downtown area of the nearby city of Clearwater and the nearby city of Dunedin, and another fun and popular way to access Clearwater Beach is by an exquisite bus named "Jolley Trolley.'' This bus has an interesting vintage design and is popular with visitors traveling with children. If you are interested in boarding the Jolley Trolley, you can visit the bus service’s website to learn more about the bus route and charges.

Attractions

There are many attractions near Clearwater Beach.  Honeymoon Island State Park is a popular state park that is spread over 385 acres and is set in a barrier island known as Honeymoon Island. This state park offers many fun activities including hiking, biking, wildlife watching, picnicking, surfing, swimming, kayaking, and canoeing. You can watch many kinds of animals and birds in this state park including eagles, great horned owls, armadillos, and gopher tortoises. This state park also has a three-mile-long trail via which you can explore an extremely rare virgin slash pine forest. The state park’s Rotary Centennial Nature Center also has interesting exhibits about the state park’s unique cultural and natural history. Heritage Village is a local historical site that is a 20-minute drive away. This 21-acre village has 28 interesting buildings which date back to the late and the middle 19th century including a schoolhouse, a warehouse, a general store, and a church. This village also has interesting museums which offer interesting exhibits on the vibrant history of Florida.   

If you are looking for another attraction near Clearwater Beach, the downtown area of the city of Clearwater has interesting shopping stores, recreational parks, and restaurants. In addition, the downtown area also has exquisite public art displays and murals. The downtown area also hosts many interesting festivals, music concerts, and exhibitions throughout the year. A major feature of the downtown area of Clearwater is the Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre (formerly known as the Capitol Theatre) which is one of the oldest operational theaters in Florida and hosts interesting plays, film screenings, and musical and dance performances.   

In addition, Pier 60 present on Clearwater Beach offers Instagram-worthy views of the Gulf of Mexico, particularly during sunsets. In addition, the pier also offers an amazing fishing experience - you can catch many kinds of fish here including sheepshead, snapper, and flounders. However, if you are planning to fish in the water near Clearwater Beach, we recommend ensuring compliance with the local fishing regulations. The pier also has covered pavilions, a bait shop that also sells souvenirs, restrooms, fishing rod rental shops, and a children’s playground. Pier 60 is also widely popular for hosting a vibrant and mesmerizing festival named "Sunsets at Pier 60" - this festival sees amazing performances by a variety of talented artists and performers including magicians, musicians, and jugglers. This festival usually starts every evening around a couple of hours before sunset.  A must-visit landmark near Clearwater Beach is the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which is mainly dedicated to the rehabilitation and rescue of sick and injured marine animals. While this aquarium has many interesting exhibitions, its most famous resident is a dolphin named Winter, who wears a prosthetic tail. Winter also starred in the 2011 movie Dolphin Tale.

Restaurants

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Clearwater Beach. Bascom’s Chophouse is 25 minutes away by car. This upscale restaurant serves amazing steaks, pork chops, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. In addition, the restaurant also hosts live music performances. Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill is an immensely popular restaurant that offers a pleasant oceanfront dining experience. In addition, this restaurant is also famous for serving amazing seafood which also has local Floridian and Caribbean culinary influences. In addition, the restaurant also hosts live music performances and has also been praised by the Tampa Bay Times newspaper.  If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Clearwater Beach, Lenny’s Restaurant offers amazing breakfast dishes including eggs, bagels, pancakes, French toast, and waffles. In addition, the restaurant also serves amazing sandwiches, salads, and burgers.

Hotels

If you are looking for a hotel near Clearwater Beach, there are many great nearby options. The 4-Star Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort And Spa offer many amenities including a pool, a fitness room, multiple restaurants and bars, a spa, cabanas, and a kids’ camp. As another upscale option, the 4-Star Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa offers many amenities including a gym, two pools, multiple restaurants and bars, and a kids’ club. A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach, an IHG Hotel which offers many amenities including a restaurant (which offers free meals to kids under 12), a pool, and a fitness center. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Clearwater Beach, the 2-Star La Quinta Inn by Wyndham Clearwater Central offers many amenities including complimentary breakfast and a pool.