Honeymoon Island located right before Clearwater

Honeymoon Island can be reached from the mainland on a bridge and is thus easily accessible by car. The island itself is a national park and a protected landscape. That means, like in every protected area, visitors need to pay an entrance fee (8 Dollar per vehicle). Honeymoon island, has a ferry to Caladesi Island (14 Dollar per Person). The ride on the ferry takes a short time, the sea is calm. Even for people with motion or sea sickness, this ferry is not a problem.

Caladesi Island and Clearwater Beach – Next to Dunedin, Clearwater

Caladesi Island refers to the northern part of an island. The southern part is Clearwater Beach and has a bridge to the mainland. The northern part is not accessible by car. You can either walk from Clearwater Beach or take the ferry from Honeymoon Island. It creates a feeling of well-being and a holiday atmosphere to take the ferry, in particular because everything looks nicer from the water. Caladesi Island, the northern part of the Island, like Honeymoon, is a national park that is protected. Many rare animals and plants can be found here, the island is a great eco-system for that. For example 250 kinds of birds. Several herons are standing in the water. We could also see sea lions and dolphins.

Caladesi Island: Best Beach in America and Lona Oak Point

Caladesi Island was voted best beach in 2008 (by Dr. Beach, real name is Mr. Leatherman, professor for Geology at the Florida University). Caladesi Island also appeared on the list the previous years, before winning in 2008.

From the ferry port, several wooden bridges connect the beach to the ferry. The ground seems a bit swampy and covered with reed. Flat beaches with dunes form a very sensitive eco-system. The bridges protect this system.

Right after the beach entrance (exit of the wooden bridge) there are several smaller groups, approximately 20 people when we were there. Everything is a bit American. All visitors carry coolers, chairs, sunbelts, air mattresses, beach toys, food and sometimes even music. Unfortunately, that is a common thing to do in the US. To Americans, a day at the beach seems to come with carrying lots of items with them. It always looks a bit like “moving out of Egypt”.

If that is too much for you (to me it always is), it’s not a problem to avoid that kind of thing. They don’t walk far with their entire luggage. In fact, they all sit within a distance of 100 meters to the entrance. In this case, we just walked a bit north (maybe 10 minutes) and had the beach to ourselves. We did not hear anything from the noise and could get away from it all. A beach blanket, sun screen and a bottle of water is all we need. We enjoy walking along the coast with these few items. On Caladesi, this was a beautiful walk: no one on the beach, totally calm and secluded. The northern end right behind Lona Oak Point – end of our walking tour – is the most famous spot for photographers. Pics of this spot can be found on several websites. From here, it’s only 200 meters to the Honeymoon Island beach. It’s called Hurricane pass and used for fishing and jetskiing. Yet, there is large water traffic. Swimming from Honeymoon to save the ferry money isn’t recommendable

The Gulf Coast: Sea Lions and Dolphins

The water is extremely comfortable: clear and warm. It’s flat and stays flat for a very long time, you can walk in the ocean for quite a while. Waves are soft, almost no waves at all. All in all a perfect spot to swim in the ocean. I am a little sensitive when it comes to cold oceans. I like only very warm sea water to swim; otherwise I prefer to stay on the beach. Florida’s Gulf Coast is perfect for that.

Small anecdotes tell how secluded the area is: sea gulls are everywhere and particularly curious. That was also the case here. They were walking around my backpack for a while. But they had no interest in my half-empty cookies bag, neither were they looking for crumbles. It seems they did not know at all what this is. They were simply not used to it at all, no one has ever fed them candies and they just didn’t care. (At the Atlantic coast it’s totally different: sea gulls waiting to steal my cookies.)

In distance, we saw two sea lions swimming by. They looked at the beach curiously but continued their route. How far they really were is hard to say. We could see them easily. Also, there was a dolphin jumping out the water somewhere in distance.

It’s been a beautiful, relaxing day at the beach for us. I would always recommend a trip to Caladesi or Honeymoon Island. The beach cannot be called insider’s tip any more since topping the beach ranking but it’s definitely worth a visit.

For Hikers, Caladesi offers many opportunities. They also offer kayak rentaks and snorkeling. There are several kilometers of hiking routes on Caladesi. It’s also possible to go there in your own boat; anyways I cannot say anything about that.

Caladesi Island is located in the ocean right in front of Clearwater Beach. It is accessible by ferry (from Honeymoon Island) or by a walking tour (from Clearwater Beach). It’s a national park that requires an entrance fee (Honeymoon Island 8 Dollars). The ferry is 10 Dollars and leaves every hour from 10 am. The official website recommends arriving by ferry. Caladesi Island State Park is open daily from 8 am till sunset.

Der Beitrag Honeymoon and Caladesi Island: Two Islands like Paradise erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Tampa Bay Area: Clearwater Beach, Caladesi Island und Fort De Soto

Starting point at the gulf coast is Tampa with its famous bay, the Tampa Bay. There are no beaches in the bay, only smaller preserve areas. All the well-known beaches are further west at the Gulf of Mexico. In the North, there is Clearwater Beach, a busy beach not far from the city area Clearwater/St. Petersburg/Tampa. Anyway, busy in this case means; there are quite some people on the beach close to the parking area and the entrances. The beach is several miles long and walking a bit up or down is a good way to avoid crowds and even be alone on the beach. Clearwater Beach is a city beach. Due to its special shape; it offers a perfect view over the skyline of the city.

Right in front of Clearwater Beach, is Honeymoon and Caladesi Island, a pretty paradise with a beach voted to be the number 1 beach in the US. Further Information can be found here.

A bit south of Clearwater, there are two more beaches: Redington and Sunset Beach. Just like Clearwater, these beaches are located on a smaller island right in front of the mainland. Another thing to be mentioned is the Fort DeSoto Beach and State Park. This state park consists of five smaller islands, all of them connected by a toll street. This is where you find a ferry to Egmont Key State Park, a nature reserve. Online reviews describe strongly mixed feelings, some are enthusiastic others not at all. I have not been there. We decided to go to Caladesi Island instead.

Fort Myer, Sanibel and Captiva Island

Fort Myers is further south. I felt like I was in little Germany, all of a sudden German was spoken everywhere. The beaches are beautiful; there is no two ways about that. But I don’t see the reason why German travel agencies prefer Fort Myers and its islands Sanibel and Captiva. These three names are presented prominently in every brochure and magazine, that’s why so many Germans are here. In here it is as beautiful as it is further north or south but in no ways better.

Sanibel and Captiva are rather quiet, laid-back islands, many bicycles on the road and many narrow streets. The atmosphere is the one of a typical holiday island, just like our German island in the Baltic Sea, only warmer.

Naples

Most southern point of the Gulf Coast is Naples. South of Naples, the land begins to fragment. It becomes clear that Naples is very close to the Everglades. The farther south, the more humid-hot it is. In Naples, yiu can feel this change in climate strongly. Naples has a city beach with a certain resemblance to the Clearwater beach: there is a great view to the Naples skyline. Naples itself appears a bit pricy and chic. In addition, there is a state park – a protected area: in here it’s quite, a bit secluded and very little people. That’s the most southern beach (except Key West), after the Everglades start.

Entering the Beaches

Some of the beaches at the gulf coast are protected areas. That means they are called state park and require an entrance fee. It’s not difficult to figure out how that works, just drive along the road until a booth comes along. There, you will have to pay and get a recipe.

Beaches in Florida are usually open to public. We could also find parking easily close to the beach. Most parking charges a fee, these fees were never very high. There are many signs that point the way to the beaches. Most likely, you will not go the wrong way as long as you roughly know your highway.

In Caladesi Island, several wooden bridges lead the way to the beach. These bridges are a bit above ground level to make sure no one steps and walks on plants and animals.

Changing rooms are available everywhere. Somewhere close to the beach entrance, there is always a wooden shack to be found. Wooden shack sounds a bit too small, indeed it’s a solid building with washroom, showers and lockers. I find this very convenient. Comes in quite handy not needing to wear bathing suits all day long and also wet clothes can be changed quickly and don’t need to dry on the beach. Some people say that is super touristic. True, but that’s the case everywhere in Florida. All beaches have facilities and can be reached easily. The shacks are large but they fit into the countryside and don’t bother optically. All in all, these shacks kind of hide in the background and don’t draw attention.

Character of the Beaches at the Gulf Coast

Only one word: bathtub! All the beaches at the gulf coast are bigger than the ones on the Atlantic coast. Crowds are smaller, in fact there are no real crowds only a few people and the sand is fine white sand. There are practically no waves in the water; the ocean is calm over here. It is the perfect place to relax, do nothing and just bathe in the water.

Present all the time is the brown pelican, an animal that can be found typically in the Gulf of Mexico. Many more bird can also be seen.

To me, these beaches were the most beautiful beaches ever. Endless beaches, fine, white sand, no people and silence and remoteness.

Btw, a little hint in the end: US-Americans mostly carry a lot of luggage for a day at the beach (in particular food, drinks, coolers, music, beach tents. That is why they don’t move far away from the entrances. If you run into too many people at the entrance, a 10 minute walk along the water helps. Walking a bit away from the entrance usually means you can find silence and might even be alone on the beach. Don’t take to many things with you on the beach (I carry a blanket, water and sun screen only) and be able to walk a bit and be away from everyone.

Der Beitrag The Beaches of Southern Florida Part 2: Gulf Coast erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.