Help Finding a Good Local Beach

My family loves Holmes Beach at Ana Maria Island, not too far especially if you are in the Riverview area. less traffic than going to Clearwater. We like it because it not just a bunch of condos sitting on the beach it has a quaint feel to it and I think the water is clearer!! nothing like Hawaii though but nice,Ft DeSoto is nice too but the spot we went we had to walk a long way to get to the water and lugging all of the picnic stuff was a drag!!! Hope this helps and welcome to the area!!

I am sorry to say that there is no such thing as rough waves in Florida, except during Hurricanes. Seeing you are coming from Hawaii, our waves are going to look quite baby-ish to you :P Clearwater is more of a toursit beach, its nice, but it is crowded. Fort de Soto is nice. Indian Rocks beach has great sand and waves and not that many tourists.
Alternative activities. The Florida Aquarium is a great place for kids and adults.

Have fun
P.

Ft Desoto is my family's favorite beach. There's pavillions, picnic tables, bbq grills, playground, food court. There's no stores or hotels around it so it makes it nice that it's only BEACH. If you go - I recommend you go ALL the way down to the Right side once you get to Ft Desoto - I forget the name - But it's past all the fishing bridges. I like that spot because there's the ocean but the tide comes into the beach and creates an area where theres calm water where my little kids like to play, and I don't have to worry about waves knocking them down, plus it tends to be warmer. :) A

I highly recommend the North end of Siesta Key near Sarasota. It takes about the same amount of time to get to as Clearwater and St Pete, it is easier to get to and the parking is so much easier and right now it doesn't cost. The sand is so pristine and you can find sand dollars and the sunsets are so very wonderful.

Hope that you enjoy your weekend.

Hi K.,

When I first moved here from Upstate New York, I was told to make my first visit to the beach a good one and to do that I needed to visit Siesta Key in Sarasota. It's about a hours ride to get there but well worth the trip. I was raised in the Virgin Islands and Siesta Key is the closest thing to the beaches in St. Thomas that I have experienced in the U.S. Also, the Travel Channel rated it the #2 best beach in Florida.

Caladesi Island was just on Fox 13 news and is a beautiful beach, low waves, white sand. It also was voted as #1 beach for 2008, it is located in St. Pete area. If it were to rain I wourld recommend MOSI on Fowler across from USF. There is lots of things to do there along with a IMAX theater.