jrsaf

Hello: For the upcoming spring break my wife would like to visit the Clearwater area instead of visiting Orlando again. We have a nine y/o daughter. Is the area a good family destination? Have the beaches recovered from the B.P. disaster? I would appreciate any inside tips and/or suggested itinerary.
Sincerely,
JRS

sludick

You'll get some good responses from our local Tampa fodorites rather than me (Orlando), but -

"have the beaches recovered from the B.P. disaster?" It really didn't affect us around here. So - no problem.

Specifics on what to do will come from others, since we don't head for the beach much. But you'll find plenty for you and your 9 yr. old.

OO

As Sludick said, the BP spill did not affect this area. There was some very slight issue in the Panhandle but even that year, not enough to have much impact beach goers (my son and family were in Destin).

Yes Clearwater Beach is a good family destination. (Note, for a beach vacation you want Clearwater Beach, rather than Clearwater). I rarely get up there as we have everything we want in St Pete, but did make a drive up a couple of weeks ago and was quite impressed with the new development since we last saw it. There are some nice hotels, more activities along the pier. Our daughter and family (which includes an 8 yr old) have driven up just for the outdoor movies near the pier. Sunsets at the Pier...the schedule is online.

I would highly recommend visiting the Clearwater Marine Aquarium...something we had never done until we had guests who specifically wanted to see it for the dolphin Winter (from the movie Dolphin Tale). As it developed, Winter wasn't even the highlight of the visit...the kids got a huge kick out of "petting" the Rays as they swam by in their petting tank. The Rays even seemed to enjoy the interaction as you could see them eying specific children then swimming up close to them. It was fun for all of us, and I'm sorry to have missed it all these years. It's not elaborate as aquariums go, and I went with low expectations, so was very pleasantly surprised!

For dining, in the past we've enjoyed Frenchies, and it's good with kids, otherwise I'm not up there often enough to make dining recommendations. There are dolphin watching cruises, pirate ship rides, the obnoxiously loud boat named the Screamer which appeals to plenty of visitors, just not to me. Great place for a family, but you need to jump on finding a place to stay now, as this is high season and this year is already busier than years past. You need not confine your search to Clearwater Beach, tho if you'll be doing most of your activities there, that is best as you want to be driving and having to find parking as little as possible. The entire stretch of beaches from Clearwater Beach on down to St Pete Beach and beyond is beautiful.

Sassafrass

You asked about cruises in the Europe forum, so want to throw out this idea. Cruises to the Caribbean in the Spring, from Miami and Ft Lauderdale are wonderful with kids. We are leaving in three weeks for a cruise with our DD and our GD. We did one last year on Norwegian Epic for 7 days and GD has talked about it ever since.

Cruises also leave from other ports (like Tampa and Port Canaveral) in Florida. I haven't done those yet. To the Caribbean, besides Epic, we have gone on Caribbean Princess, Majesty of the Seas and now, MSC Divina. Cost is no more than a hotel and you can go 3 or 4 days as well as 7.

Ackislander

"The entire stretch of beaches from Clearwater Beach on down to St Pete Beach and beyond is beautiful."

Great advice. Don't limit yourself to Clearwater Beach, but include all the beaches down to St Pete Beach. Clearwater the Town? Don't bother.

This is a very easy area to get to through the Tampa airport.

kwallac

I'm a local.... you'll find a few nice hotel choices on clearwater beach-- sandpearl and I think there is another resort hotel recently built. I agree with other response-- take a day or two to visit beaches south of clearwater beach (note the distinction between clearwater and clearwater beach). Fort Desoto state park (beach park) is worth a day-- you can almost feel like a castaway. honeymoon island (with ferry or kayak to secluded caldedesi island is also nice-- especially if you're an early beach goer). Clearwater marine aquarium (spring for both the beach side aquarium and bayside museum) is pretty neat for 3-4 hours, especially if your family has seen the winter movies. And, if you have time, and are tired of the beach, bush gardens amusement park is only about 40 minute drive (if you don't hit too much traffic). that being said, we tend to avoid the beach areas during spring break because things do get unusually crowded.