It’s Always Sunny in Florida

Clearwater Beach, Florida

Clearwater
My mission was to see if I could do a Florida beach without the hassle of driving! I chose Clearwater for a winter break and some late sunshine.

We flew out with British Airways to Tampa. What struck me as we boarded was the age of the people travelling. A good proportion of the flight was over 40.

We arrived into Tampa where I had pre-booked a transfer to Clearwater, which is about 30-40 minutes drive.

On exploring Clearwater, what I did discover was that it is incredibly flat making it ideal for older people looking to get around. But the first thing I noticed was the most beautiful beach, which was sugar white and with Pelicans in abundance!

Pelican at Clearwater

The Pier is quiet until sunset when it plays host to craft stalls and entertainers. It makes for a great spot to see dolphins jumping about. There are lots of Restaurants in the area all serving Excellent Fish dishes. The harbour is gorgeous and there are plenty of boats to hire if you want to do some fishing. Alternatively you could do what we did and take a boat out in search of dolphins, which we found! I have seen Dolphins many times on my travels, however to see them in the wild is a different experience entirely. We were lucky enough to see a mum and baby riding the waves.... But not quick enough to capture it on camera! The weather here was warm, a little cloudy some days with average temperatures of about 80 degrees.

Getting around
We purchased a week’s Jolly Trolley pass, which cost $20 per person and was more than worth it - extremely good value. This runs up and down Clearwater Beach, and at weekends, visits Tarpon Springs and Dunedin. With the pass you can also travel on the local PSTA buses and the Suncoast Trolley, which takes you down to St Petersburg, stopping along the way at Indian Rocks, Madeira Beach, and Treasure Island. You can also connect with a different bus to take you shopping at The Tyrone Mall. We rode around a couple of times just to see the scenery. The houses on the inter-coastal waterways are just beautiful, and left me wishing my numbers come up on the lottery soon!

Overall
We had a wonderful time with some lovely weather. We saw some beautiful sunsets managed to squeeze in some Christmas shopping, and chilled out. We travelled the first week of November and found it to be very quiet - a little busier on the weekend but no masses of people and crowds even during the Triathlon, which was held in Clearwater when we were there. The flight home ran smoothly with no delays and some extra seats to stretch out on.

So yes. You can do Florida Beaches with out driving. You could also twin Clearwater with Tampa or any of the other places on the way to neighbouring St Petersburg (which is about 20 miles away).

Mission accomplished!