Caladesi Island State Park in Pinellas County, Florida

Photograph: Caladesi trail oak.jpg by No machine-readable author provided. Philipp Michel Reichold assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Restored from the credited Wikimedia Commons file, normalized to the consistent attraction-card frame and converted to WebP by 1stFlorida.com. Portrait originals retain their complete composition over a softly blurred extension of the same photograph.

Pinellas County attraction

Caladesi Island State Park

Pinellas County · Gulf Coast

An undeveloped barrier island off Dunedin reachable only by boat, with a beach that has been placed first in the country.

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ABOUT THIS PLACE

Caladesi and Honeymoon Island were one six-mile barrier island until a hurricane cut Hurricane Pass through it in 1921 and made two. In 1985 Hurricane Elena filled Dunedin Pass at the other end, joining Caladesi to Clearwater Beach, so the island can now be walked to from the south, though there is still no road. Most people arrive on the passenger ferry from Honeymoon Island or by private boat to the marina. Dr. Beach placed the beach fourth in the country in 2005, second in 2006 and 2007, first in 2008, and third in 2026. What keeps it that way is the lack of anything on it: no hotels, no houses, no road. A three-mile nature trail runs back through coastal dunes, pine flatwoods, maritime hammock and mangrove. There are picnic pavilions, bathhouses and a concession. Shelling, snorkeling, kayaking, fishing and birding are the activities, and the shelling is good because so few people walk the far end of the beach

GETTING THERE

Get Directions ↗Official place website ↗

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