The Florida Gulf Coast contains some of the best beaches in the entire country! Every year at least several beaches along the Gulf Coast are voted among the top 10 in the US. My family lives in Tarpon Springs which is about 30 miles North of Tampa. We have driven up and down this easily accessible coastline and there is a lot to do besides go to the beach! As I write about each town or beach, I'll do my best to fill you in on some of the other cool Florida attractions that I have personally experienced. That way you can make the most out of my little Florida travel guide while planning your family beach vacation.

And, if all you want to do is go to the beach, that is great too because you have many choices and they range from the really noisy and fun beaches located in the Clearwater and Saint Petersburg area to the more peaceful like Honeymoon Island or Caldesi Island that are a short drive from Clearwater Beach.

Below are the beginnings of my list of my favorite beaches. Since I am in the process of building this website, I only have a few of the many beaches listed that I will eventually fill you in on. Please bear with me, I promise it will be worth the wait!

One of my family members chillin' on the beach

Florida Beaches: North of Tampa

Howard Park Beach: Tarpon Springs, 30 miles North of Tampa Airport. A 45 minute drive from Tampa

Sunset Beach, Tarpon Springs

Honeymoon Island: Clearwater/Dunedin

Caldesi Island, Voted America's #1 Beach in 2008: Clearwater/Dunedin

Florida Beaches: South of Tampa

Fort Desoto

Pass-A-Grille

Indian Rocks

Sanibel Island

Captiva Island

The list above represents just a handful of the many beaches along the Central and South Gulf Coast. As you continue South, even overdeveloped places like Sarasota and Venice are not that far from Orlando or Tampa and each have some cool places to see and festivals throughout the season.

For instance, Venice has a really nice Park, is a great place to look for shark's teeth and the annual Shark Tooth Festival has become a bit of an institution. You can then easily drive a bit further South from either town to lots of other spectacular beaches and hopefully to two of my favorite places in the world: Sanibel and Captiva Islands where people travel from everywhere to look for shells.

Another beautiful day on the West Coast

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