St. Pete and Clearwater split the job: Clearwater brings the country's most-decorated beach and a nightly sunset festival, St. Pete brings the Dalí, a downtown food scene in full sprint, and the world's oldest shuffleboard club. The clearest water in the area, though, is on an island with no roads. Here's the summer, ranked.
outdoors is still comfortable at 79°. Ordered for right now.
Clearwater Beach and the Pier 60 sunset festival
The perennial best-beach contender: powder sand, bathtub-warm Gulf shallows, and a free nightly sunset celebration at Pier 60 with street performers and vendors. This summer it's all over social feeds again, aesthetic edits and all.
Insider note — Strolling the pier is free; the fishing deck costs $8 a day. Parking evaporates by 10am on weekends — arrive early or ride the Jolley Trolley.
The Dalí Museum
The largest surrealist collection outside Spain — 2,400-plus works — inside the building with the famous geodesic glass bubble. A $65 million expansion is underway toward 2028, and the museum stays fully open through it, immersive dome included.
Insider note — The free-with-admission architecture tour explains the bubble; take it before the galleries and the building reads differently.
Caladesi Island by ferry
A roadless barrier island with some of the clearest water on this coast, reachable only by the Honeymoon Island ferry or kayak — the no-crowds island the videos keep rediscovering. Same sand as Clearwater, a fraction of the people.
Insider note — The ferry line builds by mid-morning in summer; the first boats over get the shelling and the empty sandbars.
The St. Pete Pier district
The 26-acre modern pier is downtown's living room: a beach, splash pad, rooftop tiki bar, marketplace, and lawn — free to wander end to end. Perry's Porch is the district's new waterfront restaurant doing old-Florida coastal fare.
Insider note — The splash pad plus the pier's beach make it the easiest free kid afternoon downtown; evenings, the tiki bar's sunset line forms early.
Central Park, the new five-story food hall
Downtown St. Pete's buzziest 2026 opening: a five-story food hall stacking international vendors under one roof, with more restaurants and a rooftop still coming online. The single easiest way to sample the city's exploding food scene.
Insider note — Floors fill top-down at dinner; lunch is walk-up easy on every level.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium
The working rescue-rehab-release facility made famous by Winter the dolphin is leaning into manatees: an expansion around a manatee rehabilitation habitat was just announced, and three new patients arrived this year. Watching active rescue is the difference from a standard aquarium.
Insider note — Feedings and care sessions run on a posted daily schedule — check it at entry and route the visit around one.
Sunken Gardens
St. Pete's hundred-year-old tropical garden hides waterfalls, rainbow eucalyptus, and a flock of Chilean flamingos that own the local feeds. City-park-cheap admission for four acres that photograph like a private botanical estate.
Insider note — The flamingos are most active at morning feeding; the shaded paths make this one of the few outdoor summer picks that works at noon.
Fort De Soto Park
Five connected islands with quiet Gulf beaches, a historic fort, kayak trails, and a campground regularly called one of Florida's best. It's where locals go when Clearwater gets slammed, for the price of a small parking fee.
Insider note — North Beach's lagoon is the calm, shallow, kid-perfect water; the fort's top level is the sunset spot with a fraction of Pier 60's crowd.
St. Pete's new fine-dining wave
The renovated Vinoy now houses Elliott Aster under a Michelin-starred-background chef, and Chris Ponte's Olivia was just named the area's best new restaurant. The budget play: the Oyster Bar's two-dollar-oyster hour, four to five daily.
Insider note — Elliott Aster books out weekends; bar seating holds a nightly walk-in allotment the dining room doesn't.
Shuffleboard Fridays at the world's oldest club
The world's oldest and largest shuffleboard club — founded 1924, 74 courts — throws free public play every Friday night, volunteers teaching newcomers, suggested two-dollar donation. The quirky retro-Florida night out that shows up in every only-in-St.-Pete reel.
Insider note — Courts open at 7pm and the regulars adopt beginners fast — show up by 7:15 and you'll be mid-match by 7:30.
Good to know
Clearwater Beach or Caladesi Island?
Clearwater for the full-service classic — restaurants, Pier 60's nightly festival, lifeguards. Caladesi for the same white sand with no roads, no buildings, and clearer water, at the cost of a ferry ride and carrying your own shade.
Is the Dalí Museum open during its expansion?
Fully — the $65 million expansion is under construction toward a 2028 completion, and the galleries, immersive dome experience, and waterfront grounds all stay open throughout.
What's free here?
A lot: the Pier 60 sunset festival every night, the entire St. Pete Pier district, Friday night shuffleboard at the world's oldest club, and the murals of the Central Arts District. Fort De Soto is nearly free at a few dollars' parking.
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