Indian Rocks Beach
Same Gulf, less crowded.
My sister lived in Tampa St. Pete for 10 years. She moved to Georgia in 1993. So we welcomed the chance to revisit some of her old stomping grounds during a recent vacation there.
The times they are a changin’
While many of the most familiar landmarks have long since vanished, we did find some of the same familiar beauty—clear water, crystal sugar-cane-like beaches.
Of course, we decided to go in July—probably the most crowded (and expensive) time to visit the area. So we opted for Indian Rocks Beach—an easy drive south of Clearwater.
It was a wise decision.
The beaches were soft sand that felt more like you were walking on a down mattress. The sunsets were spectacular.
While the water was not as clear blue as those you’d see in the Caribbean or even on some of the more northern beaches, unless you are an avid snorkeler, I’d say the difference is negateable. But most to our surprise, there were no crowds. I’m sure that this waxes and wanes depending upon several variables, but we had no trouble finding a large patch of beach and were relieved that we didn’t have 50 people looking over our shoulder.
My only regret was that we didn’t schedule more days there.
In short, if you want the convenience of having Tampa and St. Pete within reasonable distance, but don’t want to put up with the traffic and crowds on a daily basis, I highly recommend Indian Rocks Beach. It’s the same Gulf.
Quick Tips:
If you want to take a break from the seafood fare (and eating seafood every night can be too much of a good thing) it’s only a short drive to George Pappas Greek restaurant. FANTASTIC food. The best Greek salads ever. Extremely generous portions. I can personally vouch for the Gyros and Spannikiopia (pardon my spelling, I’m drooling on the keyboard thinking of the food).
As usual, the Gulf Coast offers a much more relaxing experience than my native beaches off the coast of North Carolina. It’s definitely worth getting one of those el-cheapo-rafts, because you can literally fall asleep in the gentle rocking of the Gulf waters, gently drifting along the shore (trying the same thing off the coast of the NC Outer Banks is not advisable. If for some reason the waves don’t beat you to death, the riptide will. You’re likely to wake up and find you’ve drifted down to Cuba, but that’s another entry…).
Best Way To Get Around:
It's definitely a place where you would need to rent a car, since the Tampa airport is a good drive from there. However, having a condo even one street back from the beach is definitely manageable unless you have to haul a lot of beach toys.
There are several great eating establishments (see my restaurant entry) within an easy drive--or even within a fairly ambitious bike--of most of the condos. FYI--the road was pretty narrow. When we were there July 2006 it looked like they were working on it to widen it. Still, you don't go to the beach to drive around-=-you go to see the beach (at least in my world).
It is also convenient to the Intracoastal waterway, good for renting boats or kayaking, whichever you select.