St. Pete/Clearwater, located on the sun-drenched peninsula on Florida’s west coast, is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico to the west and Tampa Bay to the east. Boasting 35 miles of award-winning white-sandy beaches, sparkling blue waters, exotic nature trails and stunning hotels, it is the perfect place for a family or couples holiday – all ages will love this diverse and eclectic holiday destination!
The St. Pete beaches are packed full of activities to keep everyone entertained from taking a dip in the warm turquoise waters to boating, paddleboarding, fishing, jet skiing, beach volleyball, biking along the Beach Walk promenade and dolphin boat tours – keep your eyes peeled for all the magnificent wildlife this destination has to offer, including Florida’s famous manatees!
The lively Clearwater Beach also has an abundance of activities. The ultimate place to visit at sunset, as Pier 60 hosts street performers, live music, craft stalls and food every evening. Clearwater Beach is regularly named one of the best beaches in the US in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards, while St. Pete Beach, on the south side of St. Pete/Clearwater’s 35-mile coastline, was named TripAdvisor’s #1 Best Beach in the US at the 2021 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium‘s inspiring story began 50 years ago with a group of passionate marine biologists and volunteers who wanted to educate people about marine animals and conservation. Today, CMA is an internationally renowned research and rehabilitation facility, providing a home for marine animals that otherwise wouldn’t survive in the wild due to injury or illness.
Get close to nature on a watercraft adventure into exotic mangrove tunnels, open waters and city shorelines.
If it’s your first time out in a kayak or stand-up paddleboard, you might want to just get used to paddling around off a nearby beach or shoreline park. However, once you get the hang of your watercraft, we recommend exploring these locations:
For experienced paddlers, the Pinellas County Blueways Guide offers thorough maps and trails that stretch the length of St. Pete/Clearwater, from Anclote Key Preserve State Park in the north to Fort De Soto Park in the south. The scenic waterways snake around Gulf Coast barrier islands along the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail, continue inland to Lake Tarpon and wind into Tampa Bay.
Stretching from St. Pete to Tarpon Springs, the 45-mile Pinellas Trail offers walkers, runners, bicyclists, and in-line skaters a safe place to exercise.
Built atop an old railroad line, this unique greenway carries travellers along the oak-lined hammocks of several parks, across rivers and creeks where wading birds feed, and through quaint, picturesque small towns where the weary can stop for a bite to eat.
Get a free trail guide and map online that details rest stops, bike racks, restaurants and other amenities that make the Pinellas Trail one of the most user-friendly greenways in the United States.
For long distance riders, the Pinellas Trail connects to the first segment of the Florida Coast-to-Coast Trail, providing a path for bicyclists to cross the state. You’ll want to saddle up for this epic 250-mile route from the Gulf of Mexico in Pinellas County to the Atlantic Ocean in Brevard County.
Thrill seekers can take to the tree tops at Empower Adventures Tampa Bay for a sky-high adventure course. The zip line canopy tour begins with a 60-foot-tall start tower that leads into five zip lines of varying lengths and a 200-foot suspension bridge—all with views of Florida’s natural terrain. This thrilling aerial adventure park also features obstacles like log bridges, catwalk bridges, steps, leaps and jumps to the lineup of tree-top, soaring fun.
Hike Brooker Creek
Located just east of the Greek fishing village of Tarpon Springs, Brooker Creek Preserve is a wilderness oasis. With 8,500 acres of swamps, pine flatwoods and hardwood hammocks to explore, spend a few hours there, and you’re sure to see an array of native flora and fauna.
The preserve’s first-rate education centre offers four miles of hiking trails open from 7 a.m. to one hour before sunset. To see the most wildlife – and Brooker Creek is home to everything from deer to bobcat – come early. A self-guided, 1.5-mile loop trail, complete with a bridge and boardwalk, is available for those who want to go it alone. Admission is free.
Nature lovers flock to St. Pete/Clearwater to see the stunning birds that gather in parks and preserves along the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.
Florida boasts a 2,000-mile self-guided trail with 489 sites that promote bird-watching activities and conservation of Florida’s natural habitats. St. Pete/Clearwater’s trail sites are diverse – with mangrove swamps, slash-pine forests, beaches and estuaries – offering habitats for many bird species. There are 15 trail sites in the area, and while all are beautiful, a handful of them are a birder’s dream come true. Here’s a selection:
The beaches of St. Pete/Clearwater are known for their incredible sunsets. Every evening, visitors and locals take to the sand and pack waterfront eateries to view the famous spectacle: the sky awash in colour, the sun sinking into the Gulf. While you can scope out a great sunset just about anywhere along the coast, not all vantage points are created equal. Here are some of the most memorable ways to salute the end of a perfect day in St. Pete/Clearwater.
Chances are good that you’re already planning to check out the landmark St. Pete Pier. While you plan your day at this must-see hub of fun, food and drink, be sure to carve out time to explore bay waters on an eco-tour aboard M/V Discovery, a 45-foot boat operated by the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center, at the end of the pier. Spot dolphins, manatees and shorebirds and learn about the bay’s ecology and history during the 75-minute excursion. The tours, which are wheelchair-accessible, are available throughout the day.
A four-story property, the Comfort Inn & Suites is conveniently located near St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) in Clearwater. It’s also just 20 minutes to downtown St. Pete and about 30 minutes to Clearwater Beach.
One area the hotel focuses on is sustainable landscaping. More than three-quarters of the plants on its grounds are native to the area, the property uses low-chemical gardening and it irrigates the plants with rainwater as well as condensation it collects from its HVAC system.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 1 Palm
Additional Green Certifications: Tripadvisor GreenLeaders Silver Level
Reigning over St. Pete Beach since 1928, the Don CeSar is a landmark pink palace that has hosted celebrities including F. Scott Fitzgerald and enjoyed cameos in several movies and television shows over the years.
The star of its sustainability efforts is Winnow kitchen food-waste technology, which uses artificial intelligence, a scale and cameras to identify which items in the kitchen are being discarded. Based on this information, it determines menu items that don’t sell and also recommends changes in portion sizes, limiting overproduction and reducing waste.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 3 Palms
Additional Green Certifications: Tripadvisor GreenLeaders Silver Level
Set right on the Gulf in North Redington Beach, the DoubleTree Beach Resort is centrally located between Clearwater Beach and St. Pete Beach. John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk and other beachfront attractions are just minutes away.
This property’s new owner will begin a green-focused refresh of the hotel in late 2023, with plans to use native vegetation and other environmentally friendly landscaping, sensors that turn off landscape watering during rain, and white roofs to help reduce heat absorption, which decreases the energy used for air-conditioning.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 3 Palms
Additional Green Certifications: Tripadvisor GreenLeaders Silver Level
A short walk to the Salvador Dalí Museum and other world-class museums as well as the St. Pete Pier, waterfront parks and restaurants, the Hampton Inn & Suites is an ideal basecamp in downtown St. Pete.
Since 2009, this Hilton-owned property has used the company’s award-winning LightStay system to measure, report and improve its environmental impacts. Hilton was the first major hotel company to establish science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. It’s taking major steps toward reducing its environmental footprint through its Watts, Water and Waste program.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 2 Palms
Just a hop, skip and a jump from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport in Clearwater, the Holiday Inn is a short drive to downtown St. Pete and about 30 minutes to downtown Clearwater.
Parent company IHG Hotels & Resorts has developed the IHG Green Engage system, which enables its hotels to measure and report their carbon footprint and utility consumption. The program also provides direction on ways hotels can use resources efficiently to reduce their environmental footprint.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 2 Palms
Additional Green Certifications: Tripadvisor GreenLeaders Bronze
Watch a breathtaking sunset from the eighth-floor pool deck at the Hyatt Regency or stroll up the famously soft sands of Clearwater Beach to Pier 60, the site of nightly sunset celebrations complete with buskers and live music.
The Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach has received a Four Green Keys rating from Green Key Global, indicating that the property has implemented wide-ranging environmental management policies and practices. Hyatt, as a company, plans by 2030 to reduce emissions by 27.5% from a 2019 baseline and reduce food waste by 50% compared to 2019. The company also plans to improve the sources of products and services to avoid contributing to climate change, deforestation, waste, resource depletion, biodiversity reduction and harm to animals.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 2 Palms
Additional Green Certifications: Tripadvisor GreenLeaders Gold, Green Key Global’s Green Key Eco-Rating Program four-key rating
Site of the Valspar Championship, held every spring on the famed Copperhead course, and home to three other golf courses, Innisbrook is spread across 900 acres in Palm Harbor, north of Clearwater. Other amenities include a spa, 11 clay tennis courts and six swimming pools.
With vast courses that need to be kept immaculate for golfers, Innisbrook prioritizes water conservation. The resort uses only county-supplied reclaimed water to irrigate all its golf courses and other landscaping. Irrigation and stormwater run-off are recirculated through the irrigation system. Native, drought-tolerant plants are used wherever possible, and the resort’s air-conditioning system has been converted to use reclaimed water.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 1 Palm
Set on the Intracoastal Waterway in tranquil Indian Shores, the Legacy Vacation Resort has Gulf beach access across Gulf Boulevard. The property is especially noteworthy for getting 78% of its energy from on-site solar arrays. The resort offers a discount to guests who either produce clean energy with solar panels on the roof of their home or who drive a hybrid or electric vehicle.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 2 Palms
These adjacent resorts – the TradeWinds Island Grand Beach Resort and RumFish Beach Resort – form one huge waterfront playground on St. Pete Beach that’s perfect for families looking to stay and play on the beach. The standout feature is a massive floating water park with inflatable slides, floating trampolines and loungers. A 33,500-gallon aquarium brings 30-plus species of sea life into close view. Visitors can snorkel right in the aquarium or watch the fish while dining in the Rumfish Grill.
These hotels are pioneers in local efforts to preserve the beach ecosystem. TradeWinds was the first Florida resort to retrofit all beachfront light fixtures with eco-friendly lighting that avoids misdirecting sea turtle hatchlings as they head to the Gulf. Its erosion management and habitat conservation efforts include planting sea oats and other native plants.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 3 Palms
The Sandpearl is a luxury resort set in the heart of Clearwater Beach. Relax in the zero-entry pool, indulge in first-class pampering at the spa or dine on your private balcony and be wowed by amazing Gulf sunsets.
In addition to its two Palm Florida Green Lodging designations, the Sandpearl is the only hotel in the region and one of very few in Florida that is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, an exacting standard for healthy, efficient, green buildings.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 2 Palms
Additional Green Certifications: U.S. Green Building Council LEED Silver, Tripadvisor GreenLeaders Platinum
This Gulf-front resort is set on Sand Key, a quieter stretch of beach just across narrow Clearwater Pass from busy Clearwater Beach. Enjoy the nature trails and quiet sands of Sand Key Park, or head across the bridge to Pier 60 and plentiful activities, restaurants and shops.
The global Marriott company has set environment-related goals, including reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2050. It has set a deadline of 2025 to reduce carbon intensity by 30 percent from a 2016 baseline; source a minimum of 30 percent of its overall electricity from renewable energy; and reduce waste-to-landfill by 45 percent and food waste by 50 percent from a 2016 baseline.
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 2 Palms
A classic hotel built in 1925 with a major renovation wrapped in 2023, the Vinoy is the grand dame of the St. Petersburg waterfront, overlooking Tampa Bay.
Information gathering and education are a focus of the sustainability efforts at the Vinoy. As part of its efforts to reduce energy consumption, the resort measures and records energy use each quarter, its staff is trained annually on the hotel’s green practices, and guests are offered education on green practices.
Other green features:
Florida Green Lodging Designation: 2 Palms
Additional Green Certifications: Tripadvisor GreenLeader, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Clean Marina Program
Price includes; return lower emission option flights, 4 nights in 4-Star Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa, 4-day hire of an Electric car, ATOL Protection, and a free 5% donation to charity.
Relax in your hotel before heading back to Orlando Airport to return your EV hire and continue onward journey home.
Price includes; return direct flights, 7 nights stay in 4-star The Don CeSar in a Luxury King Double Room, 7-day hire of an Electric Car, ATOL protection, and a free 5% donation to charity!
Return to the airport for your onward journey home
Find out more about St. Pete/ Clearwater here, and get in touch with our expert travel agents to plan your perfect break in St. Pete/ Clearwater today!
Remember, every time you book a holiday with us, you can donate 5% of the price to the charity of your choice for free!
Fundraising Futures Community Interest Company, Contingent Works, Broadway Buildings,
Elmfield Road, Bromley, Kent,
BR1 1LW. England
Putting our profit to work supporting the work of charitable causes
For the latest travel advice, including security, local laws and passports, visit the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website.
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