Caladesi Island or Dolphin Encounter?

[Badgerfan]

Hi all. I need some help. We will be driving over to Clearwater in early August so my DD's can go to the beach and collect some shells. They also want to be able to see some Dolphins if possible. I know there is a boat that goes out from Clearwater beach that guantees you will see dolphins, but it looks like they kind of go around Caladesi Island, which is where we were going to go to collect some seashells. So......... anyone know if we would be able to see any dolphins from the island rather than having to drive over to Clearwater beach and paying for a boat ride? I'm not totally against the boat ride, but if we have a good chance of seeing dolphins from Caladesi, I would rather let the girls play longer at the beach than driving and taking a 1 1/2 hour boat ride just to see the dolphins. Anyone from the area or anyone who knows the area, I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks.

 

[mtry]

There are several boats that leave from Clearwater dock slips. Most are about an hour long. Several guarentee dolphin sitings. I am not sure if they go to Caledesi Island. I have been on a few and they go out into the gulf, sometimes past the Clearwater pier or on bad weather days they just go down the "inlet" or "causeway"(is that what it is called?) Anyway, Movie stars and other celebrities have houses (mansions) in that area and you can see them... the houses, not the stars: Here is a link to a cruise which might interest you. It has a stop to collect shells.http://www.floridasbeach.com/moreinfo.php?ID=4102&type=all_attr
Hope you have a great time.

 

[caribear]

Will you have your own boat to get to Caladesi or are you planning on taking the ferry from Honeymoon Island State Park? We have been to both Caladesi and Honeymoon Island and the shells at Honeymoon Island State Park are much more abundant than on Caladesi Island. If you go all the way through the park to the beach at the most northern end then you will find tons of shells! It is very rocky/shelly at this point so it is great for shelling and for dolphin watching, especially at sunset!!! But not to lay out on the beach. Some people will see dolphins on the ferry ride to Caladesi....we have been twice and have never seen any, but the captain usually remarks that the folks before us saw a few....go figure!

My suggestion is to go to Honeymoon Island State Park....go to the northern most beach and look for shells there.....they really are abundant and much more so than on Caladesi Island. The beach on Honeymoon Island is also very nice!!! I believe the ferry runs every 1/2 an hour, so you can still check out the shells and then catch the ferry to Caladesi...or the other way around....and spend the day on Caladesi and then collect shells and watch the sunset from Honeymoon Island....it's a beautiful sight to see the dolphins jumping in the water while the sun is setting!

 

[tropical depression]

I've never been on one of those dolphin encounters, they're attracted to the prop wash and like to play in it. so if you're on any boat in the area, there's a good chance you'll see dolphin. you can usually see them on the ferries to caladesi and eggmont key. we see them just driving over the bridges and causeways.

another good place to see them in the area is around Johns Pass. a friend of our daughters had dinner at Gators last week and started slapping the water. she had one swim up within a yard of her and sit there for a minute.

another option is to visit Billy's Stone Crab in Tierra Verde, just south of St Pete beach. it's a casual restaurant that will take you out on a free boat tour before or after your dinner most night of the week.

if you absolutely have to see dolphins, take the tour I guess. but there are other options, and caladesi island is incredibly beautiful.

 

[Badgerfan]

Thanks for all the info. Mtry, thanks for the link, the sealife safari sounds interesting........ I'm going to look into it.

Caribear, thanks for the info on Honeymoon Island, I think we will definately go there to collect some shells then ferry over to Calidesi.

Tropical Depression, Billy's Stone Crab sounds pretty good, but I have a 6 and 4 year old who may or may not eat fish (depends on their mood), do you know if they have more than just sea food on the menu and if they serve lunch? Also, I'm not real familiar with the area (we live in Wisconsin) so can you tell me how far it is from Calidesi? Thanks.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions!