Caladesi Island

[kevin harrison]

Just reading Simon's book and I've come just read about Caladesi Island and it looks beautiful. Problem is it doesn't say how to get there, any advice ? How far is it from Orlando ?

Also I would be interested in any opinions on this beach as well

Thanks......

 

[richard3330]

Hi ,

Caladesi is reached by taking a small boat trip off of its sister island, Honeymoon Island, which is situated near to Clearwater.

The beach on Caladesi is extremely nice and it is just pure paradise laying on the soft white sand, with dolphins swimming just metres away from the shore.

Honeymoon Island is a short drive from Clearwater and is reached over a long bridge with a beaches either side. Parking at Honeymoon is something like $5. A lovely little boat runs from Honeymoon to Caladesi every 40 mins or so and the trip takes about 10 minutes and costs a little extra on top of parking. The boat trip is very scenic and we were lucky enough to have dolphins bow-riding the waves of the boat during the journey.

When you arrive at Caladesi you are greeted by a marina which has a small information/ranger point and a restaurant/general stores. Then an idyllic little path takes you through a tropical garden and leads over a wonderful wooden bridge to the glorious white sandy beach which stretched for miles. There were many dolphins jumping and swimming about VERY close to the shore whilst we were there - it was very peaceful and it felt like we were on a tropical island somewhere! The beach was very uncrowded and there was lounger hire. Caladesi also has many tropical bird walks and there is lots of wildlife on the island. The island also has clean changing/toilet facilties and a picnic area with BBQ'S.

After we spent the day (till about 4/5pm) at Caladesi we went back to Honeymoon on the boat and found that it also had wonderful beaches and GREAT shelling. One american couple told us that it is hard to find a nicer sandy beach in Florida that can beat Caladesi, and I have heard that is has been voted in the top 10 beaches in the USA.

Don't miss it

Richard.

 

[kevin harrison]

Thanks Richard, I will visit for sure, we were planning to visit Clearwater beach anyway, good to know it's closed by.

How far does it take to reach from Orlando ???

 

[stevefry]

I myself, had only just finished reading about Caladesi Island in Simon's book last week, then spotted it again in an old 'Florida Travel' magazine. We are always looking for something different to do each time we go - and taking a boat ride to this beautiful beach seems like a great idea!
Steve.

 

[signtalker]

we went to honeymoon island in May and it took us around 2 hours.
One word of advice is if you are driving there and back in the same day leave the beach very early or late(rush hour) is awful!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Jules

 

[kevin harrison]

Yes, I'd heard that, so we are going to get a hotel at Clearwater, stay there a night, then in the morning drive to Busch Gardens. It should make it easier on my daughter then.