Mother's Day at the Beach?

[TinkOhio]

We're looking for suggestions of beaches to visit, things to do, best parking options, and waterfront restaurants in and around St. Pete Beach. Our flight arrives at noon on Mother's Day in Tampa, and we added a one-night reservation at the beach to the front of our Disney stay. We plan to stay around the beaches through lunch on the following Monday before heading east to Disney late Monday afternoon. I'm guessing the beaches will be extra crowded on Mother's Day. Is there a favorite beach we should visit? Fun places for lunch and dinner? A better way to find parking? Any other fun activities or places to see?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Tigerlulu]

Check TripAdvisor but make sure you are on the gulf, not the bay.
I don’t have specific experience with Tampa area but I’ve never had an issue with parking per se. You’ll either find a parking lot/public beach area or there will be space along the road to park that won’t be an issue. You’ll see what others are doing. It’s early in the season and not spring break so probably mostly locals out that weekend. Not a super high travel weekend so close to the end of school.

Hopefully someone else chimes in with specific experience but check trip advisor. You’ll find a ton of areas on there, I’m sure. If there is a pier or anything around the beach community they will likely have great restaurants, fishing equip rentals, etc. maybe shopping too.

Good luck!

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

I always take a day out of my WDW vacation to visit the beach and when I do it's Madeira Beach which is in the St. Pete/Clearwater area. There's a public access parking lot that I always park in that does charge per hour and I believe it's $2 per hour but I like it because it's steps away from where we set up and they have restrooms and showers in the parking lot area and this beach seems a lot quieter than most beaches in the area. They also rent out lounge chairs and cabana covers that provide shade and the cost is just $20 for the whole day.

Also just down the road you'll find John's Pass Village which is a dining and shopping village with maybe 15 different restaurants and a bunch of different stores.

 

[TinkOhio]

Thanks so much for the suggestions. We'll look into Madeira Beach. We've been to the winery at St. Pete and might pop by there. Has anyone ever tried a sunset dolphin cruise? Or any other fun beach activities that you can recommend?

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

Thanks so much for the suggestions. We'll look into Madeira Beach. We've been to the winery at St. Pete and might pop by there. Has anyone ever tried a sunset dolphin cruise? Or any other fun beach activities that you can recommend?

If you're into water activities to try at the beach Madeira Beach where I go has some stand up paddle boards, kayaks, and I believe beach bikes we well you can rent and it's all for a reasonable price. The address btw to the beach parking lot that I was telling you about is 14400 Gulf Blvd, Madeira Beach, FL 33708. Once you walk onto the beach you'll see all the cabanas and lounge chairs set up. The same person who rents you that equipment sells the kayaks, paddle boards, etc.

 

[Music City Mama]

I always take a day out of my WDW vacation to visit the beach and when I do it's Madeira Beach which is in the St. Pete/Clearwater area. There's a public access parking lot that I always park in that does charge per hour and I believe it's $2 per hour but I like it because it's steps away from where we set up and they have restrooms and showers in the parking lot area and this beach seems a lot quieter than most beaches in the area. They also rent out lounge chairs and cabana covers that provide shade and the cost is just $20 for the whole day.

Also just down the road you'll find John's Pass Village which is a dining and shopping village with maybe 15 different restaurants and a bunch of different stores.

If you're into water activities to try at the beach Madeira Beach where I go has some stand up paddle boards, kayaks, and I believe beach bikes we well you can rent and it's all for a reasonable price. The address btw to the beach parking lot that I was telling you about is 14400 Gulf Blvd, Madeira Beach, FL 33708. Once you walk onto the beach you'll see all the cabanas and lounge chairs set up. The same person who rents you that equipment sells the kayaks, paddle boards, etc.

This is good info! We'll be staying in downtown Tampa for a few days at the end of June and we'll have at least one beach day (maybe two). I thought it was a no-brainer to go to Clearwater, but the traffic looks insane and may be too crowded and expensive for my taste. On the other hand, when we go to Pensacola Beach, we go to a national park there which is very quiet and pristine, so I don't necessarily need to do that while we're in Tampa, but Madeira sounds like a happy medium. I love that you provided the address of the parking lot -- so helpful -- and that the cabana rentals are right there. This might be what we need to do -- thank you for sharing that information!

 

[Anchored]

Do not go to Clearwater. Way too crowded. I live 10 minutes from Madeira Beach and go there all of the time. My favorite beach is Treasure Island, though.
For Mothers Day, I would check the brunch at the Don Cesar and see if they have any openings, and then see about a day pass or Cabana rental at the Don - so pretty and unbeatable service.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I was born and raised in St Pete

 

[mikehn]

The floating water park at the Tradewinds resort

 

[TinkOhio]

Thanks so much for the great ideas!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

make sure you have no open cuts. Lots of news stories last week of people get the flesh eating disease over on the gulf coast.