Exploring the Not So Famous Beaches of Central Florida
A Photo Story
We lived in West Central Florida for the month of December 2022. We drove to almost every beach we could find in the area within a reasonable driving distance. We lived on Lake Rousseau near Crystal River, but there were no beaches on this lake. It is infested with alligators and weeds. No swimming allowed.
We didn’t visit very many famous beaches, just a few, because we don’t like the crowds and it was too long of a drive to get to them. We would rather see and explore the not so famous places anyway, like Bird Creek Beach.
Road 40 to the west off of Highway 19/98 north of Inglis, Florida takes you to Bird Creek Beach and Chambers Island. The road is called “Follow That Dream Parkway.” There are several places to pull off along the road but the beach itself was sandy, serene and quiet. You can’t actually get onto Chambers Island. The road ends before you get there but the beach is worth the drive.
We drove out to Cedar Key one day. This was a tourist trap full of shops and restaurants and piers but when we drove north to Rye Key we found a beautiful quiet beach to walk and get our feet wet.
Driving south on Highway 19/98 we drove past the town of Crystal River and headed west on Road 44 all the way out to Fort Island Gulf Beach. Fort Island Beach was another beautiful sandy beach. There was a bird photographer there the same day we were there and she was recording different bird sounds. There were tons of different kinds of birds.
Further south on Highway 19/98 we turned west on Cortez Blvd and took Pine Island Drive out to Alfred A. McKethan Pine Island Park. This was a nice park and there were a few other people there the same day. Most of my good pictures of this beach have other people in them, but I did get one photo with no people in it. I wish I could figure out how to just remove the people from the photo. I’m sure it is doable. I just don’t know how to do it.
We did take one day and drive to Clearwater Beach and walk out on Pier 60. What would a trip to Florida be without seeing at least one or two of the famous beaches. Of course, there were several other people there that day but I did get a couple pictures of the beach. Clearwater Beach is sandy and beautiful. If you don’t mind a lot of other people around you, this is a great beach to see.
And you just can’t beat the soft fine sand of the Florida beaches to leave your footprints on.
South of Clearwater Beach across Sand Key Bridge is Sand Key Park and Sand Key Beach. This is a much less visited beach and just as beautiful. We spent a lot more time here walking the beach and collecting shells.
Heading back north to go home we turned west on Dunedin Causeway and drove out to Honeymoon Island State Park because I wanted to see Honeymoon Island Beach. I don’t recommend this beach if you want to walk in the sand. At least the part we saw was pretty rocky.
I wonder if the beach was rocky to warn honeymooners what the road ahead will be like…ha ha. Maybe we just didn’t find the right part when we were there.
One more out of the way place we found was Robert K. Rees Memorial Park Beach. This was a beautiful beach and park with a boardwalk over the marsh and an observation tower. I wonder how many people leave these parks to the wayside for the more popular places and miss gorgeous parks like this one.
Green Key Road to the west off of Highway 19/98 north of Tarpon Springs. You won’t regret this little side trip to see a beautiful park and gorgeous beach.
I hope you take the time to get off the main highway, avoid the popular tourist traps, and see the real Florida beaches.