Clearwater Beach Recommendations

[travelhacker]

We're in Colorado and had a ski trip planned for our spring break. Everyone has a case of the winter blues and we decided to book award travel and fly to Tampa instead. We will be there next week!

We'll by staying at the Hyatt Regency in Clearwater Beach. I know Red Tide is present, but since I've been monitoring it's actually improved (but that could very well reverse). We've stayed at the Hyatt Siesta Key when red tide was present (but low) and it didn't seem to bother us, so we're hopeful.

Does anyone have any recommendations for things to do? Our kids are ages 9, 5, and 5.

What about places to eat that kids would enjoy?

We've got a manatee tour in crystal river booked for one day. We've looked at doing the pirate ship tour.

I think our oldest would love the aquarium, but I'm not so sure about our boys. They love the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, but this doesn't seem to have many tanks (more of a rehabilitation center).

Thanks!

 

[buzglyd]

The Clearwater marina is right there and you can book all kinds of boat tours. There is also the Clearwater water taxi that runs up and down the inter coastal. Do your kids like baseball? Spring training is ongoing and the Phillies park is in Clearwater and the Blue Jays are in Dunedin which is just up the road or water taxi to Dunedin.

Frenchies has four restaurants in Clearwater including two on or near the beach. There is a public pool and park a few blocks north of the main area. Gerstle’s restaurant has a good live music schedule as does Palm Pavillion. For the adults, Columbia restaurant is just over the bridge and is in a beautiful location on the inter coastal.

The Walgreen’s right in town should have plenty of beach equipment for the little ones. Usually they have some fun slides and things set up near the pier. If you go to Hogan’s hangout you might run into the Hulkster himself.

I lived there last year and Clearwater Beach is a heavy adult party zone but there is plenty of fun for kids.

 

[travelhacker]

The Clearwater marina is right there and you can book all kinds of boat tours. There is also the Clearwater water taxi that runs up and down the inter coastal. Do your kids like baseball? Spring training is ongoing and the Phillies park is in Clearwater and the Blue Jays are in Dunedin which is just up the road or water taxi to Dunedin.

Frenchies has four restaurants in Clearwater including two on or near the beach. There is a public pool and park a few blocks north of the main area. Gerstle’s restaurant has a good live music schedule as does Palm Pavillion. For the adults, Columbia restaurant is just over the bridge and is in a beautiful location on the inter coastal.

The Walgreen’s right in town should have plenty of beach equipment for the little ones. Usually they have some fun slides and things set up near the pier. If you go to Hogan’s hangout you might run into the Hulkster himself.

I lived there last year and Clearwater Beach is a heavy adult party zone but there is plenty of fun for kids.

This is great info. Thanks so much!

Any particular boat tour that you’d recommend?

 

[buzglyd]

This is great info. Thanks so much!

Any particular boat tour that you’d recommend?

I don’t as I never took any myself. I lived alone there. One is a pirate ship and another looks like a giant shark. Some are booze cruises so you might want to avoid those with little ones.

 

[Brett]

We're in Colorado and had a ski trip planned for our spring break. Everyone has a case of the winter blues and we decided to book award travel and fly to Tampa instead. We will be there next week!

We'll by staying at the Hyatt Regency in Clearwater Beach. I know Red Tide is present, but since I've been monitoring it's actually improved (but that could very well reverse). We've stayed at the Hyatt Siesta Key when red tide was present (but low) and it didn't seem to bother us, so we're hopeful.

Does anyone have any recommendations for things to do? Our kids are ages 9, 5, and 5.

What about places to eat that kids would enjoy?

We've got a manatee tour in crystal river booked for one day. We've looked at doing the pirate ship tour.

I think our oldest would love the aquarium, but I'm not so sure about our boys. They love the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, but this doesn't seem to have many tanks (more of a rehabilitation center).

Thanks!

yes, the Clearwater aquarium is more of a dolphin rehab facility
(only go if you want to save the dolphins

 

[Talent312]

The Clearwater aquarium is more of a dolphin rehab facility...

OTOH, the Florida Aquarium in Tampa is a traditional, large aquarium
-- with sharks, penguins, stingray touch tanks & a water playground.

 

[mdurette]

@travelhacker Would love to hear what you thought of the Hyatt Regency Clearwater.
Also, during your stay did you find alot of college spring breakers on the beach in that location?

 

[travelhacker]

@travelhacker Would love to hear what you thought of the Hyatt Regency Clearwater.
Also, during your stay did you find alot of college spring breakers on the beach in that location?

We liked the Hyatt Regency Clearwater. The rooms are large (for hotel rooms). It was almost like staying in a timeshare since the room had a kitchen, our kids enjoyed the activities and the pool. Also, it was great having beach chairs and an umbrella included as part of the resort fee (waived since I stayed on points). The rooms are in good shape, and the common areas are nice.

For the negative:
The pool is a bit small, and the hot tub can only fit a handful of people (and is on a different level from the pool).

You do have to pay for parking (I think it's like $25 a day for self parking).

Overall, it was a good value on World of Hyatt points. This has been a long winter, and we decided like 2 weeks before to skip out on skiing and go to Clearwater instead.

There was a pretty big college spring break crowd, but they mostly hung out at the pier -- it really didn't affect our trip much.

Clearwater is a great beach -- the sand is fantastic. However, it is quite a bit more crowded than some of the places we frequent (Siesta Key, Bonita Springs).

When we discussed as a family we were all glad we went, but we also didn't feel like we absolutely had to go back. If we were in a similar situation and it was too late to find a good timeshare value then we'd definitely consider going back.

 

[mdurette]

Thanks for the feedback! Very much appreciate it. I was debating between Clearwater and HH in Tampa, but ended up at the HH due to proximity of Bush Gardens. It was just ok. Timeshares have certainly spoiled me.

 

[Eggrollcreative]

No red tide here!! Staying at Hampton it’s $800 a night! Parking is $25 a day! They have a free shuttle this month to reduce the number of cars on the island… pier 60 was near. Next week they have a sand sculpture contest.