Clearwater

This is the reason people come. Clearwater Beach is a long strip of fine, powder-white sand on a barrier island. It slopes gently into calm, clear Gulf of Mexico water, shallow enough to wade far out. The sea reaches about 30°C in summer and stays comfortable from late spring well into autumn. In midwinter it drops to about 18°C, which is bracing rather than warm.

The main beach around Pier 60 is busy and well served, and draws sunset crowds most evenings. Quieter sand is close by. Sand Key lies to the south. To the north, undeveloped Caladesi Island can be reached by a long walk up the sand from the northern end of Clearwater Beach, or by ferry from Honeymoon Island, which has its own wild beaches and is reached by causeway. Further down the Pinellas coast, more long Gulf beaches are within half an hour.

Eating here is mostly casual and coastal. The local dish is the grouper sandwich, served fried or blackened in open-air fish shacks and dockside grills, along with stone crab in season, shrimp baskets and smoked fish spread. Sunset drinks on a beach deck are as much a part of the routine as the food.

Beyond that the choice is thin. Much of the beachfront is chain restaurants and tourist grills, and serious cooking, coffee and craft beer are easier to find in the bigger cities across the bay than on the island. Downtown has a handful of more local places, and the Greek bakeries and tavernas of nearby Tarpon Springs make a worthwhile outing for a meal.

Clearwater has little in the way of sights. The downtown on the bluff above the harbour keeps some early twentieth-century buildings and a restored 1920s theatre, and there are small local history collections, but there is no major museum or landmark to plan a day around. Visitors interested in art and architecture head to St Petersburg or Tampa, both within an hour.

Evenings start with the sunset. Crowds gather on the beach and around Pier 60 to watch the sun drop into the Gulf, and then drift to open-air beach bars, tiki decks and waterfront grills with cover bands. In spring the beach draws a younger crowd and things stay louder for longer.

For most of the year, though, this is a relaxed resort night: a few drinks by the water rather than clubs or late dancing. Anyone after a proper night out goes to Ybor City in Tampa or downtown St Petersburg.

The landscape is flat and watery: barrier islands, mangrove-lined bays, seagrass flats and the open Gulf. Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island state parks keep stretches of the coast wild, with nature trails through pine flatwoods, nesting ospreys and shorebirds. Dolphins are common in Clearwater Harbor, and manatees gather in sheltered waters in winter.

Most of the activity is on the water: kayaking through mangrove channels, paddleboarding, sailing, parasailing and deep-sea or inshore fishing from the marina. On land, the Pinellas Trail runs for many kilometres along an old rail line and suits easy cycling. There are no hills anywhere, and the summer heat and afternoon storms push outdoor plans to the mornings.

The surrounding area does more for a visitor than Clearwater itself. St Petersburg, about forty minutes away, has the Salvador Dalí Museum, a good fine arts museum and a lively waterfront downtown. Tampa, across the bay, has Ybor City, the old cigar-making quarter of brick factories and Cuban social clubs, and the minaret-topped Tampa Bay Hotel building.

To the north, Tarpon Springs keeps a Greek sponge-diving harbour with boats, bakeries and an Orthodox cathedral. About an hour south, Sarasota has the Ringling Museum and the Venetian-style Ca' d'Zan mansion. Orlando's theme parks are around two hours away. A car makes all of this far easier.

Clearwater works very well with children. The beach shelves gently into calm water with little surf, so small children can paddle safely, and the area around Pier 60 has a playground and lifeguards. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a rescue and rehabilitation centre for dolphins and sea turtles, is a favourite, and dolphin-watching and pirate-themed boat trips leave from the marina.

Within about forty minutes are Busch Gardens and the Adventure Island water park in Tampa, and the Florida Aquarium. Hotels and condos are set up for families, with pools and kitchens. The drawbacks are summer heat, afternoon thunderstorms and the need for a car for most outings.

On Clearwater Beach itself you can manage on foot: hotels, restaurants and the sand are close together, and a beach trolley runs along the island and down to Sand Key. A ferry and water taxi link the beach with downtown.

Beyond that the area is low-rise sprawl built for driving. County buses exist but are slow, and almost every outing to Tampa, St Petersburg or the state parks is far easier by car. Traffic on the causeway to the beach backs up on busy weekends and in spring.

Shopping here means beachwear, sunscreen and souvenir shops along the beach strip, plus the usual regional malls and big-box stores on the mainland. Downtown has a few small independent shops. Natural sponges and Greek goods from nearby Tarpon Springs are the most local thing to take home, and anyone wanting luxury brands or bigger department stores drives to Tampa.

Clearwater is a fairly expensive place to stay, especially on the beach in the late winter and spring peak, when northern visitors and spring breakers fill the hotels. Beachfront rooms cost the most, while motels and rentals on the mainland or further down the coast are noticeably cheaper.

Eating out costs what it does in most American resort towns, with tips and taxes on top. The beaches themselves are free apart from parking, and condos with kitchens help families keep costs down. Summer and autumn bring lower room prices in exchange for heat and storm risk.

For a resort city Clearwater has a useful pair of venues. Ruth Eckerd Hall hosts touring rock and pop acts, comedians, Broadway tours and orchestral concerts, and the restored Capitol Theatre downtown stages smaller concerts in an intimate 1920s hall. Beach bars add nightly cover bands and acoustic sets.

There is no resident opera or major theatre company, though. For bigger productions, opera and ballet, visitors drive to the large performing arts centre in Tampa.

Clearwater has no bathing tradition of its own. Spa treatment here mostly means the treatment rooms of the larger resort hotels, plus massage and day spas scattered across the mainland suburbs. They are competent, but nobody would travel for them.

The case for rest lies in the pace. This is a low-rise resort and retirement town with few sights and nothing that needs an early start, so days settle into a slow routine of hotel pools, shaded balconies, long lunches and early nights. The waterfront park below the downtown bluff and the marina are pleasant places to sit out the evening. Spring break weekends and the heavy summer heat are when it feels least restful.