Just One Day Series – Clearwater Beach – Florida’s Best Beach

Just One Day......

What do we do?

Ever hopped off a cruise ship with just one day to spend? Or, traveling through town and must leave the next day? Perhaps you just want to know what are the best things to do in Florida destinations?

Florida Travel Blog’s series of one-day things to do throughout Florida will give you the details for a 12-hour day.

Just One Day in Clearwater Beach!

The good news is that you are at one of the top five beaches in the state of Florida. The bad news is you only have just one day in Clearwater Beach.

Here is what we would do on Clearwater Beach for the next 12 hours.

Start your day with a delicious breakfast at Ryan’s Beach Cafe or Maggie Mae’s Waterfront. That will take care of sustenance until your fabulous lunch!

It’s still early, but that is a perfect time to go to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Family fun with dolphins and all things saltwater will take the whole morning. It’s education made into fun with living creatures of the sea.

By noon it’s time to hit the pure white sand on Clearwater Beach. Grab an umbrella or cabana already positioned for the best sun. A couple hours of people-watching and Florida sun will have you ready for lunch.

Walk to the south end of Clearwater Beach and you will find the Opal Sands Hotel. You will see an inclined pathway of sand leading to the Sandbar tiki bar. Lunch here will be with a great grouper sandwich or the Sandbar’s flame-broiled burger. You also will have a close view of Clearwater Pass which is the main navigational pathway to Clearwater harbor.

After Lunch More Adventure for Just One Day on Clearwater Beach

You have a choice. For fun with the whole family, walk across the street to Clearwater Marina. There you will find a myriad of water-based activities. The most popular is Captain Memo’s Pirate Cruise. The Captain will take you on a fun pirate adventure around Clearwater harbor and the Gulf of Mexico. Don’t think you are too old to be a pirate – there are plenty of adult beverages too!

Your other choice for the mid-afternoon is a shop walk. Who doesn’t like walking down a shop-filled street looking for a bargain? Mandalay Avenue begins with a Hooters restaurant and heads north for three blocks of shopping. You have a Ron Jon Surf Shop, The Friki Tiki clothing store, Surf Style for beachwear, and even an arcade for gaming.

Get Ready For Sunset

Sunset on Clearwater Beach is an event. Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach is the place to be. You will find colorful entertainers, craftsmen, and vendors, but the real star of the show is the sun’s nightly demise in the west. Pier 60 is over 1000 feet long with a bait house and fishermen at the end. Browse the pier and take a few pictures of the sunset. You have just one day on Clearwater Beach and the sunset is awesome!

Dinner and a Cocktail

If you aren’t starting to tire yet, you have some amazing stamina! Hungry? We hope so because you again have two choices to make. We will start with our favorite – Blinkers Beachside. Blinkers specialize in steak, but they have excellent seafood. You can find a comfortable booth or sit in the lively bar area. We like Blinkers because of their superior service and commitment to perfect steaks and fresh seafood.

Our second choice for dinner would be the slightly hard-to-find Bobby’s Bistro. Along Mandalay Avenue, you will find The Beachcomber Restaurant. Behind the restaurant, with a separate semi-concealed entrance, is Bobby’s Bistro.

Bobby’s is an ala carte-style small bistro that puts out some excellent food. Bobby’s will be busy, but you may be able to wait at their small bar or the bar at the main restaurant in the front. Almost anything on the menu will be good, but you must try the Bistro Potato!

Time To Crash or Ready for Some Entertainment?

After dinner, if you can drag yourself from the table, we might suggest a couple of places for entertainment. Shephards Beach Resort will have a waterfront band. Gerstles, a relatively new place on south beach also has committed to nightly entertainment.

That’s our thoughts for just one day on Clearwater Beach. Remember, we live here! You may find some old couple with flip-flops and a faded t-shirt roaming the haunts above – that could be us!