St Pete Beach vs Clearwater Beach: Which One is REALLY the #1 Beach in the US?
This post may contain some affiliate links, which means I’ll make a little money on anything you choose to purchase. But of course, I only recommend my absolute favorites to you. Thank you for supporting the brands that make the Lincoln Travel Co possible.
I’m usually drawn to smaller, more laid back beach destinations on Florida’s Gulf Coast like Anna Maria Island, Sanibel, and Marco Island, but after Clearwater Beach won TripAdvisor #1 Beach in the US award in 2019 and then St Pete Beach turned around and won the same award in 2021, I knew it was time for a visit.
White sand beaches, turquoise water, decent shelling…Throw in a lot of resorts and condos plus plenty of “things to do” nearby in St Petersburg and Tampa and it’s easy to see why these are such popular beach vacation destinations.
Both located in Pinellas County off the St Petersburg peninsula, Clearwater Beach and St. Pete Beach are just about 20 miles apart.
To get to St Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach, you’ll most likely fly into Tampa International Airport (TPA). From there it’s about a 30 minute drive to both beach areas. There is also the smaller/closer St Pete-Clearwater International Airport that gets flights from the budget airline Allegiant.
I recently spent a belated spring break in the St Pete Beach area and then doubled back to check out Clearwater later in the summer (plus I’ve been on another trip to St. Pete as I’m reediting this post).
So I’ve now stayed in several different places, quizzed many locals, driven absolutely everywhere, and I feel like I’ve got a good feel for what this area is really like.
If you’ve spent much time on my blog, you know that I don’t beat around the bush. I’m somewhat “famous” for giving you the real scoop, the insider details, and my very real opinions based on WHAT I LIKE AND DON’T LIKE.
Well, I have some opinions ; )
St. Pete Beach vs Clearwater Beach
Basically, what it comes down to is this…both the Clearwater Beach and the St. Pete Beach area have some of the best beaches you’ll find in Florida. But I am VERY particular about exactly where I would stay in both areas.
So it’s hard for me to say “oh I love St. Pete Beach so much more than Clearwater Beach and it’s definitely where you should stay.” There is a particular place I LOVE to stay in St. Pete Beach and things I love to do there, but if that’s not an option then I’d probably choose to go elsewhere in Florida instead of elsewhere in St. Pete Beach. And I feel the same way about Clearwater. Make sense? Bear with me if it doesn’t. I’ll get into all the details.
I will preface this post by saying that A LOT OF PEOPLE go to Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach every year and absolutely love it no matter where they stay. You CANNOT beat these beaches and anybody who gets the chance to vacation here is 100% lucky.
But my job is pretty much breaking down the pros and cons of different beach destinations so I’m going to get super knit picky in this post.
And if you feel like we have similar travel styles and you can trust/relate to my judgment then you’ll be set. And if not, feel free to disregard everything I say!
And as always, instead of just saying I don’t like something, I prefer to give a LOT of details and describe places and situations as best I can so you can determine if my opinions might hold true for you (or if they’re completely irrelevant to what you like/how you like to do things).
So without further ado, let’s start with St Pete Beach:
St Pete Beach
St Pete Beach is the southernmost (developed) barrier island in the chain off Tampa Bay. It’s one long stretch of white sand beach lined with resorts, condos, and small hotels. Overall, the beach is pretty fantastic.
Great sand, great turquoise clear water, and surprisingly good shelling. There’s a good mix of resorts (hello Don CeSar you are amazing!), large condo-tel complexes that feel a lot like resorts, and small beach hotels and motels in a wide range of quality. There are more than enough restaurants, beach bars, ice cream shops, etc. to keep you busy for a weeklong trip.
BUT OVERALL, I did not care for the vibe in St Pete Beach. Most of the main road/strip felt a little seedy. A lot of strip malls, tiny sidewalks where you felt like you were walking right by the traffic, etc. 7-Elevens, Dunkin Donuts, cell phone stores, Wings (the big slightly tacky beach shops)…all mixed in with local restaurants here and there, a Twistee Treat, and auto repair shop. To me, the main strip in St Pete felt like that kind of rough/rundown part of town that you try to avoid.
Now, for sure the entire island is not like this…but the main high traffic area definitely was.
As a general rule of thumb, the farther south you go on the island, the better it gets.
The northernmost part of St Pete Beach is actually tucked behind Treasure Island (there’s no beach, it’s more of a water channel), so I’m going to start out with the area that’s the northernmost BEACHFRONT (which is actually more towards the middle of the island) and work my way south.
The first part of my trip, I stayed in this area at the Postcard Inn, and I’m just going to tell you…I did NOT like it.
The beach is beautiful (it’s pretty much the same in the whole area), but it has a STRONG spring break/party vibe. I stayed here the first of April so I thought maybe it was just the time of year, but I had MANY locals tell me that no, it’s like that all year long and this little pocket of beach is the epicenter of the area’s party scene.
This makes sense because 1) The majority of people partying on the beach (and at the hotel beach bars) seemed to be Florida locals that had come to the beach for the day (I know this because they were so loud that I now know every detail of where every person around me lived, worked, and went to high school and also because while waiting for an Uber to take us to dinner at the hotel, a steady stream of them passed through to get Ubers to take them home because they couldn’t drive. Yikes.)
And 2) the beach bars at the Postcard Inn (PCI) and the Beachcomber (Jimmy B’s) target a party scene for locals (people not staying at the hotel) by advertising that their bars are open to the public and making it easy to get Ubers/Lyfts from the hotel lobby.
Honestly, it was an odd dynamic because there were a lot of families staying at the Postcard Inn (at the pool and on the beach) and in that general area but I’ve also never heard more people talking about drugs (I wish I was kidding haha) and incessant f-bombs.
Besides the beach scene, this part of St Pete Beach has a “strip vibe” that I mentioned above. Along the main road, there were a lot of strip malls with the typical beach shops, Twistee Treats, etc.
Overall, this part of the island reminded me of parts of Branson (not the nice parts!). If you like a lot of action/noise, this is the part of the island you want to be on, however I will say it was less of a Miami party scene and more “redneck yacht club” vibes. If you know, you know.
If this is what you’re looking for (hey, there were a LOT of people having a REALLY good time ; ) here’s where to stay in the area:
Postcard Inn on the Beach: I spent the first part of my trip here. It’s really “Instagram cute,” but a little more worn than it looks on the website probably. It was clean enough, had good breakfast options in the lobby, and a pretty good sized pool. There were a lot of families staying here. It’s very much a motel on the beach, but it’s also priced like one (except on the weekends!). Click here to check pricing and availability during your stay.
The farther south you go on the island, the nicer places seem to get. There are quite a few places mid-island that are nice properties, but are still close to all of the hustle and bustle. Meaning…the beaches are still going to be crowded, but it doesn’t have a wild vibe. You’re also closer to some convenient amenities like Publix, Walgreens, and Chick-fil-a!
The southernmost resort/hotel on the island is the Don CeSar and that’s when you feel like you’ve left St Pete Beach and entered a different world. In a good way.
***Want to save major $$$ on a fancy beach resort? My favorite travel hack is cashing in points to score free nights at some of the island’s most high end resorts. My go to hotel brand is Marriott so I use this Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card to rack up points for a lot of my trips to Florida. If you pay for your monthly expenses on the card and are responsible about paying it off every month, the points add up really fast. Plus, if you sign up through my link, you’ll get THREE bonus free nights to use. In Florida, use your points at some of my favorite Marriott properties like the Swan Reserve at Walt Disney World, the Vinoy in St. Pete, the EDITION Miami Beach, the JW Marriott Marco Island, and the soon to open St. Regis Longboat Key.
The Don CeSar Hotel & Pass-a-Grille
I’ve written a full post about this area of St. Pete Beach here, but the short story is…while I didn’t love St Pete Beach in general, staying at the Don CeSar and hanging out in nearby Pass-a-Grille is one of my FAVORITE Florida beach vacation spots.
The hotel is amazing. It’s been a few years since I stayed here now and I find myself constantly telling people about it and comparing other beach resorts I’ve stayed at in Florida back to this place.
It has a totally relaxed vibe, but still so much style and flair and it’s exactly the kind of service I like at a hotel – very responsive but not overly smothering.
Seriously, I’ve been pretty much everywhere in Florida, and this is a gem.
Click here to check pricing and availability during your stay.
South of the Don CeSar, you’ll come to Pass-a-Grille which is a mostly residential area that makes up the entire southern part of the island.
I loved this area so much and it’s where we ended up spending pretty much every evening of our trip.
If I’m not staying at the Don CeSar I would definitely do a Vrbo rental in Pass-a-Grille. While it’s technically on the island that is St Pete Beach, it feels like a whole separate place.
Clearwater Beach
Clearwater Beach is the northernmost (drivable) barrier island in the chain and just like St Pete Beach, it’s a hub of beach activity. But it has an entirely different vibe. Not necessarily better (but maybe depending on what you like) but different.
For starters, yes overall I would say it has a more upscale feel than St. Pete Beach. It’s more luxurious high rises, better infrastructure, and pretty much only vacation amenities (no pesky signs of ordinary life).
But it’s a vibe in itself. I’ll put it this way…as soon as I drove across the bridge into Clearwater Beach, the first things I saw were: Bubba Gump’s, Hooters, and Ron Jon’s Surf Shop.
And I kind of feel like that’s everything you need to know about Clearwater Beach. If that sounds awful, you’re not going to like it. If you’re thinking…”what’s wrong with that?” then you’ll probably like it.
So yes, overall I think Clearwater is nicer than St. Pete but it’s way more commercialized (in a way that I don’t totally love) than places that I tend to gravitate towards in Florida.
Also, whether this is a pro or a con to you depends on what you like, but Clearwater feels like a compact little city on the beach (much more than St. Pete).
Most of the development is clustered around the bridge onto the island (of course with condos spreading out in every direction), and if you’re staying in one of the high rises in that area, everything is really walkable which I like.
Things are set up pretty well to handle the crowds (and there are crowds)…The sidewalks are pretty wide, there are plenty of crosswalks, etc. and the streets are lined with the kind of places most tourists like (chain restaurants and stores, etc.). There are always a lot of people out walking around and it feels like a big time Florida tourist area. The Clearwater Pier 60 is right here and you can find pretty much any kind of water activity you could dream of.
There are several nice resorts right in this area (Opal Sands Resort, Sandpearl Resort, Hyatt Regency) and the new JW Marriott that just opened might tempt me into a stay in the future.
I wouldn’t pick this area or any of these resorts over a stay at the Don CeSar personally, but if you’re got older kids or teens who want a lot of things to do and all manner of entertainment within walking distance, then this is definitely a better pick.
Side Note: If you’re looking for a rental car for your trip, I LOVE Discount USA Car Rental. They’re seriously the only company I ever use. I started using their sister company (Discount Hawaii Car Rental) on my Hawaii trips almost 10 years ago and now I use their main site for all of my other trips. They’ll give you the very best prices, you don’t have to reserve with a credit card or pay until you show up, you can cancel and re-book anytime if you find a better rate, and they usually have a special that adds additional drivers for no fee. It’s a no brainer. Click here to check rates for your trip.
Dunedin & Honeymoon Island
Here’s a trip I WOULD recommend in the Clearwater area.
Just north of Clearwater Beach is Honeymoon Island & Caladesi Island State Park. They’re completely undeveloped, but BEAUTIFUL beaches.
One time I stayed at the Fenway Hotel in Dunedin and did a trip where I visited Honeymoon Island & Caladesi Island, visited Tarpon Springs (Florida’s Greek Town), and went up to Weeki Wachee Springs to see the mermaid show. It’s also not much farther to Crystal River where you can swim with the manatees.
It’s not your typical Florida beach vacation, but there are quite a few little Florida gems in this area and I really loved staying at the Fenway and doing a bit more exploring than I usually do on a Florida trip.
For more info on these places, check out these posts:
Honeymoon Island & Caladesi Island State Parks
Tarpon Springs: Florida’s Little Greek Town
Weeki Wachee Mermaids & Manatees at Crystal River
Even if you decide to stay in Clearwater, these are all great places that you can easily visit from there.
Other Places in the Area
So in the barrier island chain off of Tampa, Clearwater Beach is the northernmost island and St Pete Beach is the southernmost island. Here’s what’s in between:
Treasure Island: Treasure Island is the barrier island just north of St Pete Beach and I would say it’s a middle ground between St Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach. It feels a little more like Old Florida (there are some cute vintage feelish small hotels) than Clearwater Beach but it’s not quite as rundown as parts of St Pete Beach feel. The Thunderbird Beach Resort looks cute (very retro vibes!) or check out the Treasure Island Beach Resort.
Madeira Beach: The island between Treasure Island and Clearwater Beach has several different communities/areas. The southernmost part is Madeira Beach and it’s pretty popular. It’s not a place that appeals to me, but John’s Pass is in the area and that’s a big draw for some people. It used to be a quaint fishing village and now it’s a boardwalk with a ton of big chain shops and restaurants. In that way, it’s similar to Clearwater Beach, but it’s not nearly as crowded and everything is more spread out.
Indian Rocks Beach: Of all of the places that I drove through in this area, Indian Rocks Beach would probably be the only place that I would say I liked. It had a nice variety of places to stay (houses and small condos/inns) plus a good number of restaurants scattered around. Some of these communities were nothing but condos for miles so you’d be pretty isolated and dependent on cooking at your own place which isn’t how I like to vacation. Search for Indian Rocks condos and vacation rentals here.
On Another Note: If you’re looking for a condo or vacation rental for your trip, I always book with Vrbo. They’ve got the largest selection of rentals you’ll find anywhere and you can easily filter to find exactly what you’re looking for. Need a specific number of bedrooms and bathrooms? Narrowed it down to a certain location? Want flexible cancellation terms? Need to stay under a fixed budget? Click here to search for Florida vacation rentals for your trip.
Want to Read More Posts about Florida? I’ve got plenty!
Check out these destinations: Miami (Things to Do Besides Party & Where to Stay) // Key Biscayne // Sanibel & Captiva // Longboat Key & Anna Maria Island // Marco Island // 30a // St Augustine // Amelia Island // St Pete Beach // St Petersburg // Fort Myers // Dunedin // Crystal River & Weeki Wachee Springs // Honeymoon Island & Caladesi Island State Parks // Tarpon Springs // Matlacha & Pine Island // Apalachicola
Trying to narrow it down? Siesta Key vs Anna Maria Island // St Pete Beach vs Clearwater Beach // Sanibel vs Marco Island // Destin vs Panama City Beach // Destin vs 30a // Key Biscayne vs South Beach // Seaside vs Rosemary Beach
Best Beaches in Florida with Seashells
P.S. If you want to follow along on my travel adventures in real time, you can follow me on Instagram (@caitylincoln). My post captions are full of travel tips and I have a ton of story highlights and videos with great info. And share my account with your travel loving friends! Your support really helps me keep this blog running!