These beaches range from isolated, undeveloped tropical islands accessible only by boat (Anclote Key, Caladesi Island) to packed tourist beaches with all the souvenir shops, grouper sandwich shops, and nightclubs. The people that rank beaches, place Caladesi Island State Park, Anclote Key State Park, and Fort De Soto park in the top ten beaches in the United States, with most of the other top ten beaches being in Hawaii.
There are more than 20 'barrier islands' called 'kyes', along the Florida west coast. The Gulf waters that lap on the shores of these island is warm and clear. The slope of the beach is very gentle, making the beaches safe for small children to play at the waters edge. Every possible water sport can be enjoyed along these beaches including fishing in the grass flats, deep-sea fishing, boating, sailing, canoeing, sea kayaking, SCUBA diving, wind surfing, shelling, para-sailing, swimming, and water skiing.
Clearwater Beach
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Clearwater Beach is the most famous of the beaches that are on the barrier islands. On an island all it own, Clearwater Beach is the major 'tourist beach' on the Florida Sun Coast. Every type of beach oriented activity can be found here. There are many great grouper sandwich shop where you can enjoy lunch relax with a cool beverage. With its many shops and miles of beach, the entire family can have fun here. The gentle slope of the beaches into the water and the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico make all the beaches on the Florida Sun Coast very different from the Atlantic ocean beaches on the east coast of Florida where large waves crash onto the beach.
Anclote Key State Preserve
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More than 1,000 years ago, this island was pushed up from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico to rest on a limestone platform. It is still slowly growing today and its size has increased by more than 25% since 1956.
This 4 mile long island is one of the few truly unspoiled and undeveloped islands left along the Florida coast.
Anclote Lighthouse
The abandoned lighthouse on the southern end of this remote island adds to the islands fragile beauty and character. The lighthouse was built in the 1880's and server almost 100 years to protect the mariners in the Gulf of Mexico. With the advent of more modern navigational tools such as the Long Range Navigation System (LORAN) and later the Global Position System (GPS) it became obsolete. It was decommissioned in 1984 and for the last 16 years has been abandoned.
Anclote Wildlife
Rare and endangered birds and turtles inhabit Anclote Key. Visitors travel to the island by boat every year to enjoy the more than 43 species of birds that live there including the American Oyster catcher, Bald Eagle, and Ospreys (sometimes called fish eagles). The Ospreys have numerous nesting sites in the tall pine trees that cover the island.
