VSClearwater Beach vs St Pete Beach
Can't decide between Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach? We visited both, so this guide compares them side by side. We cover the vibe, traffic and parking, how busy each one gets, the sunsets and the cost, plus where to stay and what to eat. We will help you decide which beach is right for you.
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The Vibe: Clearwater Beach or St Pete Beach?
On a map, Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach look almost the same. Both sit on their own small island along Florida's Gulf Coast, a short hop from the mainland and downtown. Both are about 30 minutes from Tampa International Airport, and about 30 minutes from each other. Once you are standing on the sand, they could not feel more different. We stayed at St Pete Beach and made the trip over to Clearwater, so here is how the two compare.
What is the vibe like at each beach?
Clearwater Beach: Pier 60 is the main area to visit at Clearwater Beach. It has the shopping street and most of the main attractions, with hotels lining the beachfront around it. It is built up and busy, so you can go from sunbathing to ice cream in a couple of minutes. It has real energy, and if you want to be in the middle of it all, you will love it.
St Pete Beach: St Pete Beach is much quieter, calmer and a lot more local, with mainly locals gathering here. Gulf Boulevard is the main road, and it is also the main highway through St Pete on the beach side, with a lot of the hotels along it. Corey Avenue sits just off it, and this is where you will find the boutique shops and restaurants. You will also find restaurants along Gulf Boulevard, and some on the beachfront.
Our pick: Clearwater if you are looking for a lively environment with lots of attractions, St Pete Beach for a relaxing time.
How busy does each beach get?
Clearwater Beach: Clearwater was properly busy, a real tourist hotspot. That is part of the fun if you want buzz, but you will be sharing the sand.
St Pete Beach: St Pete Beach felt like a different world, with less crowds and so much more space to find your own spot on the sand.
Our pick: St Pete Beach.
We based ourselves at St Pete Beach and visited Clearwater as well, and it was easy to do. The two sit about a 30 minute drive apart.
Corey Avenue is about an hour on foot from Beach House Suites, where we stayed, and the free hotel shuttle does not go that far. The front desk told us to Uber or drive instead.
Where to Stay at Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach
Once you know the vibe you want, the next question is where to sleep, and whether a sea view is worth it for you. We stayed at Beach House Suites in St Pete Beach. The other options below are ones we explored and saw whilst we were there.
Clearwater Beach, in the middle of it all
Clearwater is a white sandy beach. We would recommend being based near Pier 60, with the shops, bars and ice cream stops. It is great to be close to the beach, because you can walk up to it instead of having to park. The trade-off is price. In our own experience, Clearwater was a bit more expensive than St Pete Beach because it is more touristy, and if you want a sea view, we found it was $100 plus more a night to get that view.
Best for:
- Families
- Friends
- First-time visitors
Where to stay:
- JW Marriott Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa, our pick for the best luxury resort in Clearwater.
- Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa, right on the beachfront.
- SpringHill Suites Clearwater Beach, some rooms have great views over the marina and the sea.
- Residence Inn by Marriott Clearwater Beach, suite-style rooms with full kitchens and a free grab and go breakfast, a short walk from the beach and Pier 60.
- Barefoot Bay Resort and Marina, one of the higher rated hotels on Tripadvisor, though it is a much smaller, motel style vibe.
Booking a beachfront hotel does not guarantee you a beachfront view. If a sea view is what matters to you, make sure you choose a sea view room, because most hotels also have cheaper rooms with a city or car park view. If you are not fussed about the view, that can be a more affordable route. It just depends whether you want to be right on the beach or not.
St Pete Beach, beachfront with a sea view
This is where we stayed, and it is our pick. We spent one night at the end of September at Beach House Suites by the Don CeSar, half a mile up the beach from the pink palace, with its own private beach.
When we arrived, we noticed the suites are reached along a motel style walkway. We were worried it would be noisy because it is by a main road. It does sit just off Gulf Boulevard, the main road we mentioned earlier, but the suite was really quiet. We were also able to walk to the Pink Palace and use all of its amenities. The suite was really large, with everything you need for self-catering and being right by the beach, even though it does need some modernisation. There are also more budget friendly hotels facing the bay on St Pete Beach, on the opposite side to ours.
Best for:
- Couples
- Families
- Sunset lovers
- Longer stays
Where to stay:
- Beach House Suites by the Don CeSar, we stayed here. Our partial sea view suite was around 600 square feet (they go up to 800), with a balcony, kitchenette and our own washer and dryer, and we found it quite reasonable.
- The Don CeSar, the famous pink palace. The same night would have cost us an additional £125, around $150, for a standard room with no view.
Your wristband gets you into the Don CeSar too, so you get both sets of amenities. Beach House Suites also leaves its sun loungers out after 5pm, which is one of the only hotels on this beach to do it.
Both hotels charge a resort fee of around $40 a night and $28 a night for parking, so the saving is in the room, not the extras. Ours was waived completely through our Hotels.com status, so check your loyalty status before you book.
Staying downtown instead
If you would rather be near restaurants, murals and the pier, downtown St Pete is only about 20 minutes from the beach. Read our full guide to where to stay in St Petersburg.
Getting There, Parking and Getting Around
This is the part that will shape your day more than any hotel, so it is worth knowing before you go. Both beaches are an easy drive from the airport, but the experience once you arrive is very different.
Which beach is easier to get to?
Clearwater Beach: Clearwater was the busier drive. Once we arrived, we couldn't believe it took 15 to 20 minutes just to find a parking space.
St Pete Beach: St Pete Beach was much calmer to reach, and getting from the main road onto the beach was far more straightforward.
Our pick: St Pete Beach.
Where is parking easier, and what does it cost?
Clearwater Beach: Clearwater was a lot more expensive. Most car parks charge a flat rate of around $30 to $45 for the day, so a quick couple of hours on the sand is not cheap. The few hourly car parks we found were mostly full.
St Pete Beach: Loads of the hotels offer parking for guests only, so parking can be a little more limited. There are often car parks down Gulf Boulevard, and by Corey Avenue there are a couple of different parking options, plus street parking. They are generally paid by the meter. If you are staying at one of the beach resorts, being close to the sand means you can just walk instead.
Our pick: St Pete Beach.
How do you get around?
The Jolley Trolley runs along each coast, but it does not run between the two, as each beach has its own. The St Pete Beach trolley stops right outside Beach House Suites. Beach House Suites also has a free shuttle, for guests only, which runs about a mile north and south, including to the Don CeSar. The SunRunner bus links downtown St Pete and St Pete Beach. We did not find any boat trips leaving directly from the beach. They were on the mainland, so you would need to drive over.
Things to See and Do at Clearwater and St Pete Beach
Clearwater and St Pete Beach have different things to do. Here is how they compare, followed by everything we would add to your list.
Which beach has more to do?
Clearwater Beach: Clearwater is built for a proper beach day, with inflatable slides, a Ferris wheel and Pier 60. Directly opposite the pier you will find dolphin cruises, a pirate ship experience and a tiki boat cruise.
St Pete Beach: The headline attraction at St Pete Beach is the Don CeSar, the pink palace, which is well worth a look even if you are not staying.
Our pick: Clearwater for things to do.
- Pier 60, the main area to visit at Clearwater Beach, with the shopping street and most of the main attractions. Free to walk most of it, $3 for the very end, and one of the best sunset spots in the area.
- Clearwater Beach attractions, inflatable slides and a Ferris wheel make it built for a proper beach day.
- Dolphin, pirate ship and tiki boat cruises, all directly opposite Pier 60, and you can find them on Viator.
- Clearwater ice cream, a couple of minutes walk from Pier 60, and the local ice cream places were our favourite.
- The Don CeSar, the pink palace, with stunning architecture and well worth a visit even if you are not staying.
- A St Pete Beach sunset, we watched ours from the sand by the Don CeSar, reached through a public beach access point.
- Corey Avenue, boutique shops, restaurants, tap houses and a Beach Theatre, and on a Sunday it is pedestrianised for a market of 30+ stalls selling crafts, food and artwork.
- St Pete Pier, located in downtown St Pete, so if you are visiting St Pete it is something else worth adding. It is free to walk, with boat trips along it.
- Grand Central and the Warehouse Arts District, two more areas worth a visit if you are in St Pete, with murals, independent shops and creative studios. Check out our St Petersburg guide for more.
We've shortlisted our favourite things to do around Clearwater and St Pete, including dolphin cruises, a pirate ship experience and boat trips from St Pete Pier. Browse our handpicked Clearwater and St Pete experiences →
Visit Corey Avenue on a Sunday for the market. We arrived on a Sunday morning and still found parking easily on the surrounding roads.
Where is the best sunset?
Clearwater Beach: Clearwater's best spot is the end of Pier 60. Most of the pier is free, but budget $3 to walk out to the end.
St Pete Beach: Our sunset at St Pete Beach was incredible. We watched it from the sand by the Don CeSar, through a public beach access point.
Our pick: a draw. Clearwater for a pier sunset, St Pete Beach for sand under your feet.
Best Spots for Food at Clearwater and St Pete Beach
We didn't do a huge amount of restaurant hopping at either beach, so this is what we saw and tried, beach by beach, plus one stop in between.
Clearwater Beach
Around Pier 60 you will find the shopping street, with places to eat and drink within a few steps of the sand. Clearwater has a lot more restaurants linked into the hotels that line the beach. Our favourite thing here was the ice cream, from the local places on the small street just steps from the sand.
St Pete Beach
St Pete Beach has restaurants along Gulf Boulevard, plus a few beachfront restaurants along the sand. The Don CeSar has its own restaurant too, Maritana, serving seafood.
For more choice, head to Corey Avenue. It gives St Pete Beach a personality Clearwater doesn't really have, with boutique shops, restaurants and tap houses, plus a Beach Theatre. Go on a Sunday, when it becomes a pedestrianised market.
For acai at the beach, head to Playa Bowls on Gulf Boulevard.
Moe's Original BBQ, between the two beaches
We stopped at Moe's Original BBQ and it was incredible, traditional barbecue food. They even had a vegetarian option, which was great. The mac and cheese was incredible, and so was the pulled pork bun. We highly recommend it if you have a car and are travelling between Clearwater and St Pete Beach.
So Which Beach Should You Pick?
If you want lively with lots to do, Clearwater is for you. If you want quiet and boutique, St Pete Beach wins. We picked St Pete Beach because it was quieter, calmer, less touristy and felt better value for a beachfront stay.
The good news is you don't have to choose just one. We based ourselves at St Pete Beach and made the 30 minute drive to Clearwater for the day, which gave us the best of both.
Watch our St Pete Beach vs Clearwater travel guide →Clearwater Beach vs St Pete Beach: Frequently Asked Questions
Are Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach safe?
We felt really safe during our whole trip, at both beaches and in downtown St Pete and Grand Central, where we ate in the evening. As with any busy beach destination, we would keep valuables out of sight instead of leaving them on the sand. Clearwater is much busier, so keep a closer eye on your belongings there.
Is Clearwater Beach or St Pete Beach better?
It depends what you want. For lively with lots to do, Clearwater is for you, with inflatable slides, a Ferris wheel, Pier 60 and dolphin cruises. For quiet and boutique, St Pete Beach wins. We picked St Pete Beach because it was quieter, calmer, less touristy and felt better value for a beachfront stay.
Is Clearwater Beach or St Pete Beach better for families?
Both are great for families, and we saw quite a few at each beach. Clearwater is built for a proper beach day, with inflatable slides, a Ferris wheel and dolphin cruises. St Pete Beach was calmer, with so much more space on the sand. We would pick Clearwater for entertainment and St Pete Beach instead for space and a slower pace.
How far apart are Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach, and do you need a car?
Yes, we would definitely prefer a car. The beaches are about a 30 minute drive apart, and both are about 30 minutes from Tampa International Airport. There is transport along each beach, but you will need a car to get between them. If you want to explore beyond the beaches, a car is highly recommended.
How much does parking cost at Clearwater Beach?
We were really surprised by the flat rate. If you are only here for a couple of hours, you may want to find a pay as you go car park, but most of those were full when we arrived, so go earlier in the morning. Otherwise, it will set you back $30 to $45 for the day.
Where is the best sunset, Clearwater Beach or St Pete Beach?
Both are brilliant. Clearwater's best spot is the end of Pier 60, mostly free but budget $3 for the last stretch. At St Pete Beach we watched ours from the sand by the Don CeSar, through a public beach access point, and it was incredible. We would pick the beach instead of a pier if you want sand under your feet.
Is it worth staying at the Don CeSar or next door?
We stayed next door at Beach House Suites, and we felt it was good value. Our suite was around 600 square feet with a partial sea view, and our wristband still got us into the Don CeSar, so we had all of the amenities.
What do we wish we had known before visiting Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach?
We didn't know Clearwater Beach would be so busy, or that parking is a flat rate of $30 to $45. We also didn't know there wouldn't be a lot to do at St Pete Beach. If you want a beach stay, we would recommend St Pete Beach. If you want more to do, Clearwater might suit you better. There also aren't loads of restaurants near our hotel at St Pete Beach, so we had to drive to find something.
What is worth adding to a Clearwater and St Pete Beach itinerary if you have more time?
We would add downtown St Pete. The pier is free to walk, with deck chairs looking out at the superyachts, Grand Central is covered in murals, and the Warehouse Arts District has incredible street art. Visit Corey Avenue on a Sunday for the market of 30+ stalls too, and see our St Petersburg guide for more.
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Our Clearwater and St Pete videos cover both beaches, downtown St Pete and our Beach House Suites hotel review.
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