Honeymoon Island State Park

Honeymoon Island State Park

Honeymoon Island State Park
4.5
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
About
This barrier island state park offers numerous nature-based activities. 5 miles of beaches, 3.5 miles of wooded hiking trails, nature center with gift shop and scenic views, 2 cafes, a new playground and wildlife including gopher tortoises, dolphins, manatee, eagles, owls, osprey and 100 of species of birds.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • Moira J
    Haverfordwest, United Kingdom173 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Paradise
    It’s a beautiful escape from the craziness that is Orlando. Situated on the Gulf coast and well worth the $8 admission. We also caught the ferry to Caladesi Island. Saw dolphins on the way over and some ospreys. The visitor centre is clean and modern, staff friendly and welcoming. There’s lots of information about the wildlife. You can sit a while on the deck watching the water. So peaceful and tranquil.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 7 October 2023
  • nathaliasouzabh
    King of Prussia, Pennsylvania780 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful and quiet
    If you want a place to rest and relax this is it. It’s so beautiful and quiet! There are lot of rocks on the shore, sand and water. Shells too. The sand is white and soft. The water was a little cold (maybe because of the season). There’s a cafe, gift shop, a lot of parking spots. We paid $28 to come in the island. It is worth it
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 9 October 2023
  • Fam_o_5_plus_1
    Wisconsin2,320 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great beach!
    We drove out here one morning to walk the beach and relax. The location is wonderful! It was quiet and didn't take much at all to find a spot by ourselves. We walked around looking at shells and enjoyed watching the dolphins. It was by far our favorite spot over Clearwater. I would definitely stop here again if we are ever back in the area.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 5 November 2023
  • flashsam7267
    Knaresborough, United Kingdom3,500 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing scenery, highly recommend
    We spent a good few hours here and really enjoyed it. $8 per car to get in and then we drove to the nature centre which has a really nice shop selling locally made items as well as very clean restrooms. Also have paper maps (which give info on the walking trails) as well as a QR code your can scan to get it on your phone. We did the 1/4 walk at the nature centre which was short. Very nice scenery but didn't see any wildlife. We then drove to the furthest point to do the Osprey trail. It's a 2 mile trail but you can shorten it as the are many points you can cross to turn back, as well as joining with the Pelican trail. (Some of the paths were flooded so we had to change paths) Saw lots of osprey as well as a woodpecker and loads of lovely scenery. The paths are really wide and with the tall trees it makes everything seem really big add pleasant to walk on. Plenty of benches on the trail and very clear signage. We then drove to the South beach car park and had a lovely walk on the beach, again really amazing scenery. As we were going to leave the car park we saw another car stopped and they were looking at something. When we went over to look there was a small armadillo wandering around sniffing and eating greenery. We stood for a very long time watching the really cute armadillo (we've only ever seen one in the wild before so this was an amazing experience for us) Another couple came over and said they'd just been watching another one near another path so went to see that armadillo as well. Plenty of restrooms around at each of the car parks. I would highly recommend this place for a few hours if amazing scenery, walking and wildlife.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 14 December 2023
  • MKH000
    Calgary, Canada255 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Hidden gem with unique coastal habitat and amazingbeach
    Wow, cool place to walk the ocean, she’ll pick and see mangrove marches and bird life all in one walking strip. Can walk the great long beach, white sands, lots of shells, found some large horseshoe crabs washed up. One side is the ocean, then the other is water people kayak in and is full of herons and mangroves and really unique to see. Recommend spending some time there, could make a day of it. Has small nature centre as well, and educational aspects.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 14 December 2023
  • Cynthia W
    Freeland, Michigan812 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Be patient, you may be in a line to enter and to leave the island.
    This is a state park, it costs $8.00 to enter. Not sure you can't have the same experience stopping along the causeway to get there. Lots of parking available on each side of the causeway, people camping, grilling, fishing, playing. Dogs are not allowed on the beach of the causeway, so the beach/sand seemed to be clean and a nice place to play. The State park has a small nature center,, per their website they will have guided nature talks. There is a nice trail into the tree area of the spit, where there are owls nesting, ospreys nesting and eagles nesting. Because there is a eagle;s nest you can't have access to all of the spit area. (protection and all of that). There is a play ground near the parking area with restroom at the END of the island. Getting to the end of the island there are 2-4 paved parking areas for the beach, and it get filled quickly. The park closes just after sunset. Lots of people go for the sunset and then all those people get to leave the island in a single file. I'm glad I went, but I won't be returning, , there are other places easier to get to and more rewarding.
    Visited January 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 27 January 2024
  • GIBSONSONTHEGO2022
    Swartz Creek, Michigan58 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great day trip!
    On the way there; it’s a beautiful view. You can actually pull off either side of the road and park your car right by the water with no fee. Fishing or lounging is great. Also perfect for a sunset. The State park was very nice and clean. 1 truck with 4 people was $8.00. The park closes at 6:30 pm. Sand is white & find some seashells. Bathrooms are big and clean. Many foot washing stations. State park has bike/walking path along with a Nature walk. Be ware!!!! If you are doing the Nature walk. There is a ton of mosquitoes. Bug spray did work for me. I had several welts. Seen smaller & big motors home in the parking lots. This is dog friendly & 1 beach is designated for pets on the beach. I seen 1 food truck & Cafe.
    Visited February 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 4 February 2024
  • Lucy N
    Yulee, Florida92 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Nice for shells
    While staying at Alafia River State Park, we ventured west to go shelling. It has been many years since we have gone collecting for west coast shells and based on some recent videos I had seen, the beach looked to be just what I needed. We arrived not long after low tide first thing in the morning, and started our search. I did find a lot of beautiful shells, but didn’t find any fighting conchs, tulips, whelks or shells of that type. I was satisfied with what I did find, though. By the time we left, the beach had become very crowded for a Wednesday morning—perhaps due to spring break? All of the videos I had seen of it previously made it appear like it was not that busy of a beach. Perhaps they were just not filming the many other people there.
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 3 April 2024
  • Mrs. Romence
    Grand Rapids, Michigan152 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Such a Beautiful Place!
    We decided to visit Honeymoon Island State Park after hearing wonderful things about it from locals. This place is amazing! The entry fee to get into the park is $8 per vehicle. There is only one exit/entry spot onto the island so plan on it being busy to get into the island especially if it is a holiday or spring break. Once on the island, you can follow the signs for which area you would like to visit. There are several designated beach spots, along with picnic pavilions, walking trails, and a playground. We decided to park at Oasis beach. The beach parking lot filled up very fast, so we were glad to have parked near the beach house (where the restrooms are located; please note there are no restrooms on the beach itself, it is a walk if you need to use the restroom once you find a beach spot.) You can pick any beach spot that you would like and even though the parking lot was full, there were plenty of open spots on the beach. (Also note that this is not a dog friendly beach.) After eating lunch, we started to look in the waves and found dozens of shells. There are all kinds of shells here- very large shells, small spiral shells, etc. We also caught a catfish off the surf while fishing. If you are looking for a great beach spot with lots of shells, fishing, and swimming spots than this is the beach for you!
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 11 April 2024
  • CAG
    Palm Harbor, Florida18 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Honeymoon Beaches- Breathtaking!
    Beautiful beaches, both North and South. The South beach is more accommodating with food and chair rental, but is much more of a rocky beach and lots of rocks getting into the Gulf. The North beach has restrooms, no cafe or chair but it's beautiful white sandy beach and getting into the Gulf is amazing. Great for hikers too! So much to see. Just make sure you steak out your area clearly! Lots of encroachers....even if you have your chairs set up!
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 16 April 2024
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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles2,908 reviews
Excellent
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685
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Poor
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Terrible
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Seth L
Appleton, WI65 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
Didn't intend on coming here, but my GPS brought me here when I typed in Caladesi for some reason. Glad we ended up here! The beach was great. The gentleman working setting up the umbrellas and beach chairs was friendly, and seemed very engaging with the folks who rented them. He also was setting up for a wedding that was happening that afternoon. Seemed like a great place to have a wedding!

There was a little restaurant on site that seemed to have some great options for food and drink. We went with 6 kids under the age of 7 and had a blast for 4 hours. When we first got there it was too cold for the beach, so we went into Dunedin to the farmers market and killed some time there.

Great little slice of beachy heaven here. Will be back next time we're in the Tampa area visiting family.
Written 21 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bruce G
Brick, NJ153 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
We spent the day here to walk the beach. Water was not warm enough for us to swim. Beach had lots of hunks of coral all over so you had to watch your step. We found lots of nice shells. Great view on mainland. There was an $8.00 fee to enter, lots of parking during the week. I wails guess on weekends entry and exit of park could take a while. Very popular beach to visit. Worth a look see.
Written 29 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mindy D
13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023
Amazing doesn’t even cut it ! This state park
Is wonderful . The main beach was full of rocks so not very swimable , the north beach was perfect for swimming and the dog beach . The best shelling you could imagine ! The concession stand food prices were a bit high for 5 people who just got chicken fingers , fries , a grilled cheese and some water it was 85.00 dollars ! I would recommend taking your own food and drinks . I would also recommend some type of water shoe to help avoid cuts from
Broken up shells .
Written 3 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Zach F
Peoria, IL3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2021 • Family
I have been visiting / hiking the Osprey Trail for the past 25+ years. It is an easy hike. Round trip to the tip of the island is approximately 3 miles round trip. Saw tons of ospreys, bald eagle, great horned owl, armadillo, and tortoises. They warn about Eastern Diamondback rattlesnakes; however, thankfully we have never seen one. It’s a very family-friendly trail. We had 3 kids under the age of 7.
Written 4 February 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

FtMyersFan
Chicago, Illinois, Usa48 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
We took a nice walk on the beach. Found some nice shells. Unfortunately, we saw several dead crabs. Saw a wedding taking place at the end of the island. It was picture perfect. This was our second time here and although we did not go in the water, we still really enjoyed it.
Please note: because this is a State Park, there is a small entrance fee per car.
Written 14 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Yank7!6&0++ees84562
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
June 2021 • Family
I paid for a season pass $120 to visit and attend Honeymoon Island State Park and am very displeased with the amt of rocks at the beach particularly at North Beach at Honeymoon. There is no sign or any notice to tell people there is beach maintenance at the front entrance of Honeymoon. Very misleading and a total disappointment! No place to swim as it is inhabitable.

I would request a refund of the season pass.
Written 13 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cynthia W
Freeland, MI812 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Couples
This is a state park, it costs $8.00 to enter. Not sure you can't have the same experience stopping along the causeway to get there. Lots of parking available on each side of the causeway, people camping, grilling, fishing, playing. Dogs are not allowed on the beach of the causeway, so the beach/sand seemed to be clean and a nice place to play. The State park has a small nature center,, per their website they will have guided nature talks. There is a nice trail into the tree area of the spit, where there are owls nesting, ospreys nesting and eagles nesting. Because there is a eagle;s nest you can't have access to all of the spit area. (protection and all of that). There is a play ground near the parking area with restroom at the END of the island. Getting to the end of the island there are 2-4 paved parking areas for the beach, and it get filled quickly. The park closes just after sunset. Lots of people go for the sunset and then all those people get to leave the island in a single file. I'm glad I went, but I won't be returning, , there are other places easier to get to and more rewarding.
Written 27 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Forthesun
Tampa, FL228 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2021
Went to Honeymoon Island this past Saturday arrived 11:30, lots of traffic getting there and line backed up to get in. Went to the walking trails first they were great very pretty easy trail, I did the two mile loop at the end there is an owls nest with the baby and Mom in the pine tree. Then wanted to go to North beach but the parking lot was full, ended up at the main beach which is not very wide due to corrosion with lots of rocks bring your water shoes you can’t really get in without some sort of shoe. Not impressed with this beach. Ate my lunch then decided to try north beach again I was able to get a parking spot and walked all the way to the right/north it was beautiful very rustic and natural this is what I came to see. Overall it was nice not sure I would fight the traffic to go back. For me Fort DeSoto is easier to get to with better beaches.
Written 2 March 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

HelpfulAngel
Atlanta, GA1,448 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2022
We walked on the Osprey trail. What a disappointment. First of all we hardly saw any wildlife - no osprey only 1 turtle. The trail was sandy, dirty, hot and with tons of mosquitoes. I had bites all over me. It wasn't just mosquitoes, it was these little bugs and I also noticed bites all in a line down my leg, my back! The bugs bit us through our clothes and even through our sleeves! The walk is mostly inland and you can't see the beach anywhere in sight so it's not very interested. The rest of the beaches on Honeymoon island are ok. Would never return!
Written 8 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Andy S
Fairfax, VA109 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2021 • Couples
For $8 fee you get a great beach, close parking, changing rooms and bathrooms. Also a snack bar. Beach is awesome tho if you go to the western end, it can be rocky or with large rocks. Pet beach is good for those with dogs. Parking by South Beach Pavilion is best IMHO. Ferry to Caladesi Island, but got to go early for that otherwise lines and crowded.
Written 30 March 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Honeymoon Island State Park - All You MUST Know Before You Go (2024)

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