Since we moved to Florida, we have been slowly visiting the gorgeous vacation spots Florida offers. You can see all of the Florida locales we’ve visited on my Florida Travel page. It was time for us to plan a family vacation at Clearwater Beach to round out this Summer. I’m sharing our family-friendly picks with you here! I’ll share where we stayed, where we ate and what we did!
Clearwater is known for its beaches – soft, white sand and crystal clear turquoise water. Clearwater Beach sand is made from quartz crystals and is cool to the touch. That means endless barefoot walks morning, noon and night without worrying about burning sand. The girls and I spent endless hour seashell hunting. Clearwater definitely has a blue collar vibe. I researched where to eat, what to do with kids, and where to stay. I’m sharing my top tips with you below.
Where to Stay
We stayed at the Sandpearl Resort, which is part of the Opal Collection of hotels. This luxury resort is well maintained, had lovely direct beach access and the rooms were spacious and new. There are two great dining options on-property. It’s right in downtown Clearwater Beach. There are plenty of extra dining options within walking distance.
There are are few amenities I especially enjoyed at the Sandpearl. First, having children means you must have easy on/easy off access to the beach. The property is located right on the beach. You can walk directly from the pool. Moving back and forth all day is easy. Which is exactly what we did the first two days of our vacation. The pool had plenty of seating options. Some folks do come down early in the morning to place items and “reserve” prime chairs nearest the pool’s edge. Nevertheless, there are ample lounge chairs. Finding a space for the four of us was never an issue.
The resort requires guests to wear a wristband. This identifies that they’re staying at the hotel while at the pool. This way, people are prevented from sneaking in from the beach. There were also games like ping pong and corn hole for the girls to play. Dining service from Tate Island Grill is available at the pool and the beach. That was very convenient and we utilized that. There are cabanas for rent, but we didn’t feel the need to do that during this visit.
Where to Eat
We dined the first evening and our last evening at the casual Tate Island Grill. This grill is at the Sandpearl resort. It is located directly next to the beach. The food was solid. I got the chicken nachos the first evening and fish tacos on our last night. The fish tacos were fresh, light and crispy – not much more you can ask for!
Our second evening we dined at one of the higher-end establishments in the area, Caretta on the Gulf. The restaurant overlooks the ocean. It draws a mixture of resort vacationers and locals. These visitors are there celebrating a special occasion or having a nice dinner out. The views were gorgeous as the sun set. All of the food we got was delicious. The surprise of the evening was that the chef prepared almost anything gluten-free. This was especially great for Justin. It’s so rare that he gets to partake in choosing an entree from an entire menu of options. I was also impressed that there was a petite filet on the kids menu. Katie (our meat-loving lady) ordered this and it truly was a petite filet, cooked to perfection medium-rare.
What to Do
Clearwater is known for its white sand beaches and turquoise waters. If you’re planning a family vacation at Clearwater Beach, make sure to spend at least one day relaxing beachside.
You should also visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. It’s a research and rehabilitation facility. Katie would have spent all day touching the stingrays. We loved learning about dolphins during the many short dolphin talks throughout the day.
I also researched the aquarium before our trip and purchased some extra special add-on experiences for the girls. They got to spend half an hour feeding the resident tortoises. They got to get up close and personal with the stingrays and feed them as well. Their favorite behind the scenes experience though was an hour long session with the resident nurse shark. They got to go out on a floating pad in the shark’s enclosure with a marine biologist. They assisted him in feeding her. They also got to pet her as she swam around and around the pad. She knew when it was feeding time.
I also spent a relaxing afternoon at the Sandpearl Resort Spa. I got a massage and my therapist, Natalie, was amazing. The part of the massage where she rubbed my feet was pure bliss. I’m not necessarily a foot person, but I would have paid for the massage just for that foot rub.
They also have these new advanced sound and vibration synced massage beds. So the bed vibrates based on the music that’s playing. At first, I thought it would be distracting, but it soon put me into a strange trance. I kept having to pull myself back to the current moment. I was in such a relaxed state that I couldn’t keep my mind focused. I highly recommend booking an appointment while you are there.
You can visit the spa even if you aren’t a resort guest. With a spa service booked you are free to use the spa amenities all day. There are complimentary mimosas that I saw a few women partaking in.
In conclusion, going on vacation with the whole family is always a lot. Kids are tiring no matter if you’re dealing with them at home or at the beach. But, there’s something so filling for our souls being near the ocean. Our skin craves sun and sand. Our body wants to jump waves and float in the water. We fall asleep easily listening to the waves crashing at night. Visiting the beach always refreshes us in a way that’s primal. I love living in Florida and exploring all of her different beaches and beach towns. Clearwater Beach did not disappoint. We had an amazing time at the Sandpearl lounging by the ocean. We got to educate the girls on marine life at the Aquarium. I got some solo time with peace and quiet at the spa. We got to eat amazing food at Caretta on the Gulf. Those are the four pillars of a successful vacation in my book. Our family vacation to Clearwater Beach was a great ending to the Summer.
