Honeymoon Island: Ospreys, Shells, and Old-Florida Beaches
Just off Dunedin, Honeymoon Island is one of Florida’s most popular state parks, with undeveloped beaches, a rare virgin pine forest, and one of the densest osprey populations in the state.
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Fort Pickens: The Island Fortress That Held Geronimo
On a barrier island off Pensacola stands a massive 1830s brick fort that stayed in Union hands through the Civil War and later imprisoned the Apache leader Geronimo, all wrapped in white-sand national-seashore beaches.
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Lovers Key: The Once-Secret Islands of Southwest Florida
A cluster of undeveloped barrier islands near Fort Myers Beach, Lovers Key was once reachable only by boat, a quiet hideaway of shells, dolphins, and manatees.
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Grayton Beach: The 30A Park With a Rare Coastal Dune Lake
On the Panhandle’s scenic 30A, Grayton Beach pairs sugar-white sand and emerald water with a coastal dune lake, a landform found in only a handful of places on Earth.
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St. George Island: The Quiet Panhandle Beach Time Forgot
No high-rises, no traffic lights, just miles of white sand, a historic lighthouse, and some of the emptiest beaches in Florida. Meet St. George Island.
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Anna Maria Island: The Old-Florida Beach Town That Said No to High-Rises
Just off Bradenton, Anna Maria Island keeps the high-rises out, the pace slow, and the old-Florida charm intact, anchored by a historic wooden pier and miles of quiet white sand.
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Fort De Soto: The Island Fort That Became America’s Best Beach
A Spanish-American War fort on a barrier island south of St. Petersburg, Fort De Soto guards some of the best beaches in America, plus miles of trails, a paddling trail, and old mortar batteries you can still climb.
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St. Andrews: The Panama City Beach Park With a Calm Cove
Sheltered by a rock jetty, St. Andrews State Park offers some of the calmest, clearest, fish-filled water on the Panhandle, plus sugar-white sand and a boat to Shell Island.
