Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Beach is one of America's most celebrated and consistently highest-ranked beaches — a barrier island community on Florida's Gulf Coast whose sugar-white quartz sand and brilliant emerald-green water have earned it the title of America's Best Beach on numerous rankings by TripAdvisor, Dr. Beach, and major travel publications. Located at the western end of the Dunedin/Clearwater area on the Pinellas Peninsula, Clearwater Beach is a proper beach resort town, densely developed with hotels, restaurants, and entertainment that operates at a high level year-round.

The beach stretches about 2.5 miles along the Gulf of Mexico, backed by a paved promenade and the tourist infrastructure of one of Florida's most purpose-built beach towns. The Gulf water is remarkably calm and warm — shallow enough for safe family swimming for a long distance from shore, and the characteristic emerald colour comes from the fine white quartz sand below. Average summer water temperatures reach 86°F (30°C), making it genuinely tropical in feel from May through October.

Pier 60 is the centrepiece of the Clearwater Beach experience — a long municipal fishing pier that extends 1,080 feet into the Gulf and hosts the famous Sunsets at Pier 60 festival every evening from two hours before sunset to two hours after, with street performers, craft vendors, and the communal ritual of applauding the Gulf of Mexico sunset from the pier deck. The nightly gathering has been running since 1994 and is one of Florida's most beloved free public events.