Clearwater Beach Live Cam

Florida’s West Coast harbors the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area (also known as Pinellas County), a peninsula bordered by Tampa Bay to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west.

The St. Petersburg/Clearwater area is served by two north-south interstate highways -- I-75 and I-95 -- and one that crosses the state, I-4.

Boating is a significant pastime in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area, and a great way to get to the destination as well. With 350 miles of shoreline, the Gulf of Mexico and the Intracoastal Waterway, as well as Lake Seminole and 2,500-acre Lake Tarpon, there’s a lot to explore. Nearly 50 marinas line the peninsula, offering a mix of bait and tackle, gas, overnight accommodations and dining.

Neighborhoods

What are you in the mood for today? Among your choices: Moussaka in Tarpon Springs, a Renoir at St. Petersburg's Museum of Fine Arts, open mic night in Gulfport Art Village.

Want more? Learn what gives each community its small-town charm or big-city glitter, and follow the red-dotted path on each map for fab walking tours.

St. Petersburg - Downtown St. Pete has gone chic. Start your tour on and around Beach Drive. Stay at the Renaissance Vinoy, an early 20th-century grand hotel. Meander through Straub Park, soaking up water views, then buzz into the Museum of Fine Arts. Browsers will enjoy the five-story Pier shopping center. Dislike malls? Spend your time in the myriad antiques stores and galleries lining Beach Drive.

St. Pete Beach - Your tour of St. Pete Beach starts with the Loews Don CeSar. Its pink-painted Moorish/Mediterranean architecture has, for the last seven decades or so, drawn a host of notables. Those to whom the sea calls enjoy the beach’s bounty of fishing and snorkeling charters. You’ll also find scads of gift and clothing shops.

The Hurricane Restaurant in Pass-a-Grille is especially popular for watching sunsets.

Pass-a-Grille - Pass-a-Grille sits on the southernmost tip of St. Pete Beach and offers four miles of beach. Charters are available for snorkeling trips to Shell Key barrier island. Landlubbers enjoy strolling Eighth Avenue and visiting galleries, boutiques and restaurants. The Hurricane, on Gulf Way, is the region’s premier quaffing spot. Admire Gulf views, and nosh on entrées ranging from fried grouper to New York strip steak.

Tarpon Springs - Greek, Greek, Greek. That’s this town’s history and overall vibe. When natural sponge beds were discovered offshore, Greek sponge divers flocked to the area at the turn of the last century.

Tarpon Springs - Start your visit near the waterfront. On Dodecanese Avenue, you’ll find the Tarpon Springs Aquarium (pet the baby sharks and stingrays), the Sponge-O-Rama (a kitsch theater and museum dedicated to the region’s sponging industry) and the Sponge Factory, among the largest of the roughly 12 gazillion souvenir shops selling natural sponges. (The olive oil soap the Greek ladies use, which is also sold at most gift shops, is terrific.) You’ll find a plethora of Greek restaurants on this strip. The fried calamari at Hella’s is a personal fave. Downtown, on Tarpon Avenue, check out the antiques stores. At the Court of Two Sisters, more than 30 dealers sell antiques and collectibles.

Small-town gems:

• Belleair Beach is a residential hamlet consisting of roughly 55 homes and no businesses. Beachgoers will find four public beach-access points.
• Indian Shores is home to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, one of the largest not-for-profit bird hospitals in the United States. (Its goal is to re-introduce injured birds into the wild.) Tours are available.
• At only one square mile, Kenneth City is the smallest incorporated community in Pinellas County, hence the hometown feel.
• In Largo, you’ll find Pinewood Cultural Park, home to Heritage Village, the Florida Botanical Gardens and the Gulf Coast Museum of Art. Heritage Village is a perennial favorite. The 182-acre Florida Botanical Gardens, meanwhile, serves up wetlands, rose beds and a tropical walk.
• You can’t visit Madeira Beach without a stop at the nautically themed John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk. An outdoor shopping and dining venue, it boasts more than 100 stores and restaurants, many sporting tin roofs and featuring water views. Spot dolphins and other Florida fauna on a water sightseeing tour.
• North Redington Beach is a barrier island, primarily residential, but popular with visitors for its mile-long stretch of white sand and the Doubletree Beach Resort Tampa Bay.
• Oldsmar is named for Ranson Eli Oldsmar, inventor of the Oldsmobile and REO cars.