Honeymoon Island State Park is a lesser known undeveloped gem of a park that’s on a barrier island on Florida’s west-central gulf coast, just off the coast of Dunedin, Florida. Honeymoon Island State Park is one of my favorite beaches in Florida, and here’s five reasons I love this place and you should check it out too!
Honeymoon Island State Park
1 Causeway Blvd, Dunedin, FL 34698
Admission:
$8 per vehicle
$4 single-occupant vehicle
$2 pedestrians & bicyclist
Hours: The park is open 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days a year.
It’s out of the way, and not very crowded
Honeymoon Island State Park isn’t usually one of the first beaches in this part of the state that pops into a lot of people’s mind when they think of going to the beach on the Central Gulf coast of Florida Most people will automatically think of Clearwater Beach first, since that’s probably the most famous one in the area that draws all the tourists, then maybe places like St. Pete Beach, Madeira Beach, or even Siesta Key.
So if you like crowds and want a more party atmosphere at the beach, and maybe you do, you can always go to one of the more popular beaches. But maybe you’re looking for a little escapism on your beach day? Maybe you want a more quiet beach where you can have a piece of it to yourself?
If that sounds like you, and you’re in this part of the state, then Honeymoon Island is definitely a place worth checking out!
It’s a little bit out of the way, in the town of Dunedin, so it’s not really in a spot where a lot of tourists are going to be staying. It’s really more of a locals beach, or for visitors who took a little extra effort to find this place. It also has an admission fee to get in, so when you combine those two things; away from all the tourists and costs a little money to to go, you’re going to be creating a little barrier to entry for some people, so it’s just not going to have quite as many people coming here. If you come here, especially on a weekday, you might have huge stretches of the beach to yourself.
Now, you might be reading the name of this place, Honeymoon Island, and are thinking well yeah, of course fewer people are going to go there…it’s on a freaking island! Well yeah, technically Honeymoon Island State Park is on an island. But it is connected to the mainland by a causeway and a bridge so you can easily drive over there. No boat is required to reach this island!
The park is actually right next to Caldesi Island State Park too, which is another great state park that you do need a boat to reach. Caladesi is great day trip for those looking for an even more private and secluded beach. So if you do decide you want the real deserted island experience, you can get to Caladesi Island from here by taking a ferry, or even kayaking out there if you’re up for it.
Honeymoon Island State Park is undeveloped, and unspoiled
For a lot of people, when they think of Florida beaches, they think of the popular tourist beaches. Places like Daytona Beach, South Beach, Panama City Beach, and Clearwater Beach come to mind. And these beaches all tend to be lined with big high rises condos and hotels all along the waterfront. Maybe some beachfront bars and restaurants are there too. But Honeymoon Island Beach is actually a state park, so it doesn’t have any of that development that has just become part of the scenery over the last few decades.
When you come here you’ll find very little in terms of development. There are roads, some bathrooms and a snack bar, a few picnic shelters and playgrounds, but that’s about it. It’s really been mostly left in it’s natural state, the way it looked before 20 million people moved to Florida.
There’s also a little visitor center that has a gift shop and a little museum where you can learn a little bit about the history of the island. This is where I learned that it got its name because the island was once actually used as a sort of romantic resort type of place with little bungalows where newlywed couples would come to go on their honeymoons. I guess it was like of the first versions of a Sandals resort. All that stuff is long gone, but the name stuck.
The beach at Honeymoon Island is very clean. One of the cleanest I’ve ever been on to be honest. There’s a group of volunteers that come out here to pick up any litter that happens to get left behind, so if you come out here you’ll find an especially clean, white sand beach to enjoy and you’ll really have to look hard to find any of the bottle caps or cigarette butts that you might see laying around at some of the other more crowded beaches. On my last visit here, I saw that a scouting group even left some stuff there for anybody who wants to help out and pick a few things up on their own while here.
So if you want to enjoy a little piece of unspoiled natural Florida, Honeymoon Island State Park is a great place to do it!
Hiking and Florida nature too
I kind of consider Honeymoon Island to be two state parks in one. There’s the beach, of course, but there’s also a lot wildlife and nature on the island too. There’s a pretty big patch of the island that’s covered in a pine flats and has an easy going hiking trail that loops around through it. It’s called the Osprey Trail because there’s a lot of Ospreys that nest in here, and it’s really common to see them flying around in here, hanging out on tree limbs, or carrying fish back to their nests. This is a great park for bird watching if that’s your thing. There’s a lot of seabirds on the beach, but here in the pine flats i’ve seen Great Horned Owls and even Bald Eagles a few times. This part of the park is definitely worth checking out, and it’s really interesting and easy hike but make sure you bring bug spray if you do. This trail can be a little buggy at times.
There’s a lot of Gopher Tortoises on the island too, and you can often see one just kind of hanging out in grassy area of the park. But look out for Rattlesnakes too. I don’t want to scare you off or anything, but they are known to be pretty common out here, and there are signs posted warning people of some of the places you’re more likely to find them.
And of course, the beach is perfect for one of natures greatest shows – the sun setting over the gulf of Mexico. The islands location on the Gulf Coast offers a perfect viewing spot to watch the sun set into the gulf. A perfect way to cap off a perfect day at this beautiful Florida beach.
It’s a great beach for shell hunting
If you’re a shell hunter, this is actually one of the best beaches in the area for finding seashells, and is pretty underrated for that so some of those prized finds could still be hiding just under the surface, waiting to be found.
The way that this island kind of sticks out along the coastline makes the island act as sort of a big natural barrier that blocks the water currents that carry a lot seashells along the coastline, and dumps them off here. Think of it like a big net in the water that stops the shells from flowing along the coast, and they pile up along the beach here in big numbers.
That’s why Sanibel Island in southwest Florida is so famous for shelling. It sticks out at an almost 90 degree angle and catches all the shells that tumble along in the current. Honeymoon Island is kind of like that too, so if you’re a shell collector, this is definitely a beach that’s worth a look.
Dunedin, Florida is a great little town to visit
This reason isn’t really about the beach or island itself, but Dunedin, Florida is actually a really charming and fun little town that’s worth checking out while you’re in the neighborhood.
Downtown Dunedin is a fun little spot with a lot of cool local restaurants, bars, English pubs, and a lot of great little craft breweries. Dunedin Brewery, he first craft Florida in Florida is right here and is still a popular spot with great beer, live music and overall great vibe. And there’s even a little museum here dedicated to the Beatles. It’s a pretty funky little town that’s a lot of fun to visit and explore.
See also: Things to do in Dunedin, Florida
Dunedin puts on a Scottish Highland Games every spring too, which is a major event in town, and is also the Spring Training home to the Toronto Blue Jays and home to their Single-A affiliate the Dunedin Blue Jays. Their ballpark was just recently renovated too, so if you’re a baseball fan, that’s also something to come see. Spring Training is great, and minor league baseball is a lot of fun too.
