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Beautiful White Sand
Pass-a-Grille Beach is located just south of St. Pete beach and just north of Ft De Soto.  The line separating St. Pete beach from Pass-a-Grille Beach is the Don Cesar Resort, or for folks that don't know its name, the huge pink hotel.  Pass-a-Grille offers the same splendid white sand and calm turquoise blue waters that are popular along this coast from Clearwater Beach all the way down to St. Pete.  Pass-a-Grille Beach, unlike Clearwater Beach, does not have a towering skyline of high-rise hotels adjacent the shore.  Instead, manmade structures, buildings, residential and commercial zones, are displaced about one block from the beach.  Also, the neighborhood surrounding this beach is mostly residential with older beautiful homes, and a few smaller less obtrusive hotels sprinkled in between.

Pass-a-Grille Beach is the southernmost beach on this island where the pass separates this island from Shell Key to the south.  There is a small jetty and fishing pier at the southernmost end of Pass-a-Grille Beach.  Additionally, there is a small beach area on the inter-coastal side of the island opposite to the main Pass-a-Grille Beach.  Although the sand is the same in this area, watch out because there is a pretty powerful current here on the inter-coastal side.  Swimming is unsuitable for kids unless closely supervised as the current on the inter-coastal side flows pretty rapidly from north to south and then out to the channel.  On the Gulf side, at Pass-a-Grille Beach, the waters are calm, the sandy shore gently slopes into the water, and is an ideal place for kids to play and swim.

Eating at Pass-a-Grille Beach
There are numerous restaurants and bars that line the main avenue here at Pass-a-Grille Beach.  A popular fixture at this beach is a restaurant called hurricane.  The Hurricane is a casual family restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating one block off of the Pass-a-Grille Beach.  Indoors, you can choose to eat on the first or second floor, with the second floor offering a nice view of the beach and waters to the west.  The third floor offers an open air bar and small stage where live music is performed.  This area offers the most sweeping views of the beach below, the waters and channel to the west, and even a glimpse of Shell Key beyond.  All parking in and around Pass-a-Grille Beach is curbside with a parking meter that grants up to a maximum of 4 hours of parking.  The Hurricane restaurant does offer free parking immediately behind the restaurant, but spaces are limited.

If you do come to pass a grill beach, take our advice and fill the parking meter with all the quarters it can handle, you will definitely want to stay and enjoy the beach as long as you can.

One thing we like to do when we visit Pass-a-Grille Beach is bring our kayak with us and paddle around the waters to the south of the island.  On the south eastern corner of Pass-a-Grille Beach, on the inter-coastal side, there is a small strip of beach immediately adjacent curbside parking where you can conveniently unload and launch your kayaks from.  From this small beachy area, we like to paddle south along the inter-coastal waterway around the point and across the channel over to Shell Key to the south.

The Austere and Beautiful Shell Key

Shell Key
Shell key is a beautiful spoil island situated south of Pass-a-Grille Beach and north of Ft De Soto.  This island is uninhabited, has no man-made structures on it, and is very similar to Caladesi Island.  What you get here is a beautiful white sandy beach that stretches for what seems like miles, a gentle sandy sloping shore, and the best of all - it is almost like your own private beach because not that many people venture out to shell island.  You can't get here by car but only by private boat, charter vessel or ferry, or by kayak.  If you do venture out to Shell Key, take caution when crossing the channel, many large boats speed through here and although they are very careful in keeping an eye out for kayakers, the wake from their boats can be significant.  Remember to bring lots of water, sunscreen, hats, and a beach umbrella to provide shade because there are no trees or shade on the island.  While standing on the beautiful shore at Shell Key, take a look to the north across the channel and you will see Pass-a-Grille Beach proper with hundreds and hundreds of beachgoers want you stand in peaceful privacy on shell key.

Small Shells at the beach on Shell Key

When driving from the mainland, be aware that the main causeway coming to Pass-a-Grille Beach and St. Pete beaches is shared by the traffic also visiting Ft De Soto.  This traffic can be especially high volume on holiday weekends as most people take the causeway over and then turn left to visit Ft De Soto.  Keep your eyes open the minute you cross the small bridge over to the island as we've even seen pods of dolphins frolicking in the inner coastal below us right as we drove over the bridge.  Enjoy the miles and miles of beautiful Pinellas County beaches!

Related Articles:
Kayaking to Caladesi Island, FL
Kayaking with the Manatees at Crystal River
Kayaking to Sand Key, Clearwater

Related Links:
Pinellas County Blue Ways Site
Pinellas Waterways Online Maps

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