The Palm Pavilion and Clearwater Marine Aquarium

It's Day 3 of our Tampa Bay beach vacation. We started out by going to the Palm Pavilion in Clearwater for lunch. Have you noticed that we can't seem to do anything before lunch? In Florida, there's nobody to tell you when to get up or what to do. You don't even have to shave or comb your hair. Just wear a hat and sunglasses and you'll fit right in.


We enjoyed the view of the beach from the veranda and just watched the world go by. I like the motto the Palm Pavilion has on their t-shirts and cups, "There's no place like this place anywhere near this place, so this must be the place." We saved the paper cups from our drinks for collecting sea shells, and went for a walk along Clearwater beach. It's my favorite beach for people watching.

We didn't really have a set hour by hour schedule. I had in mind to go sight seeing where we could retreat into air conditioning during the heat of the day. The time of day for being at the beach in the water would be later in the afternoon, and then we'd stay to enjoy the sunsets.



Nicholas the dolphin at Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

This is the only day of our vacation where we actually did have something scheduled. We had a reservation for 1pm to go on a boat ride at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. It's called the Sea Life Safari Ecotour. We looked around the aquarium and then got on the boat for a tour of Clearwater Harbor. The captain did a good job of pointing out some of the historic and fabulous estates that were along the shore. It was a point of view you could only see from the water and would miss driving by on the road.


A heron and roseate spoonbills in a bird sanctuary.


They cast a net overboard and pulled up sea life. One of the scientific tasks CMA does is to take regular inventories of the sea life here. They had a large tank to put the sea life in. Then they transferred the fish into smaller aquariums to show everyone. Other sea life, like the sea urchin in the above photo, were passed around. The spines of the sea urchin were sharp.


The back of the spider crab was soft like velvet.


Then we went to an island in Clearwater Harbor to go shelling.


Someone found a large horse conch in the process of eating a whelk. I've never seen anything like it. I find sea shells like the whelk often and wondered how the mollusk inside was cleaned out leaving a perfect shell behind.

After the boat tour we got in the car to go beach hopping.


More photos of Clearwater.

Easter Bunny Sighting at Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

We picked up some visitors from the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, had lunch at Clearwater beach, and went to Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA). The animals here have been found injured, are rescued, and then rehabilitated to be released back to their natural habitat. CMA's specialty is with dolphins, sea turtles, and sea otters, to name a few species. Those that can't be released become permanent residents here. What makes this place different from other zoos or aquariums is that each of these animals has a name and a story.


We walked downstairs to look in the windows of the big dolphin tank. This dolphin is one of four permanent residents. His name is Nicholas. The white marks on his back are scars from sunburn. He was stranded as a calf with his mother Noelle on Christmas Eve 2002. His mother did not survive. Nicholas was too young to have learned how to hunt on his own, and has since been a resident here.

Nicholas and a trainer during the dolphin show.

Nicholas looking through the window at Winter. She was very chatty. They say that she is the most vocal dolphin here.

Winter is the most famous resident at CMA. She was found wrapped in a crab trap when she was 3 months old. She lost her tail as a result of her injuries. Winter learned how to swim side to side like sharks do. She has been an inspiration to handicapped people around the world.

A prosthetic tail was developed for her. The new technology developed for the tail has helped improve human prosthetics.

A sea turtle diving. A sign with the name and story for each animal was by their tank.

We enjoyed seeing the animals and seashell displays. Our guests from Ohio had never seen dolphins up close. It's fun introducing people to new experiences.

Admission Fees
Adults $11.00
Children (age 3-12) $7.50
Seniors (age 60+) $9.00

Parking is free.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium also offers boat tours, behind the scenes tours, and dolphin photo ops.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

We had fun visiting Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) with Abigail and Grandma Apple. It's always interesting to see animals up close that you can only get a glimpse of in a natural setting.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium has a team of first responders to marine life emergencies and specializes in giving medical treatment and rehabilitation to injured animals. The goal is to re-release the animals back to their natural homes. Those that have injuries that make them unable to be released become permanent residents here.


Here is Nicholas the dolphin waving goodbye after a dolphin show. Nicholas was stranded with his dying mother as a calf. He is a permanent resident at CMA.

The most famous CMA dolphin named Winter had injuries so severe that she lost her tail as a calf. Winter was not expected to live, but she refused to give up. She learned to swim without a tail! Today she is an inspiration to amputees and disabled children. The research and development that went into producing a prosthetic tail for Winter has improved the technology for human prosthetic limbs.


These dolphins cracked me up. They were taking turns poking their heads out of the water to look at the people. Their bodies moved straight up and down in the water like yo-yos. Dolphins are such characters.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium is located just over the big white bridge on Route 60 (Clearwater Memorial Causeway) on the right side as you head west towards Clearwater Beach. There are signs along the road. You can't miss it. Drive around the building to the front entrance with the canopy. I highly recommend a visit.

Related Links:
Clearwater Marine Aquarium - Read stories about the individual animals and see release videos.

Just Chillin' at Honeymoon Island

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

It was a beautiful day at Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, Florida. People were enjoying the bench swings at the beach at the north parking lot. Further down the shoreline you can see a group of people shelling. It seemed like you could see every kind of blue imaginable in the water and the sky. The hustle and bustle of the working week was washed away by the beautiful scenery and the sound of waves breaking on the beach.

We saw rocks all over the beach so, we turned around to head to the south beach parking lot. We hoped to get away from the rocky terrain.


Here is the view to the south (from the beach at the south parking lot). You can see the white sand of Caledesi Island and the high rise hotels of Clearwater in the distance. There's a ferry to Caladesi Island from Honeymoon Island. The two islands used to be connected until a hurricane seperated them in the 1920's.


We rediscovered the rocky terrain in the water along the shore. You can see people teetering along as they try to walk over the rocks to get in the water. Once you get past the rocks the sand is smooth, and there is a sandbar nearby.


Here is a live whelk found at the sandbar.

The beach was beautiful, but the rocks made it difficult to get in and out of the water. Alfonze developed a technique of laying down and floating over the rocks using his hands to "walk" over them. I had a hard time walking on the rocks, even with beach shoes on. Despite the inconvenience of the rocks it is still a nice beach and I would come back again. The facilities are modern, clean, and well lit.

I'd like to go to Caledesi Island, which was voted #1 Beach in North America this year by Dr. Beach. It is only accessible by boat. Honeymoon Island will be a great place to explore in the winter when we are walking rather than swimming at the beach.

More photos taken at Honeymoon Island

Related Links:
Caladesi Island State Park
Honeymoon Island State Park

Easter at the Beach

We drove to Clearwater Beach this morning. There was hardly any traffic. It was great! The weather was a little cool, but sunny. We had lunch at the Palm Pavillion. Nobody was in the water. The people on the beach were enjoying the sun.

The above picture is from along the causeway leaving Clearwater. There were people on the small beaches along the causeway soaking up sun or fishing. This palm tree lined section is my favorite part of the road.