Clearwater / Dunedin, Florida
Honeymoon Island had been on our radar for a while, so we picked a warm day, paid the $8 day pass, and headed over to explore. The island is big, beautiful, and honestly one of those places you could experience totally differently depending on what part you visit.
Here’s how our day went – seagulls, tortoises, sea glass, and a surprise shark included.
We started at the Visitor Center, and it was such a good call. The women working there were incredibly helpful, full of tips about where to go, what wildlife had been active, and which trails were worth the time. They gave us a quick overview of the park and pointed out spots where we might see osprey and gopher tortoises.
It set the tone for the day – super friendly, very relaxed.
After the Visitor Center, we decided to try the Osprey Trail, which is a flat, easy walk through tall pines and scrubby habitat. It’s usually great for birding, but the day we went? It was humid and buggy, and both of us looked like we were melting after just a few minutes.
Before we turned around, though, we spotted a gopher tortoise chilling by a bench like it had been waiting to greet us. Worth the short walk just for that moment.
We bailed on the trail pretty quickly (“beach sounds more fun” won unanimously), but we’ll definitely come back another day when it’s cooler – and with bug spray.
We made our way to the beach next, and wow – the water was gorgeous. Soft sand, tons of shells, that bright Gulf blue that never gets old.
Everything was peaceful… until we took out our food.
The seagulls appeared immediately, like they had a group chat that alerted them: “Humans! Snacks!”
They weren’t aggressive, just very bold. One seagull dead-stared me like I was personally depriving him of a sandwich. We ended up tucking the food away until later, because the vibe was quickly turning into a Hitchcock audition.
Once the gulls backed off, we walked the shoreline. Layla found some beautiful shells, and we both commented that this would be an amazing place to bring our bikes. The island is huge, with plenty of paved areas and quieter pockets that would be perfect to explore on wheels. Definitely adding “bike day at Honeymoon Island” to our future plans.
We left the park a little early because we wanted to catch the sunset from the causeway just outside the entrance, and honestly? It ended up being one of the best parts of the day.
Layla found tons of sea glass along the shoreline – more than we saw on the island itself – and the sunset colors over the water were gorgeous.
Right before we left, we watched a guy fishing from the rocks who caught a small shark (well… small-ish, like 3–4 feet, which still counts as “shark!” in my book). He released it, but it was still fun and a little surreal to see up close.
It was the perfect “Florida moment” to end the day.
Honeymoon Island has a little bit of everything – trails, wildlife, beaches, shelling, biking paths, and plenty of quiet corners to explore. We had a mix of seagull chaos, sweet wildlife sightings, and a gorgeous sunset to wrap it all up, which honestly feels very on-brand for our travel days.
We’d go back for sure, especially with bikes or on a cooler morning to give the Osprey Trail a proper try.
Have you been to Honeymoon Island? Tell me what your experience was like – and if you’ve cracked the code on how to eat on the beach without seagulls staging a takeover, I need your wisdom.
Travel Turtles 