TAMPA, Fla. — With the public school systems of all six Tampa Bay area counties and the University of South Florida all out on the same spring break, more than 600,000 students and staff have free time on their hands the week of March 14.
But even if you avoid traveling to the area that week, finding a square of sand for your blanket or a table at your favorite restaurant might be tough other times too. Tampa Bay already has seen a strong postpandemic surge in tourism. Here are some tips for navigating the crowds.
Beaches
Parking is the biggest obstacle. One option is to frequent the restaurants or hotels along the beaches that offer parking for customers, some with an added fee.
If you are searching for a space on the street or in a public parking lot, you’ll find your best chances will be before 10 a.m. or toward sunset. Another tactic is to park away from the beach and use public transportation.
Clearwater’s Jolley Trolley has a beach route that picks up every 30 to 45 minutes. They even have a tracker you can use on your phone or online to see where the trolley is. It is normally $5 for a day pass, but there’s a spring break bonus through April 30. You can park for free and get a free ride on both the Jolley Trolley and PSTA bus lines in Clearwater. Parking is available at the City Hall lot, 112 S Osceola Ave., and the county garage, 310 Court St., as well as at parking lots at 450 Oak Ave. and 311 S Osceola Ave. in downtown Clearwater. Look for Park and Ride on the bus sign. Find maps and route times at clearwaterjolleytrolley.com.
St. Pete Beach has a free shuttle called Freebee that ranges from 75th Avenue and south through Pass-a-Grille. The electric vehicles that look like small buses will take you door-to-door within that range for free. Rides can be requested by phone at 855-918-3733 or you can download the Freebee on the Beach app at ridefreebee.com. Drivers are paid by the city of St. Pete Beach and are not allowed to take tips.
PSTA has a Suncoast Beach Trolley that travels from its Park Street Terminal in downtown Clearwater to 75th Avenue and Gulf Boulevard in St. Pete Beach. It runs every 30 minutes from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Look for special trolley bus stop signs along the route. Exact fare is required ($2.25 per ride or $5 for the day). The fare boxes are equipped to handle $1, $5 and $10 bills but do not give change. psta.net.
Caladesi Island via Honeymoon Island: Try heading to a beach you can’t get to by car. You can only access Caladesi Island via a 10-minute ride on the ferry from Honeymoon Island. Once there, you’ll find beach chairs and umbrellas to rent, as well as bathrooms, showers and a snack bar. It’s $8 per vehicle to enter Honeymoon Island State Park. The ferry is $16, $8 for ages 6-12, 5 and younger free. (There’s a coupon for $1 off the ride for up to six people at caladesiferry.org.) The park is open 8 a.m. until sundown.
Attractions
Theme parks: Spring break is typically one of the busiest times of the year at all the Florida theme parks. For people with lower-tier passes at Walt Disney World, this week is blocked out, and some of Disney’s theme parks are still likely to have sold-out dates this week. At Busch Gardens, the website Queue Times, which uses computer algorithms to predict crowd sizes, rates the park as “packed” this week. It doesn’t predict Busch Gardens will get quiet again until March 28.
If you do choose to brave a theme park, avoid arriving between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Instead, arrive earlier. (Most lots open at least 30 minutes prior to park opening.) Or arrive in the early afternoon and stay till closing. At least you won’t spend as much time waiting in line to enter.
Tampa Riverwalk Attractions Pass: The tourism promoters at Visit Tampa Bay sell a Riverwalk attraction pass that gets you admission to seven local attractions: the Florida Aquarium, the Pirate Water Taxi, the Tampa Bay History Center, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Glazer Children’s Museum, H.B. Plant Museum and the Florida Museum of the Photographic Arts. A one-day pass is $55 for adults and $35 for ages 3-11. A three-day pass is $79, $49 for children. visittampabay.com.
St. Pete Pier: Expect parking to fill up fast at the St. Pete Pier, said Ferdian Jap, who runs events for the Pier. He suggested seeking out spots in the city’s many parking garages and walking over. Some 6,000 to 8,000 people are expected to visit the Pier per day, and that number should double on the weekends, Jap said.
“The main throughway will look busy and we have a hard time driving our golf carts around it, but the crowd tends to keep moving so it doesn’t feel as crowded as you would think,” Jap said.
The Pier tends to be busiest between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., so he suggests going at off-peak times.
Museums
There are some fun family-friendly exhibits at local museums that could be a nice alternative to fighting traffic on the beach or downtown.
Fairgrounds St. Pete: This arts attraction at The Factory St. Pete in the Warehouse Arts District is an art-meets-technology immersive experience that celebrates “weird, wacky and wonderful Florida” with creativity and imagination. It follows a narrative about a couple who have gone missing from the Mermaid Star Motel, with clues to be found. But you can choose just to tour the sites filled with aliens, cats and Florida themes like the Fountain of Youth and hurricanes. $27, $25 Florida residents, adults 65 and older, college students, active military, police, firefighters and EMTs, $22 for ages 4-12, free for members and children 3 and younger. 2606 Fairfield Ave S. fairgrounds.art.
Picasso and the Allure of the South: This visiting exhibit at the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg explores Spanish artist Pablo Picasso’s creative periods in southern Europe. It features 79 of Picasso’s works. Don’t miss a chance to turn your own face from a selfie into a cubist painting. The museum will text or email the picture to you. Then tour the museum’s permanent collection of Salvador Dalí’s surreal paintings. Admission is $29, $20 for students, $12 for ages 6-12. Registration required for a time of arrival at thedali.org.
Glazer Children’s Museum: A new exhibit that just opened at this hands-on museum is a partnership with South Tampa ice cream shop Dairy Joy, which has been scooping up the cold stuff since 1958. The retro-style exhibit has playful nods to Elvis, a working jukebox and wooden ice cream cones and scoops for mixing and matching. After the museum, stop by Dairy Joy at 3813 S Manhattan Ave. for a scoop of a special flavor inspired by the museum. dairyjoytampa.com. There’s also a visiting exhibit at the museum now called “Big League Fun” that finds the science and math behind baseball with games for pitching, batting and scoring. Admission is $15, $13 for ages 1-12, $12.50 for educators, military, first responders and seniors. 110 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa. glazermuseum.org.
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