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There are so many gems hidden around the state of Florida! We love finding spots we’re completely obsessed with.
Have we mentioned before how much we love islands?!
I think I speak for both me and Andrew when I say one day you’ll find us island hopping in the Caribbean on our boat!
So we were absolutely thrilled to find an island just about 3 hours from Orlando!
How to get to Caladesi Island
Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island are tucked away just west of Tampa, and they certainly are a hidden gem! We went on a weekday, because that’s the best time to discover new places!
You take a ferry over from Dunedin Florida, it’s a beautiful ride to start with, we got to see lots of dolphins! (My favorite!) The ferry runs every 30 minutes and the last ride is at 4:30.
What to do on Caladesi Island:
Once you get there you can walk around the nature trails, head out to the beach, you can even rent some gear for the day! We chose to walk the entire island, because that’s how we roll!
It was absolutely stunning and totally secluded! The island is completely untouched besides the one concession stand there + bathrooms.
We hope when you go visit Caladesi there’s still the washed up sailboat:
We of course had to go scope this out! It was a quick swim over to a sand bar where this boat was washed up during a hurricane. The boat is unregistered so they can’t find the owner, so here it sits!
What we recommend bringing to Caladesi:
A cooler with lunch and LOTS of water – there’s no shade here, zero. And if you walk the full island like us, you’ll want it!
Sunscreen and bug spray – Just bring this everywhere with you in Florida, everywhere.
Extra towels, beach towels and an extra because there are showers there to rinse off after a big beach day, before you hop back on the ferry.
Such a perfect day trip spot, we didn’t want to leave!
