Honeymoon Island State Park

A big barrier island north of Clearwater Beach, Honeymoon Island State Park was known as Hog Island until – in the hyperbole typical of Florida real estate – it was dubbed with its new name in an ad in Life magazine in 1939 to attract honeymooners to its bungalows. With no causeway to its shores until the 1960s, it remained mostly untouched. Visitors today have no bungalows to enjoy, but the stretch of beach is one of the finest in the Tampa Bay area. Preservation of the island as a state park also preserved two important sites for birding — a nesting colony of pelicans and a nesting colony of ospreys, both found at the north end of the ...

A big barrier island north of Clearwater Beach, Honeymoon Island State Park was known as Hog Island until – in the hyperbole typical of Florida real estate – it was dubbed with its new name in an ad in Life magazine in 1939 to attract honeymooners to its bungalows. With no causeway to its shores until the 1960s, it remained mostly untouched. Visitors today have no bungalows to enjoy, but the stretch of beach is one of the finest in the Tampa Bay area. Preservation of the island as a state park also preserved two important sites for birding — a nesting colony of pelicans and a nesting colony of ospreys, both found at the north end of the island. Since the ospreys nest in tall slash pines, the Osprey Trail, an easy-to-ramble nature trail through one of the last virgin slash pine forests in Florida, provides a place for birders to get close enough to observe osprey feeding their young. Honeymoon Island has a dog beach, not an easy find in these parts, and is the launching point for ferryboats to adjacent Caladesi Island State Park, considered one of the best beaches in America.

About the Expert

Sandra Friend has written 12 books about Florida, including the Explorer's Guide (Countryman Press) series to Florida.