PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Businesses along the beaches in Pinellas County are counting on a big spring break season this year, especially after the county’s $125 million beach renourishment project wrapped up last month.

What You Need To Know

Pinellas County beach businesses are expecting a strong spring break season after the $125 million beach renourishment project was completed.

Restaurants on Treasure Island say customer traffic has increased in recent weeks, with even larger crowds expected for St. Patrick’s Day and spring break.

With a wider beach and more space for visitors, business owners say they are ready to handle spring break crowds.

Restaurant managers in Treasure Island said they have seen more people coming out over the last couple of weeks. Now, they are expecting even more people for St. Patrick’s Day and spring break.

It’s a spot that Dean Vanier and his wife, Shelly, have always treasured.

“We love it. We have been coming here about eight to 10 years,” he said.

The couple comes to Caddy’s Treasure Island about three times a week, a place that is still rebuilding its restaurant and a beach they’ve seen transform after being damaged during the 2024 hurricane season.

“What they have done is borderline remarkable. They put all the beaches back,” he said.

“It’s stunning. We usually do our walks up and down, all the way from Sloppy Joe’s to here,” Shelly said.

Now that the beach renourishment project has been completed for a couple of weeks, kitchen manager Erik Morris says they are getting a sense of normalcy back.

“When we first opened up, people were trickling in because I think everybody went a little stir crazy. But in the last week or two, it started to pick up a little bit. As you can see today, we are busy,” he said.

He also says the beach is now twice as big as it was before, and with spring break and St. Patrick’s Day coming up, they have much more space to welcome guests.

“You know, it’s a great thing. It’s the biggest I’ve seen the beach since I’ve been down here,” he said.

Like many of our local beach businesses, staff at Caddy’s tell us they are still rebuilding and making progress.

Bay area schools are still a few weeks away from spring break, but spring breakers are expected to start showing up this week and stick around for the next six weeks or so.

Last year, Tampa International Airport saw more than 3.3 million passengers during the spring break season.