{"id":2562,"date":"2025-10-14T14:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/2562\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T14:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:51:09","slug":"this-underrated-florida-town-is-a-quiet-retirement-paradise-with-miles-of-uncrowded-white-sand-beaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/2562\/","title":{"rendered":"This Underrated Florida Town Is A Quiet Retirement Paradise With Miles Of Uncrowded White Sand Beaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you start in St. Petersburg \u2014 the bustling beach town with award-winning beaches<\/a> just 23 miles across the bay from Tampa \u2014 and drive up the long, slender barrier island that fringes the coastline all the way to Clearwater, you’ll pass through several charming beach towns tucked between the Gulf and Boca Ciega Bay’s intercoastal waterway.\u00a0These include vibrant St. Pete Beach, laid-back Treasure Island, underrated Madeira Beach with its beachside boardwalk<\/a>, and \u2014 if you blink before you get to Indian Shores, you’ll miss it \u2014 Redington Beach, a peak retirement town boasting a median age of 60. “Redington” is sometimes used as a catch-all term for three tiny locations along Gulf Boulevard: Redington Beach, North Redington Beach, and Redington Shores, three\u00a0Pinellas County neighborhoods that share a\u00a0wide, white sand beach.\u00a0Redington Beach itself is about 1 square mile in size, abutting\u00a0North Redington, which merges with Redington Shores to\u00a0cover about 2.5 miles of beach total. Redington’s beaches blend seamlessly south with Madeira Beach until it ends at\u00a0John’s Pass Bridge\u00a0and continues north along Sand Key– 15 miles of connected coastline.<\/p>\n

Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the area in 2024, followed closely by Hurricane Milton. Much of Redington and its fellow coastal communities were flooded and destroyed,\u00a0and\u00a0for weeks, the streets were piled high with sand, soaking couch cushions, broken building materials, moldy mattresses, and lifetimes’ worth of personal items as devastated home and business owners dealt with storm cleanup and rebuilding. Cruise Gulf Boulevard today and you’ll still see empty lots and boarded-up buildings.\u00a0Yet Redington has resiliently bounced back, slowly reopening businesses and beaches, holding tight to its reputation as a delightful destination for retirees, tourists, and anyone else seeking sun and respite.<\/p>\n

Read more: Research Says You Should Skip These Dangerous Beaches When Visiting Florida<\/a><\/p>\n

The area is revitalizing after back-to-back hurricanes in 2024\"Redington's<\/p>\n

Redington’s wide, white sand beaches are uncrowded – Rebecca High\/Static Media<\/p>\n

Florida’s one of the best places to retire<\/a>, and this stretch of Pinellas County’s Gulf Coast,\u00a0conveniently located 14 miles from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport,\u00a0may be the best of the best.\u00a0Still marked by sleepy coastal charm and limited development, Redington’s often overlooked between its bigger neighbors, but it’s far from no-man’s land. It’s no Miami Beach \u2014 not yet anyway \u2014 nor even Clearwater Beach, which has morphed from a coastal village into a skyline of beachfront condos and concrete jungle. Meanwhile, Redington keeps its simple, unpretentious charm \u2014 where most bars are dives and the nicest restaurant in town welcomes flip flops.<\/p>\n

One such spot is\u00a0Conch Republic, which\u00a0is a favorite for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. Known for its specialty fried conch\u00a0and all-day happy hour, the menu includes crab legs, seafood gumbo, rum flights, tableside bananas foster, and occasional prime rib specials. Nearby,\u00a0The Frog Pond Caf\u00e9 re-opened in September 2025, a year after Hurricane Helene destroyed it. The\u00a0popular daytime joint\u00a0has retained its signature frog-related decor and serves\u00a0hearty classics like the Key West Omelet\u00a0and apple waffles,\u00a0until 2 p.m. daily.<\/p>\n

Some motels are rebuilding post-hurricane, but Redington still has charming places to stay. Sand Vista is a historic, old-Florida style Gulf-front motel, and Island House Resort is a colorful, beachfront spot\u00a0with a pool and tiki bar. The Hilton DoubleTree sits right on Redington Beach, offering decent beachfront rates. Its waterfront restaurant and tiki bar, Coconut Charlie’s, is ideal for a sunset cocktail or casual dinner, and open to non-guests.<\/p>\n

Beaches, breakfasts, and bars are local highlights\"Drone<\/p>\n

Drone shot of Friendship Park in Redington Beach – Garrett Brown\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Redington’s big draw is its beaches. Wide swathes of powder-white sand and six beach access points along Gulf Boulevard make it easy to spread out. Redington Shores Beach Access Park is one of the largest, with showers, bathrooms, and ample parking. You can rent beach chairs and umbrellas from WTF Rentals, though they don’t handle set-up or tear-down.\u00a0Several grassy parks with benches and shade along Gulf Boulevard add to the area’s appeal, and the Suncoast Beach Trolley runs along Gulf Boulevard from St. Pete Beach to Clearwater for $2.25 per adult (or $5 for a day pass), making it easy to beach and bar-hop. After a day at Redington Shores Beach access, walk across the parking lot to Broke N Bored Grill for dinner and drinks. For a quick-and-easy post-swim meal or sandy picnic, Beach Pizza and Coastal Pizza Kitchen are both solid local picks.<\/p>\n

Redington also does breakfast well. At Sweet Sage, a charming, eclectic breakfast and lunch spot and boutique, you’ll find\u00a0scrambled eggs,\u00a0seafood wraps, and\u00a0Bloody Marys among vintage decor and beachy knickknacks. Ask for a seat in the shaded garden patio\u00a0and bring your pup for the special doggie menu. There’s also\u00a0My Happy Place, a charming outdoor lunch spot nearby.\u00a0Kenny’s Korner is an under-the-radar gem \u2014 if country-fried steak is on special, get it. The Eggs Benedict variations will excite even the most bougie brunch-lovers, especially paired with a mimosa or beer. For a relaxing morning coffee with water view, head to Coastal Souls Coffeehouse on the intercoastal, where you can nibble pastries and sip espresso while watching boats cruise by.<\/p>\n

Ready to discover more hidden gems and expert travel tips? Subscribe to our free newsletter<\/a> for access to the world’s best-kept travel secrets.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you start in St. Petersburg \u2014 the bustling beach town with award-winning beaches just 23 miles across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3127,28,30,29,3126,3125,2148,3122,3124,3123,3121,2149],"class_list":{"0":"post-2562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-clearwater-beach","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-headlines","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-gulf-boulevard","13":"tag-hurricane-helene","14":"tag-madeira-beach","15":"tag-north-redington","16":"tag-north-redington-beach","17":"tag-redington-beach","18":"tag-redington-shores","19":"tag-st-pete-beach"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}