Plan Your Florida Vacation
The aim of this blog is to provide as much information about things to see and do whilst you are on the holiday of a lifetime in the vacation capital of the world - The Sunshine State of Florida.
-
Pine Island a Special Beach
Posted on February 16th, 2009 No commentsWritten by: Derek Woodforth
Authors WebsiteOn our trips to Florida we always go to this beach it is very pretty and prefect for children .It usually takes us about 100 mins to get there from High Grove. To get there you need to go north on Highway 27 toward Clermont till you reach Highway 50, turn west on the 50 heading towards the coast, Highway 50 merges into the 98 at Brooksville, take the truck route here, at the end of the truck route turn left and rejoin Highway 50 (west). Continue till you come to Highway 19 at Weeki Wackee Springs, cross over Highway 19 onto Cortes Blvd. (550), continue along this road till you find a right turn signposted Pine Island Highway 495 take this turning and continue along this road arriving in the car park next to the beach.
The Car Park costs approx about $5 for the day, it has volley ball pitch and children’s play area in the centre. Arrive early at the weekend or on bank holidays as the car park fills up quickly and you can not park anywhere else on the island.
There is a small shop/café near the car park; this sells drinks and food, Chips, Burgers, and Sandwiches etc. It has a few tables to sit and eat outside, but there are many picnic tables, with shade all around the beach. Also provided are BBQ areas near the picnic tables. We always take the cool box and have a Picnic, the kids love it.
The beach has no deckchair or parasol hire, so if you want them you need to take your own, although there are a few palm trees around the beach for a little shade. A small pier runs off the beach with a notice about the different sea animals and birds that can be sighted here at different times of the year, manatees being one of them. When the tide is out you can paddle out along way in very shallow water to see lots of baby crabs boring in the sand and small fishes swimming around.
There are showers provided on the beach and near the café is very clean and well cared for restrooms.