The Best of Indian Rocks Beach! Indian Rocks Beach is located on Florida’s west Gulf Coast, also referred to as Florida’s Suncoast. Its the perfect spot for a family vacation or quiet get away for you and someone special.
Indian Rocks Beach is a short drive from Tampa or St. Petersburg and offers nearly three miles of beautiful and accessible beaches along the glittering Gulf of Mexico. The city’s tourist population is one of its greatest assets, as people come from all over the world to visit Indian Rocks Beach for the city’s fine beaches and to watch the beautiful sunsets. The city has 27 beach access points along Gulf Boulevard. Also found within Indian Rocks Beach are several retail businesses and quaint restaurants for your pleasure. Visit all of the area St. Petersburg & Clearwater Beaches here, or visit us on Pinterest.
Indian Rocks Beach Weather – When to Visit
The best time to visit Indian Rocks Beach is between October and December. During these months, you’ll find low humidity, fewer tourists and many holiday events to experience. However, October and November technically fall within the Atlantic hurricane season, and even though they are not peak hurricane months, you should be aware of the possibility of a storm developing. July, August and September’s frequent rainstorms and January, February and March’s high volume of snowbirds (retirees and part-time residents from the northern U.S.) make summer and winter two seasons to avoid. If viewing wildlife is your main objective, consider visiting in April, May or June when migratory birds, stingrays and sea turtles are commonly spotted. While the area is different every season, Indian Rocks Beach benefits from warm weather year-round.
Best Indian Rocks Beach Area Beaches
Indian Shores
Indian Shores is home to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary who are dedicated to the care and release of injured birds native to the Gulf Coast. Indian Shores is approximately 2.65 miles of re-nourished sandy beaches. The town has a variety of shops, restaurants, and accommodations including motels, condos, and time-shares.
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Indian Rocks Beach
Indian Rocks Beach offers nearly three miles of beautiful and accessible beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. People come from all over the world to visit Indian Rocks Beach for the beaches and to watch the beautiful sunsets. There are 27 beach access points along Gulf Boulevard. There are also plenty of restaurants and quaint shops.
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Clearwater Beach
Laid-back Clearwater Beach is known for its namesake stretch of soft, white sand, which draws visitors year-round for jet-skiing, parasailing, and stand-up paddle boarding in its calm waters. Cyclists and roller bladers glide along a winding beachfront promenade lined with casual seafood restaurants and cafes.
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Sand Key Park
Sand Key Beach is a pristine, peaceful paradise among the hustle and bustle of Clearwater Beach. It’s the perfect place to get away without going away. Its the best of both worlds with a beautiful white-sand beach and dog friendly park at the same locale.
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Belleair Beach
This quiet, laid back beach is home to many sea turtle and sea bird nesting sites scattered about the shore. Why visit Belleair Beach? No crowds, no active sports, just peace and quiet. The ultimate beach destination if you want to pretend to be a millionaire for a day.
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Best Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants
Crabby Bill’s $11 – 30
Best seafood in Indian Rocks Beach. The menu includes locally caught or Florida seafood, meat, and other products as often as they are available. They support local and are very proud of bringing you the good stuff. Menu Telephone: 727-595-4825 Web: Crabby Bill’s
Guppy’s On The Beach $11 – 30
Guppy’s on the Beach brings together bold Florida Gulf flavors, coastal ingredients, with a great waterside restaurant. Experience the dynamic energy, local ingredients, and natural beauty of the Florida Gulf Coast that defines what living in Indian Rocks Beach is all about. Menu Telephone: 727-593-2032 Web: Guppy’s On The Beach
Kooky Coconut Under $10
Located within steps from the 8th Avenue beach access to the Gulf of Mexico, Kooky Coconut serves up delicious authentic hot-pressed Cuban sandwiches, fresh burritos, tacos and quesadillas, tuna salad and a variety of other beach-friendly eats. Menu Telephone: 727-517-1300 Web: Kooky Coconut
Keegan’s Seafood Grill $11 – 30
Keegan’s has been an Indian Rocks Beach tradition, and a favorite of the locals since 1985, committed to serving the freshest local products available at a reasonable price. We are a casual family-friendly restaurant a short walk from the beach. Menu Telephone: 727-596-2477 Web: Keegan’s Seafood Grill
Jake’s Coastal Dining Under $10
Fresh Mex made to order as you watch! Tacos, burritos, tamales and more. They use only the freshest ingredients and are known for their fast and friendly team. Whether you dine in or take your meal to the beach, they will see you soon! Don’t forget to try out one of their specialty margaritas with over 20 tequilas to choose from! Menu Telephone: 727-595-6777 Web: Jake’s Coastal Dining
Best Indian Rock Beach Bars
Caddy’s Indian Shores
Waterfront dining, awesome drinks, free parking, great atmosphere, boat docks, gift shop of shirts, hats, jewelry, towels, salt scrub, souvenirs, and more! Telephone: 727-595-3172 Web: Caddy’s Indian Shores
Angry Pepper Taphouse
Real BBQ! 37 beers on tap, plus a full liquor bar. We have live music Friday/Saturday night and on Sunday afternoon. Telephone: 727-596-5766 Web: Angry Pepper Taphouse
Jimmy Guana’s
Indian Rocks Beach serving great food, fantastic drinks, live entertainment and great times. Telephone: 727-595-8356 Web: Jimmy Guana’s
18 on the Rocks
18 On The Rocks offers ice cold refreshments and tasty delights for all of our sun loving friends! Always welcoming and inviting, you’ll find friends here! Telephone: 727-596-5633 Web: 18 on the Rocks
Keegan’s
Keegan’s Seafood Grille is one of the premier places for top quality, fresh, and delicious seafood on Indian Rocks Beach. Telephone: 727-596-2477 Web: Keegan’s
And here we go! One more interesting beach to be considered. I have never visited Indian Rocks Beach Florida. It actually looks incredible here as you presented it. I love the Gulf of Mexico though, was sailing there while working on the cruise ships.. However, you recommend the Indian Rocks Beach for September and October.. We are planning our vacation in July and August though. Let me search further. I have been browsing your website for hours now lol
LOL Sunny. Indian Rocks Beach is my favorite. That is where I head, or Madeira Beach. No crowds, free parking and a wonderful shore to plant my chair on 🙂 Nothing gets better! Please let me know if you need any additional information and thanks for visiting beach travel destinations.
Hi, I enjoy reading this article. I like to learn about new destinations to visit. The Indian Rocks is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Florida. Offering 27 beaches, a lot of activities to do, and many restaurants and hotels to enjoy food and accommodation, this is absolutely, one of the destination to consider and add to my list.
Sincevthe April, May, and June is the best period of the year to visit, I’m going to plan for next year.
Thank you for your recommendations about beaches, restorants, and hotels. The boat tour in the Gulf of Mexico is one of most beautiful activity to do there,too.
best
Alketa
You are very welcome Alketa! I am glad you enjoyed your visit to beach travel destinations. Thanks for stopping by.
Indian Rocks Beach sounds and looks like a great find for beach lovers looking for a west coast beach in Florida. I am familiar with a number of the Florida Gulf communities’ beaches but have not heard of Indian Rocks Beach. The fact it’s so close to Clearwater makes it attractive for those wanting relaxation during the day and some city entertainment at night.
I have always liked the Gulf of Mexico beaches because they look like the Caribbean with the aqua blue water and white sand. What I really enjoyed about your review, is you covered all aspects of visiting the Indian Rocks Beach area, from where to stay and eat, to the best beaches and activities in the area. What really got me excited was Sea Screamer Boat Tour on the largest speed boat in the world! The thought of speeding down the intercostal and then out to the gulf sounds like a lot of fun. And hey, we might even see some dolphins.
And thanks for the heads-up on various places to eat and drink. I am definitely going to check out Kooky Coconut Under because I am a big Cuban sandwich. Along with the pictures of the beautiful beaches and the information on restaurants, hotels and fun things to do, you have given your readers a full view of the fun to be had at Indian Rocks Beach. My wife and I have been looking for a place to go for Thanksgiving, and your review put Indian Rocks Beach at the top of our list to visit. I am sure they will see a good steady pace of beach going tourist this winter, thanks to your review. Great Job Leahrae!
You are very welcome Terry, and thank you so much for taking the time to leave comments on my Indian Rocks Beach Florida Hotels guide. I live in Clearwater, but always go to Indian Rocks beach or Indian Shores beach. Clearwater Beach is just to crowded. Indian Rocks beach is about a 10 minute drive for me. So worth it!
Thank you for putting all this information together. It has just about everything I need to plan my trip to Florida. We were planning our trip for late September and I notice you said there were frequent rainstorms. We are going to be there from about the 20th September. Do you think it’s likely there will be a rainstorm around that time?
September is the rainiest month here. if you can, October is much better and the water is still warm. Before I moved here, I always came in October and never had any rainy days. So, unfortunately you will see rainstorms during that time. Please let me know if you have any further questions and thank you for visiting beach travel destinations.
You’ve done a great job for anyone looking to visit this part of Florida. The beaches look amazing there. I’ve been to Clearwater beach it’s pretty amazing. We did get a storm when we were there and it was crazy how fast it rolled in and was gone again. I can only imagine how quickly Hurricanes tear through.
We saw a hurricane in 2017, and that was the first in over 100 years. So thankfully we don’t get them like Texas or Louisiana. That is the nice thing about storms, they come and they go. Usually don’t last long except during Hurricane Season when we can see some rainy days for several days. I can’t wait for some rain. Pretty dry here right now.
This idyllic coast in Florida really sounds like an amazingly lovlly place to go on holiday indeed. I’ve been reading up on quite a few of your articles here and am very impressed with the place. I live in Scotland in the United Kingdom which is very windy and rainy. So it would be nice to get some rays of sunshine for a change. I’m looking forward to planning a vacation to Florida!
Sounds like the change of weather would make a great vacation for you in itself. Then add our beaches, great food, things to do and you have yourself a wonderful vacation. Thanks for visiting my Indian Rocks Beach Florida Hotels guide.
Thanks for the webiste. Your site covers it all. I love all the tips regarding pricing and booking of rooms. I would have never thought of all those. I also like how you direct us to different sites to teach us how to negotiate better. This truly is a one stop website for all your traveling needs. I’ll be sure to bookmark this for future use!
Thanks again,
Nina
Thanks for your visit Nina and for taking the time to leave me comments.
Indian Rocks beach looks like another amazing beach destination for building sandcastles with the grandchildren and watching the beautiful sunsets. With 27 beach access points, there is certainly a lot that one can explore. I really like the sound of Belleair beach, as there is no active sport, just peace and quiet.
Do these beaches all have lifeguards, or only some of them?
Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach have lifeguards, everything in between is mostly beach and a peaceful quiet. Treasure Island has lifeguards as well. There is just so much to choose from. Your grandchildren would have a blast in the water and the sand! Thanks for the visit to my Indian Rocks Beach Florida Hotels guide.
Hi, this is really amazing. I really like when you describe so well the best Indian rocks Beaches in Florida. I always consider that people who choose to birth in Florida are so blessed. I also like when you link to another page straight to the point. Overall I actually love this article which projects me, while I’m reading just on the beach. It is well structured for everyone to understand. Unfortunately I do not have any experience related to this topic.
I have no further questions but just thank you.
I do thank you for the visit and for taking the time to leave me comments. I hope you can come visit the sunshine state soon!
Visiting the Sunshine State was always a dream of mine. My sister used to live in Florida and I never got the chance to visit. Such a shame, I really missed out there. I might get a chance to go next year. We are planning a family holiday and Indian Rocks Beach in Florida will be added to the list of possibilities. Thanks for the review.
You are very welcome Jamila. I live here and I do love it 🙂 I am glad you enjoyed my Indian Rocks Beach Florida Hotels guide.
In my opinion, Indian Rocks Beach is a charming low-key community. The town is just a short drive from more touristy beaches. I like it because it’s a nice beach respite with less crowds. And at the same time we get to be in the vicinity of the touristic attractions of the other beaches, if we would also like to visit them.
I agree! I live in Clearwater and I prefer heading to Indian Rocks. The beaches are less crowded and they have great hole-in-the-wall restaurants. And it is not near as crowded as other areas.
Hi Leahrae. Another great review ! Your blog is extremely useful, and Im always going here when looking new places to visit or to dream about 😉 I’ve been already on Florida few times but never visited Indian Rocks Beach. Now I see this is something to regret, views are beautiful and hotels really nice. Hope I will be able to go there this year. Thank you!
You should! The whole suncoast area is wonderful. I am glad you enjoyed your visit to my Indian Rocks Beach Florida Hotels guide.
very good website Leahrae. My question has been answered, by reading about you and learning that you like travelling.
You have a very good blog, which from reading the destinations I am taking it you have actually been there. I knwo you say you travel a lot and have been to a lot of places.
is this blog based on those travels?
Yes it is Dave and I live in Clearwater Florida, so all the recent posts are close to my heart 🙂 Thanks for visiting BeachTravelDestinations.com Dave!