Pass-a-Grille Beach, Florida

Wading on the sandbar on Pass-A-Grille Beach.

Pass-A-Grille Beach occupies the narrow, southern tail-end of Saint Pete Beach. It is also my second favorite beach in Pinellas County, behind Caladesi Island. If you want to get away from the high-rises and big resorts, Pass-A-Grille is the place to go on St. Pete Beach.

Pass-A-Grille is entirely different from the rest of the island because its private residences do not block access to the beach. The entire twenty-two blocks of Pass-A-Grille beach are public access. All homes and small beach motels are across the street from the beach. When you look up the term “beach-town” in the dictionary, you should find reference to “see Pass-A-Grille.”

The community is steeped in history, centered around the Merry Pier (the name has nothing to do with Christmas) and Historic Eighth Avenue, and if anything, it has gotten better with age. Even with the constant flow of visitors, Pass-A-Grille is a tight-knit community, at least compared to most these days. And it’s resilient. The great hurricane of 1921 (the same one that split Caladesi into two islands) completely inundated Pass-A-Grille with sea water. It was quickly rebuilt.

A powerful waterspout-turned-tornado blasted across the pass from Shell Key and slammed into Pass-A-Grille Beach in June 2012, collapsing historic homes, ripping off roofs, and shredding trees. A week later anyone driving through was hard-pressed to find any remaining damage.

In front of the Paradise Grille Snack Bar.

The highlights of Pass-A-Grille beach are:

• Twenty-two blocks of beach parking.
• Fishing jetty and fishing pier.
• Shuttle to nearby Shell Key for shelling, beachcombing, etc.
• Small mom & pop style accommodations right across the street from the beach.
• Enough interesting restaurants to keep you well-fed.
• A full-service beach concession and beach gear shop.
• Stand-up paddle board rentals.
• 22 block long wide sidewalk for strolling or power-walking, depending on how much energy you have.

What sucks about Pass-A-Grille?  No lifeguards on the beach.

Factoid: “St. Pete Beach” is the official name of the island, formerly known as Long Key in bygone days. It is NOT short for “St. Petersburg Beach.”

Good to know: Pass-A-Grille has a tradition: every night on the deck at the Paradise Grill beach concession they hold a sunset bell ringing ceremony. It’s a fun way to celebrate the sunset. If you’re lucky, you might get a chance to volunteer to ring the bell.

If you’d rather have a different perspective on the sunset, you can always climb the stairs to the roof of the Hurricane Restaurant, grab a drink, and watch the sunset from four stories up.