Southwest Florida’s Secret Escape! Experience Less Crowds And White Sand Beaches

Effectively…Google Maps and Apple Maps caved, so it seems like we’re right here to speak in regards to the “Gulf of America”.

Politics apart, “the Gulf”, because it’s mostly identified, has lengthy been an iffy go-to for vacationers who usually go for California’s Pacific blue paradises and Florida’s Atlantic turquoise each time they will, somewhat than the standard brackish waters spreading from Texas to most of Alabama.

Close to the Floribama line is the place we start to see circumstances extra paying homage to the Caribbean, a far cry from Galveston and Biloxi.

The consultants at World Atlas lately revealed the ‘Most Underrated Cities In Gulf Coast’ for 2025 with one unheard-of white-sand hideaway we right here at Travel Off Path had been ooh-ing and ahh-ing over, questioning to ourselves how we have by no means managed to trip right here.

It is time to put the Gulf’s fugly stereotypes within the rear-view. Florida’s Gulf facet is a white-sand surprise teeming with famend seashore cities, but under-hyped Redington Seaside has one way or the other slipped via the cracks.

So Lengthy, Siesta Key! A New ‘Key’ Awaits

Positioned on the barrier island of Sand Key, Redington Seaside is one in every of Southwest Florida’s final remaining hidden gems.

Final yr, we revealed Nokomis in the identical mild, however now it is Redington’s time to shine.

Say goodbye to combating for house, grabbing a barstool at a sandy tiki shack, and witnessing method too many retirees’ past-their-prime swimwear.

In contrast to Siesta Key and Clearwater, Redington is the kind of place solely locals flock to flee, such locations that vacationers flock to yr after yr, and who can blame them?

Siesta Key and Clearwater discover themselves in an annual duel in a battle to be topped the most effective seashore, however you are not sacrificing all that a lot by flipping the script to Redington this summer season.

Southwest Florida’s White-Sand Hideaway

As somebody who has visited Siesta Key, I used to be blown away from the second my group scored a entrance row parking spot in what seemed like a surprising shoreline straight out of the Bahamas.

However when you lug a cooler from the parking zone via mushy white sand and uncover you are going to be eavesdropping on the discuss of the city on the retirement house, whether or not you prefer it or not, it had me questioning if Siesta Key (and Clearwater) are the one pristine seashores within the space.

Circling again to Nokomis, the reply isn’t any — however Siesta Key indisputably deserves the accolades.

It additionally begs the query of why locations like Redington Seaside are usually not family names.

Hate to interrupt it to you, however I haven’t got a solution as a result of all the pieces I am seeing is nothing however constructive:

How uncommon is it to seek out Florida shores the place you do not have to rise up method too early simply to attain a parking house and a entrance row seat overlooking vibrant emerald waters?

Redington Seaside is only one sq. mile in measurement, however that is ample house to take pleasure in additional elbow room.

Particularly, Archibald Seaside Park holds a powerful 4.7 Google ranking in a world of whiners, so you recognize it needs to be prime notch!

Simply 2 days in the past, a beachgoer raved in regards to the park’s ‘powdery sand seashores!’, and acknowledged the seashore has ‘extra shells than you’ll know what to do with’.

Reaching Redington Seaside

Regardless of being unknown to most, Redington is definitely very easy to succeed in, deepening the thriller of why it is remained beneath the radar.

In line with Travel Math, there are 4 airports inside 100 miles of Redington Seaside:

• Saint Petersburg, FL (PIE / KPIE) – 16 miles away
• Tampa, FL (TPA / KTPA) – 27 miles away
• Sarasota, FL (SRQ / KSRQ) – 43 miles
• Punta Gorda, FL (PGD / KPGD) – 102 miles (Okay, I could have stretched the reality a bit of…)

Regardless of being probably the most linked of the bunch, it is stated that Tampa is one in every of America’s most unreliable airports. The opposite 4 is likely to be your finest guess.

Do not consider me?

Learn our function on Punta Gorda as Southwest Florida’s new journey hotspot.

Sam Sears

Sam, our Lead Author & Journalist primarily based in San Diego has visited 36 nations and written over 1000 articles with a give attention to sharing his personal journey experiences and shining a light-weight on lesser-known gems.