Yes, and it is a genuinely different visit. Most of the park's 2.7 million annual visitors arrive by car over the Pinellas Bayway, pay the toll and the parking fee, and walk the same three beaches. Arriving by water gets you the sandbars, the back side, and the stretches of the island chain that have no road anywhere near them.

A sandbar just off Fort De Soto that only exists around low tide. As the water drops you can watch the sand break the surface, a little more every few minutes, until there is an island where twenty minutes earlier there was open water. It is also why anchoring here takes some thought — drop the hook in the wrong spot on a falling tide and you end up sitting on dry land waiting for the water to come back.

About 1,136 acres spread across five interconnected islands — Mullet Key, the main one, plus Madelaine Key, St. Jean Key, St. Christopher Key, and Bonne Fortune Key. There are nearly three miles of white-sand Gulf beach. The islands are joined by bridges and causeways, which is what makes the water between and behind them so interesting from a boat.

The Tocobaga people fished and gathered shellfish on these islands from roughly 1000 to 1500 CE. In 1849 a team of U.S. Army engineers — including Robert E. Lee, then a young officer — surveyed the area and recommended that Mullet Key and Egmont Key be fortified. Construction finally began during the Spanish-American War in 1898 and finished in 1906. The fort took its name in 1900 from the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. It was active until 1910 and never fired a shot in combat. Pinellas County acquired the land and the park opened in 1963.

The original gun batteries and artillery emplacements are still there and open to walk through — Batteries Laidley and Bigelow, built for 12-inch coast defence mortars. There are also two 6-inch rapid-fire Armstrong guns that were moved over from Fort Dade on Egmont Key. The Quartermaster Storehouse Museum holds artifacts from the fort's active years. At its height the post had 29 buildings, brick roads, and a small railway for moving supplies.

Repeatedly. Dr. Beach named it the number one beach in the United States in 2005, and it made his top ten again in 2024. Tripadvisor named it America's Top Beach in 2009. It was also listed among the top ten dog-friendly beaches in America in 2024.

Yes — Paw Playground, which is the only dog park in the area where dogs are permitted on the beach in a designated section, plus two fenced areas with water stations. It is one of the reasons the park is so popular. Worth knowing that we do not allow pets aboard our charters, so if the dog beach is the goal, that is a drive-in day rather than a boat day.

Flat rates for the whole boat, up to 6 guests. The Gulf Escape is $395 for 2.5 hours and covers Fort De Soto and its sandbars comfortably. The Half-Day Island Escape is $575 for 4 hours and lets you combine Fort De Soto with Shell Key, Egmont Key, or Passage Key. The Sunset Escape is $425 for 2.5 hours.

The $6 parking fee and the Pinellas Bayway tolls apply to vehicles. Arriving by water on a charter, you are not parking a car — we depart from Maximo Park, where parking is free. If you want to go ashore inside the park itself, normal park rules apply once you are on land.

Roughly 20 to 30 minutes from the Maximo Park boat ramp in St. Petersburg, depending on conditions. That leaves plenty of a 2.5-hour charter for a sandbar stop, the back side, and dolphins along the way.

Over 328 species have been recorded in the park, which is why it is a gateway site on the Great Florida Birding Trail. Large sections of North Beach are protected for nesting and for migrating birds to rest — black skimmers, royal terns, and American oystercatchers among them. Spring and autumn migration is exceptional here.

Yes. Loggerhead sea turtles nest on these beaches, and there is a designated nesting area on North Beach. Nesting season runs roughly May through October, and marked nests are off limits.

Good, and better from a boat. The beaches you can drive to are combed from opening time — the park sees more than 2.7 million visitors a year. The sandbars and back-side flats that only open up at low tide, and that nobody can walk to, are where the shelling holds up. Come around low tide, ideally a day or two after a storm or winter cold front.

Yes, on the 4-hour Half-Day Island Escape — and not just one of them. Two or three islands in a day is normal. Shell Key is just across Bunces Pass, and Egmont Key and Passage Key sit further out toward the mouth of the bay. A 2.5-hour charter is enough for Fort De Soto on its own; anything beyond that needs the four hours.

Frequently. The channels and passes around the park are active water, and the seagrass flats behind the islands hold the fish the dolphins are after. This is not a stretch where you glimpse a fin and call it a sighting — dolphins through here jump.

Very. The sandbars are shallow, warm, and calm, and there is usually nobody else on the ones we reach. Minimum age is 5, per U.S. Coast Guard Type I life vest requirements. Captain Keith stays on watch the entire time guests are in the water, and there is an enclosed restroom onboard, which matters more with children than almost anything else.

Calmer than the Gulf side and shallower, running along mangrove edges with seagrass flats. It does not have the bright turquoise of North Beach because it is estuary rather than clean sand bottom — and that is exactly why the wildlife is there. Mangrove roots and seagrass shelter huge numbers of small fish, so the dolphins and rays work that edge.