- contact@waywardkeytours.com
CLEARWATER & ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA
- 727-355-3717
Clearwater & St. Petersburg, Florida
Shallow, calm, warm water you can stand up in — at bars nobody can drive to. Anchor, float, walk the sand, and stay as long as it is good.
A private sandbar charter anchors at a shallow bar so your group can get in the water. Float, wade, walk the sand, look for shells. The sandbars worth going to have no road access — the only way there is by boat, which is exactly why they stay empty.
Flat rates for the whole boat, up to 6 guests: Gulf Escape $395 (2.5 hrs) · Half-Day Island Escape $575 (4 hrs) · Sunset Escape $425 (2.5 hrs). For a sandbar day the 2.5-hour charter is usually plenty.
Captain Keith plans the departure around the tide, because at low water a sandbar is an island and at high water it is not there at all.
The single thing most visitors do not know about sandbars here.
A sandbar is not a fixed place. It is a shifting deposit of sand that emerges as the water drops and vanishes as it comes back in. The same spot can be a beach you walk across at eleven and open water by two.
Sand Dollar Key off Fort De Soto is the clearest example. As the tide falls you can genuinely watch the sand break the surface — a little more every few minutes — until there is an island standing where twenty minutes earlier there was nothing.
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 — which happens to people out here regularly. Captain Keith reads where the bar is going to emerge and anchors accordingly. It sounds like a small thing right up until it is not.
Which is why a sandbar charter gets planned around the tide rather than around a convenient hour. Tell us your dates and we will tell you which departure lands in the right window.
Mostly it looks like not much happening, which is the point.
We run out, usually with sightseeing along the way and dolphins if they turn up, and anchor somewhere shallow. Then the day slows down.
Sandbars are the part of a charter where everyone gets in — and they are nowhere near a lifeguard. That is the appeal, and it is also the thing worth thinking about.
Captain Keith stays on watch the entire time guests are in the water. Eleven years as a Navy submariner leaves you with the habit and he cannot switch it off. A current picking up as the tide turns, a boat coming in faster than it should, a manatee drifting under the anchor line. He is also a former Navy diver and a cardiac registered nurse.
Six guests is about the number one person can genuinely keep track of. That is part of why we cap it there, and it is a real difference from a boat carrying twelve swimmers spread across a bar.
Which one we go to depends on the tide, the wind, and what your group wants.
Flats and bars around Caladesi, Honeymoon Island, and Three Rooker, plus the shallows between the barrier islands. The further north you go, the less traffic and the clearer the water tends to be.
The sandbars off Fort De Soto — including Sand Dollar Key — and the shallows around Shell Key Preserve. Passage Key, further out toward the mouth of Tampa Bay, is a sandbar in its own right at low tide, though it needs the four-hour charter and is clothing-optional, which is worth knowing before you include it.
One rule worth knowing: alcohol is prohibited throughout Shell Key Preserve, including the water around it. If a Shell Key stop is part of your day, leave the drinks at home. We will still bring the cooler, ice, and bottled water — and we are happy to plan a day that goes elsewhere if your group would rather bring their own.
Where they are, when they are exposed, and why tide timing beats the weather forecast.
Read the sandbar guide →Sand Dollar Key and the back-side flats no road reaches.
Read the Fort De Soto guide →Undeveloped, protected, and the calm shallows on the back side where we float.
Read the Shell Key guide →Four hours combines a sandbar with two or three barrier islands.
See island hopping →Sandbars collect what the tide brings in, and because nobody can walk to these ones, whatever came in overnight is still there. Sand dollars, pen shells with iridescent interiors, fighting conchs, scallops, cockles, and whelks.
Live sand dollars are dark and slightly fuzzy rather than the bleached white disc from a gift shop — those go back in the water. Empty shells are yours to keep, and there are usually more than anyone can carry.
More on shelling charters → · More on the wildlife out here →
All fully private — the whole boat reserved for your group, flat rates, up to 6 guests.
2.5 hours · up to 6 guests · usually right for a sandbar day
Sightseeing on the way out, dolphins along the Intracoastal, and a nearby sandbar with real time in the water. The full mix, closer in.
4 hours · up to 6 guests
A sandbar plus barrier island stops, shelling, and snorkelling in the same day. Also the only charter that reaches Passage Key and Egmont Key.
2.5 hours · up to 6 guests
Timed to the evening sunset. You pick the backdrop, and champagne flutes come at sundown.
What happens from arriving at the ramp to the photos landing afterward.
Read what to expect →Water shoes matter more on a sandbar than most people expect.
Read the packing guide →Shallow calm water is the best thing on a boat for kids. What else works.
See family charters →The honest answer, and why it is not the thing worth worrying about on a swim stop.
Read the answer →A charter built around anchoring at a shallow sandbar so your group can get in the water — float, wade, walk the bar, look for shells. The sandbars worth going to have no road access, so the only way to reach them is by boat. The whole boat is yours, so you stay as long as it is good.
Flat rates for the whole boat, up to 6 guests. The Gulf Escape is $395 for 2.5 hours and is plenty for a sandbar day. The Half-Day Island Escape is $575 for 4 hours if you want to combine a sandbar with island stops. The Sunset Escape is $425 for 2.5 hours. No per-guest add-ons.
The 2.5-hour Gulf Escape is usually right. A sandbar stop plus sightseeing and dolphins on the way fills it comfortably. Choose the 4-hour Half-Day Island Escape if you want the sandbar plus barrier island stops, shelling, and snorkelling in the same day.
Because the sandbar may not be there. These are shifting deposits of sand that emerge as the water drops and disappear as it comes back in. Sand Dollar Key off Fort De Soto is a good example — at low tide you can walk it, and a couple of hours later it is under two feet of water. Captain Keith plans the departure around the tide rather than the other way round.
Yes, and it is stranger than it sounds. As the water drops you see the sand break the surface, a little more every few minutes, until there is an island standing where twenty minutes earlier there was open water.
It takes some thought on a falling tide. Drop the hook in the wrong spot and you can end up sitting on dry land waiting for the water to come back — which happens to people out here regularly. Captain Keith reads where the bar is going to emerge and anchors accordingly.
On the Clearwater side, the flats and bars around Caladesi, Honeymoon Island, and Three Rooker. On the St. Pete side, the sandbars off Fort De Soto including Sand Dollar Key, plus the shallows around Shell Key. Which one we go to depends on the tide, the wind, and what your group wants.
At most sandbar stops, yes — shallow enough to stand in, calm, and warm. There are no lifeguards anywhere out here and conditions shift with the tide, so supervision matters. Captain Keith stays on watch the entire time guests are in the water. Minimum age aboard is 5, per U.S. Coast Guard Type I life vest requirements.
Yes. The boat has a swim platform and a dive ladder for easy water access. We carry a Sunchill float, chair floaties, and bean bags — and the bean bags come ashore with you, so you can sit in an actual chair on a sandbar with the water at your feet.
No. It is a private, laid-back charter for your own group. It can absolutely be social — bring your music and your drinks — but it is built around comfort and flexibility rather than volume. Six guests maximum, and no strangers aboard.
Yes, and most groups do. We provide a cooler, ice, and bottled water. Non-glass containers only, please. One exception: alcohol is prohibited throughout Shell Key Preserve, including the water around it, so if a Shell Key stop is part of the day, leave the drinks at home.
Often. Dolphins are resident here year-round and are frequently spotted near sandbars and along the channels leading to them — the shallow water and the seagrass hold the fish they are after. No captain promises wildlife, but the odds are good.
Usually, and sometimes it is the best part of the day. Sandbars collect what the tide brings in, and because nobody can walk to these ones they do not get picked over. Empty shells are yours to keep. Anything alive goes back where it was found.
Sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a towel, and water shoes — sandbars can be shell-strewn and sharp underfoot. Swimsuits, obviously. A camera. We handle the cooler, ice, water, floats, and the freshwater rinse wand for washing off before the drive home.
We go somewhere else. With no fixed itinerary that is a decision made in the moment rather than by a schedule printed a week earlier. It is one of the more practical arguments for a private boat over a public tour.
Tell us your dates and Captain Keith will find the departure that lands in the right tide window — which at a sandbar decides whether there is anywhere to stand.
Gulf Escape
$395
2.5 hours · usually right
Half-Day Island Escape
$575
4 hours · adds islands
Sunset Escape
$425
2.5 hours · champagne included
