Don Pedro Island- A Secret Gem
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Our family visited this amazing tranquil island over Easter break a few years ago. It was one of the most relaxing beach vacations we have ever had with the kids. This was mainly because this island has no tourist attractions except for nature. The kids entertained themselves with fishing, catching crabs on the beach at night, swimming, and making sand castles. It was quiet, even over the holiday. There was no traffic noise, just the sound of the waves crashing at the shore.
The island is called Don Pedro Island (also known as Knight Island, Palm Island or Little Gasparilla Island) and it is barrier Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida with 7 miles of white sand beach. It is located 9 miles from Englewood, Florida. We stayed here after our FREE stay in Clearwater Beach. You can read about it HERE. What makes this place so amazing is that there are very few cars on the island. Most people get around using bikes, mopeds and golf carts. You have to pay a fee and take a short ferry across the water to get to the island. You can either take your car across or leave it behind because you really won’t need it.
We rented a golf cart from the only resort on the island called Palm Island Resort and had so much fun exploring the small island with it. My sister and I each rented a house from Palm Island Vacation rentals. At one house there was a private pool and at the other house there was a shared pool right in front of the beach, so we could swim and look out at the ocean. There is one small store at the north end of the island at the Resort where we could go for ice cream. I did not know places like this existed in Florida, but we were really lucky to have found it. This beach island is unlike the busier destinations on the SW Gulf Coast in Florida like Naples, Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel. This island is probably what those islands beaches once were, before the roads were put in.
We started our week vacation with a trip to the Walmart in Englewood where we stocked up on groceries. We really had to plan because we did not want to have to pay the fee to ferry back across to the main land to go to the store. (there are some essentials at the store at the resort)
We also took away all the kids electronics! (phones, ipads etc.) Who needs that on a beautiful island like this?
The rest of the trip we fished out our back door on the inland waters, where we caught sea bass. We even cooked it up and ate it.
In the evening as darkness approached, the sand crabs came out. The kids we’re hilarious running up and down the beach trying to capture them with flashlights in hand. Luckily most of them out ran the kids. 
We also tried some shore fishing. We caught a shark or two. No really we did! Bonnetheads! They actually taste good when grilled. For some reason this beach has tons of shark teeth! It was fun searching for them!
We visited over Easter and they had a nice little church service right on the beach.
This island really is a hidden gem. If you are looking for an island with shops and attractions this is NOT it. If you are looking for a place to stay that is genuine, quiet, and full of nature this is it.
Tips:
- If you plan to visit this amazing island, plan ahead. It costs $55 round trip to ferry the car across. See rates and hours at Palm Island Transit .
- Rent a golf cart- even though the island is small, it is fun to explore and would not be as fun if you had to jump in your car each time. We rented from the Palm Island Resort. Bikes would be even better!
- Try fishing! You can fish from either the backwaters, or the ocean. Don’t forget to buy some bait- frozen shrimp work well. There are even guides available.
- Consider renting a place with a pool if you have kids. Although swimming in the ocean is fun too, having that extra place to swim was nice, especially in the evenings.
- Go Stand Up Paddle boarding or kayaking with Hooked on SUP. They can either rent you the equipment or take you on one of their tours. Who wants to see a Manatee? They have some really great reviews too.
- Don’t forget to look for shark teeth!
Have you visited any other cool islands? Please comment below so I can check them out!
Happy Travels!
Jennifer Want to save this for later? Pin it!
9 Replies to “Don Pedro Island- A Secret Gem”
omg I have never heard of this island! It looks beautiful!
I’ve never heard of this island, either. Sounds amazing!!
Your kids certainly seem to be having a blast on the island! And that sunset is absolutely STUNNING!
Great, informative post about Don Pedro Island! I had never heard about it before reading your post. It sounds like something I’ll have to check out if I get to Florida someday 😀
I saw you and your family enjoyed a lot. We have Saint Marin island in my country. It’s always my pleasure to visit the beautiful islands.
My friend found me a shark tooth from shark tooth beach, which I’m guessing must be near there! Your kids look so happy. I hope it’s all OK after the recent hurricane!
looks like a less crowded area to enjoy with family
Don Pedro looks really fun. First time I heard of it… I wonder if there are any scuba bases around there, shark teeth would indicate that there should be also some sharks to watch 🙂 This island reminds me quite a bit of San Pedro (even similar name) and Caye Caulker in Belize. Laid-back atmosphere, also almost no noise (you can also just ride golf carts there) and kids-friendly. (We had a little girl in the first Hostel we stayed in chasing the cats all over the place (the Hostel is called “Paws / ‘Pause'” – you get the idea))
I don’t know about scuba diving, I did not see any advertisements for it but there could be. It was strange that there were so many teeth. I will have to check out San Pedro. Thanks!