People keep coming back to St Pete Beach for their own reasons, whether to keep up a long-standing tradition in their family, to get married on this beautiful beach, to indulge in their favorite hobby of fishing, to go running on a relatively peaceful beach, or to escape from the crowds at Disney World. Whatever their reason, the loveliness of the beach can keep them coming back.

For those of you confused about the two, St Pete Beach is a separate city from St. Petersburg City to the east. In 1994, the citizens of several communities voted to shorten several parts of the coastal beach area to St Pete Beach. Places such as Passagrille, St. Petersburg Beach and Belle Vista area are now part of that one small city of about 10,000 residents. The city swells and lowers depending on the time of year, so snowbirds from Canada and northern states who are trying to stay warm during winter, bring the population up to around 20,000.

Enjoy to your heart’s content the 39 acres of public beach, and almost as much of park area, keep away from the spring break wild crowd at other beaches such as Daytona unless you are into that, and join the others who keep coming back to the beauty of this area without breaking their pocket books unless they want to.

If you want public transportation instead of renting a vehicle, try the Beach Trolley which winds its way around the Gulf Boulevard every 30 to 40 minutes and will take you into St. Petersburg, Clearwater and the Tampa Bay area if you wish via connections. There is Bats Taxi Service which knows the area well, and can be more economical if you are coming with several people from Tampa International airport rather than taking a shuttle. Bats is at 727-367-3702.

Staying right at the beach is first choice for many and understandably so. You’ll find many accommodations concentrated by the sand on this St Pete Beach hotel site. However, some people love to rent a more private space, including one woman I met on the beach from Denver, who consistently rented from the Frank Hurley Associates rental and real estate office. I would recommend considering it if you can be flexible about being at the water. 1-800-783-6929.

For those race fans, hope you made it in time for the Honda Grand Prix in April/09!