It’s easy to find a beach in South Florida. It’s harder to find a secluded beach, a beach where you experience a sense of discovery and delicious isolation.
Once upon a time, South Florida was full of hidden beaches. But then we moved here – millions and millions of us.
So now it takes some effort to find a wild, secluded, quiet beach in Florida.
Over many years, I’ve found five special quiet beaches in Florida, and as I walked the sands at each one, I admit, I have been tempted to keep the discovery to myself.
When I first created this list, it had two additional stellar entries that, as of summer 2023, are still closed from Hurricane Ian: Cayo Costa State Park and Barefoot Beach. These are among the last beaches to re-open after the storm.
Three of these secluded beaches are an adventure to reach (they can only be accessed by boat or by wading across a lagoon); two are county parks and thus not known outside the region.All are that rare thing in South Florida: A wild place that hasn’t been spoiled.
A quiet beach in Florida you must reach by boat:
St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park, Stuart
St. Lucie Inlet is on a barrier island, this one on the Atlantic coast, but it’s a lot easier to reach. To find St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park in Stuart, you do have to paddle a kayak or arrive by boat, but it’s only a third of a mile across the Intracoastal. (Want more paddling? There is a great kayak trail on and around the island.)
The secluded beach, though, is the reward. From the Intracoastal, a shaded boardwalk crosses the island and opens to a wide, wild and pristine beach that goes on and on. The state park’s beach is 2.7 miles long, but the southern boundary is with Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, and thus the beach actually continues uninterrupted for more than five miles total. Because it’s hard to reach, this is a beach where you’re likely to find a section you don’t have to share with anyone.
Rangers will zip you across the island on a golf cart if you have beach gear and near the beach is a large covered picnic pavilion and restrooms.
Quiet beaches in county parks known mostly by locals
Clam Pass Park, Naples
We only discovered Collier County’s delightfulClam Pass Park in Naples because we were staying at the Naples Grande Beach Resort, for which this is the hotel beach. Though it’s little known, Clam Pass Park is public with a parking lot ($10) and a tram that crosses a boardwalk through a mangrove swamp.
Clam Pass has fine sugary sand like all Naples beaches, but what makes it especially fun is Clam Pass – the smallest, shallowest pass on the Gulf Coast.
The pass is a narrow river-like opening in the mangroves, shallow enough an adult can stand at the center except at the highest tide. If you float in the waters of the pass, you are gently swept away by the tide. If the tide is coming in, you float into a shallow mangrove-fringed lagoon. If the tide is going out, you float out into the Gulf, which remains shallow for a great distance. It’s a natural “lazy river” adventure, where the pull and depth of the water is safe but still fun. (The currents in larger passes can be extremely dangerous.)
If you swim or wade across Clam Pass, the beach north extends for miles, lined with seagrape trees and foliage. This stretch is just the place for someone seeking quiet beaches in Florida.
Tigertail Beach, Marco Island
Tigertail Beach on Marco Island is another Collier County Park, and it’s also an adventure to reach. A dozenyears ago, this beach was an off-shore sandbar. The winds of Hurricane Wilma in 2005 piled sand on the southern end of the sandbar, and today what is called Sand Dollar Island is connected to the mainland.
The park is popular with locals for its split personality. On one side of the lagoon, you pay $10 to park and come to a clean and well-kept park with changing rooms, a first-rate snack bar, picnic tables, a great playground and a concession stand that rents kayaks, stand up paddleboards and other beach gear. (As of August 2023, cncessions are closed.)
On the other side of the lagoon, you leave development behind. A wild sandspit extends three miles north, a beach with soft white sand, scads of shells, dolphins swimming off-shore, ospreys squealing overhead and so many shore birds that it’s a stop on the Great Florida Birding Trail.
But the adventure is crossing the lagoon itself.
The lagoon is about 50 yards across and at high tide, the water comes up to about your waist or chest at the buoy that marks the cross-over point. The bottom of the lagoon is a squishy, grassy mud. You don’t sink, but you do have to overcome the “yuck” factor.
Crossing the lagoon, people hold their belongings over their heads and laugh as they feel the ooze between their toes.
If that’s not your idea of fun, you CAN walk about 20 minutes around the lagoon to the south to reach the beach. If you bring small children, consider pulling them on a beach float or renting a kayak or paddleboard. Parking/entrance fee is $10.
A quiet beaches in Florida off the main drag: Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge
When I discovered Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, I felt like I had won the lottery.
We were bicycling the beachfront road on ritzy Jupiter Island, which dead-ends into Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge. Nothing on the signage indicates there’s a public beach at the end of this road, and after 30-plus years of exploring Florida’s southeast, I had never heard about this beach.
So when we got there, we were stunned to discover we had stumbledonto the entrance to more than five miles of wild,broad unspoiled sandy shore.
The Hobe Sound beach extends north more than two miles where the equally pristine St. Lucie Preserve beach begins.
Parking is $5, restrooms are portapotties and there are no picnic tables or amenities. What you will find is miles of beauty and solitude.
Shell Key: A secluded beach where you can camp off Tampa Bay
Shell Key Preserve is an 1,800-acre treasure reachable only by boat at the south end of Tampa Bay. It is one of the largest undeveloped barrier island in Pinellas County’s with many mangrove islands and extensive sea grass beds, located just below the very popular Fort De Soto County Park.
The beach is secluded with pristine white sand and, not surprisingly, lots of shells. Because it is limited to boat access, Shell Key never gets crowded.
Visitors are limited to the south end of the preserve because the rest is reserved for wildlife, including sea turtles and nesting birds.
You reach Shell Key either by kayaking or taking a shuttle boat.
To kayak, you can launch your boat from thePinellas Bayway Kayak and SUP Launchon Tierra Verde or theFort Desoto Boat Ramp, which is the best option for campers because it allows overnight parking.
To take the shuttle, check out Shell Creek Shuttle from Pass-a-Grille, the Dolphins Landing Island Hopper from St. Pete Beach or Hubbard’s Marina’s ferry from Fort De Soto.
Shellkey.org has a lot of useful information for planning your trip, including details on primitive camping. (All overnight camping requires apermitissued by the county and is limited to the southern public use area of Shell Key.)
There are no restrooms on the island. Dogs and alcohol are not allowed anywhere in the preserve.
Official Pinellas County website for Shell Key Preserve
Best secluded beaches in South Florida
- St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park, Stuart
- Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, Hobe Sound
- Clam Pass Park, Naples
- Tigertail Beach, Marco Island
More Florida beach adventures
- Florida’s all-time top beaches
- Best beaches in the Florida Keys
- Beaches of Venice
- Florida Rambler’s beach channel
- Driving on the beach in Florida
- Snorkeling from shore
- Surf fishing: How to get started
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Bonnie Gross
The author, Bonnie Gross, travels with her husband David Blasco, discovering off-the-beaten path places to hike, kayak, bike, swim and explore. Florida Rambler was founded in 2010 by Bonnie and fellow journalist Bob Rountree, two long-time Florida residents who have spent decades exploring the Florida outdoors. Their articles have been published in the Sun Sentinel, the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, The Guardian and Visit Florida.
