Animal Encounters,Beach Life

The Pier at Fort De Soto Park

By Published On: November 10th, 2023

The Fort De Soto Pier in St Petersburg

Published on 11/10/23: The new pier at Fort De Soto! Here’s a adventure to one of the most beautiful areas of Florida. And it’s right here in Pinellas County!

With five islands, 1,136 acres, seven miles of waterfront, and nearly three miles of beaches, I always include Fort De Soto on my “must visit” list for out of town friends and clients. First, thank you all for following Loving St Pete, hanging in through my ups and downs of schedules. #parentlife #balance

Beautiful Fort De Soto in St Pete

For those familiar, I’d love to hear your favorite aspect and/or specific beach area within the amazing Fort De Soto! I’m simply shouting out the new pier area in this post (ribbon cutting was Sept 28th), however I’ll write future posts on other park activities. Any excuse to visit! Take my $5.
Address: 3500 Pinellas Bayway South, Tierra Verde
Cost: $5 via Park Mobile App and Onsite Kiosk (simply a parking fee)
Google Reviews: 4.8/5 with 5900+ reviews
Why Visit: We wanted to watch the fishermen, hang by the water, checkout the amazing views (ie Skyway Bridge!), observe the massive schools of bait fish, and visit with the MANY birds of the pier. Given the first pier was built in 1943, the birds are very brave and provide great opportunities for close-up bird watching. Check out our buddy in picture 6 and 12!

Pier is Directly on the Beach

As a bonus, the pier is built into one of the park’s beaches. After checking out the pier, simply setup in the sand for relaxation. This is a quiet beach, different than our very social St Pete Beach, which I love for different reasons. Here it’s simply you and nature.
On this new pier, they’ve included shade, fish cleaning stations, and deck lighting, with “pole lighting at the waterward end”.
If you’re planning to fish, a Shoreline Saltwater Fishing License is required. These are issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife. There are fishing rules posted at the entrance to the pier and in my pics.

Egmont Key Ferry

In the not-too-distant future, they also plan for the Egmont Key Ferry to depart from the new pier – operated by Hubbard’s Marina. That’s a 30 minute ride to another fort and a cool activity that I’ll write up in a future post. For now, this ferry departs from the Fort De Soto boat docks. (Ages 12+ is $45, 3-11 is $25 – book online).
Big shout out to locally owned ShapeShifter Fish and Friends who designed Colt’s shirt. We receive compliments EVERY TIME he wears one! And they’ve held up incredibly well through his 18 months of Johnny Knoxville approved testing. Use code LOVINGSTPETE for 10% off. #supportlocal
I’m a St Petersburg Realtor in Florida with over 43K people following my LovingStPete Guide on social media! My past includes developing a vacation rental advertising business that I ran for more 13 years, then sold to HomeAway/VRBO. I’d love to help you buy or sell a property, simply contact me.

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Written by : St Petersburg Realtor, Mike Braswell

Mike Braswell is a St Petersburg Realtor, serving St Pete, Clearwater, all nearby beaches and more. He's part of the LovingStPete Team at Keller Williams. Mike, Leah, and Ryan are the trusted real estate team in our area.

Mike's Cell: 727-510-1084

Email: [email protected]

Mike founded a property advertising business and operated for 10+ years as CEO/Owner, eventually acquired by VRBO. Mike enjoys boating and is an avid tennis player. Mike grew up on an avocado farm with 15+ varieties, some of which you can find in our local Publix/Winn Dixie as his dad still farms the same farm at 88 years old!

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