What’s your favorite Jimmy Buffett tune? Margaritaville? Come Monday? Fins? Whatever it is, get that tune ringing in your head… Now put yourself on a long-stretching wooden boardwalk, raised a full story up off the ground with white sand and clear blue-green water below your feet. You stroll along the boardwalk, checking out the unique shops nestled to your left, and you take in the beautiful shining water to your right. Smiling new faces greet you with a nod as you continue your sojourn on this perfect bright, sunny day. Your attention is drawn to the shining water as dozens of dolphins jump and play as mama dolphins teach their babies how to catch their first meal. With your attention fixed on the water, you glance down, over the railing of the boardwalk, and you see a flock of pelicans anxiously awaiting the next fish to be tossed their way by a friendly fisherman cleaning his fresh catch. You reach the end of the boardwalk, and take a deep breath, a breath that fills your senses with the savory scent of blackened grouper and the relaxing smell of fresh salt water from the Gulf of Mexico. Gazing out across the water, you see a couple of happy visitors taking some time out from their paddleboarding excursion to rest on the the sandbar in front of a thicket of mangroves off in the distance. As you turnaround to head back, the massive John’s Pass draw bridge raises up to let a sailboat stroll out into the Gulf of Mexico. Not a bad way to spend a half hour of your day to re-charge the batteries. Too bad I have to go back to work.

For those that live in Pinellas County, we often hear about we routinely nourish the beach [i.e. pump in sand from out in the Gulf of Mexico with giant hoses]. However, at John’s Pass, a different type of beach nourishment is going on. Mother nature has decided that John’s Pass needs a beach, and since she has been working on it around-the-clock every since dropped a strong storm on us in November of 2014 that pushed a large amount of sand into the north side of John’s Pass under the bridge. Back in November, it was just enough sand to sit a couple of lawn chairs on while your friends waded into the water to do some fishing. Fast forward to June 2015, and now John’s Pass Beach is a proper beach – maybe the best beach in Pinellas, which make it one of the best beaches in the world! Dog friendly? Check. Alcohol friendly? Check. People friendly? Check. Easy access to bathrooms? Check. Easy access to restaurants, shopping and watersports? Check, check and check. And the best part: it has a ton of shade! A large portion is directly under the massive John’s Pass Bridge, so you have shade all year! Let us know what you think after you’ve taken a visit to John’s Pass and spend some time at the new beach – thanks to mother nature! UPDATE: as of the first week of January, 2016, a dredging has shrunk the beach. It's still there, but it's not as big as it was - boooooooooo!