A Travel Wag: Travel: Clearwater offers reasonable cost vacation - Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Clearwater Florida

Travel: Clearwater offers reasonable cost vacation
Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Clearwater Florida
By Ray Hanania

With the prices of overseas travel skyrocketing, traveling to popular Caribbean resorts like the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Mexico have become cost prohibitive.

A good alternative, though, is to stay right here in the good old United States of America. And, if great beaches is what you really hunger, Clearwater, Florida is one of the best. It’s very affordable.

Clearwater is located in Southwestern Florida on the Caribbean side of the state between Tampa and St. Petersburg. There is a sandbar peninsula along the Caribbean where the beaches are affordable and phenomenal.

We’ve stayed at the Hilton in Clearwater about 10 years ago and recently at the Sheraton on Sand Beach, just south of Clearwater.

Sand Key Beach is a beautiful beachfront that has more sea shells mixed in with the sand. In fact, one of the great attractions is the shells. You can collect all kinds every morning. The kids love it. The water is clean and fresh, and crystal clear. And the sea floor goes out a hundred yards at shoulder length before it begins its drop.

Like I also said, Clearwater is very affordable.

The 7 night trip at the Sheraton cost only $1,800 for two people. We also spent $400 to rent a car from Hertz, picking it up at Tampa Airport, and then using it in the evenings to explore the very explorable Caribbean coastline all the way down to Tierra Verde, passing some remarkable town beaches like Madeira and Treasure Island. We spent about $600 for food, gas and miscellaneous.

Each of the towns have beach access side roads where you can park for a small fee and explore the ocean front or check out the local retail offerings.

The Sheraton Hotel in Clearwater is actually about 15 minutes south of Clearwater where two big hotels now dominate the beach. The Hilton, which has been renovated and sparkled up is right on a beautiful soft white sand beach front that is huge. Years ago, the neighborhood was a dump, somewhat frightening and crime-ridden. But that’s changed a lot. There are new stores, and more restaurants. A little further south is the brand new Hyatt Regency right across from Pier 60 and the jewel of Clearwater beach which everyday is like being in the middle of a circus.

If it’s the circus atmosphere that you like, you will like staying at either hotel. The beaches are packed with characters, entertainers and vendors. They’ll paint your picture and your face.

But if you are looking for a relaxing resort-like beach front, the beach at the Sheraton is the choice.

The sand is different at the Sheraton beach. More crushed shells and intact sea shells while the sand at Clearwater Beach is softer and more like a white powder.

The disadvantage is that the Sheraton beach is about 100 yards, or a football field away from the hotel and its small outdoor pool. But, it’s all shell and sand and wide open. Along the beachfront, which is supposed to be private, the Sheraton sets up Canopies (Cabanas) and umbrellas for a $25 daily fee.

You will see rows of blue cabanas that fit two lounge beach chairs and two people and a little room in between for your bags and iPads and electronic gizmos.

Occasionally, schleppers were trudged down the beachfront and plant a large umbrella on front and sometimes the hotel staff will chase the riff-raff away. But that doesn’t always happen. I mean, you are paying for your stay, and the squatters are not. It sounds harsh but why should someone get something for free that you have to pay for?

Every day just before lunch, Debbie will drive by with a large glorified golf cart refrigerated snack bar and take orders for drinks and sandwiches that come in perfect when the summer temperatures rise to the 90s and 100s.

Just beyond the buoys, which mark off the large swimming area in front of the beach in the water, you will frequently see dolphins arching out and then back into the water. Keep in mind that dolphins arch when they surface and then dive back down feeding on the schools of fish, while sharks, when they surface, sail menacingly along the water surface like submarines.

We saw lots of dolphins, and with Jaws always in the dark recesses of our minds, stayed pretty close to the shore.

We rented a car so we were not limited to the restaurant at the Sheraton where we did enjoy the hot omelet breakfast buffet every morning, for about $26 for two. It was fresh, hot, clean and enjoyable with lots of breakfast choices.

A decade ago when we stayed at the old Hilton Hotel in Clearwater, we would walk a block to Crabby Bill’s original seafood and lobster house. It was more of a hangout back then. But today, it is a tourist Mecca. Always crowded and a little pricey.

www.CrabbyBills.com

Lobster is inexpensive, as you can imagine. I had it every night for dinner. At $30 for one pound of lobster, it was well worth it. The conch ceviche was phenomenal and you can get alligator tail fritters and conch fritters, too.

But we went to Crabby Bill’s, which has two other nearby locations in the Clearwater region, mainly to reminisce. Our real favorite was just south of Sand Key Beach and the Sheraton hotel, in the opposite direction of Clearwater beach, called Keegans Seafood Grille on Indian Rock beach near Madeira Beach.

You would never expect Keegan’s to be a great restaurant, but it is. It’s in the elbow of a small strip mall and doesn’t look like much. Limited parking. The dining room is Spartan. You will drive past multi-million dollar homes on the western side of the road fronting the Caribbean, and smaller homes on the eastern side of the road looking like a nice neighborhood with little beach access.

But the place is phenomenal. The two half pound lobsters were phenomenal. The conch ceviche was perfect. The conch fritters were great.

About one block away is Guppy’s on the Beach Grill and Bar, another great restaurant. It has a large dining area in its own building. The place looked like a little shopping mall and we didn’t even know how big it was until we found the entrance hidden on the south end of the building. The place was packed. The lobster was great.

The dining area was really comfortable. Indoor and open-air, and outdoor.

www.3bestchefs.com/guppys

But we continued to go back to Keegans, which was recommended by the Sheraton concierge. What a great tip he gave us.

www.keegansseafood.com

Pier 60 back in Clearwater was a fun circus. You can walk out on this long pier that is choked with vendors selling all kinds of art and shell designs and souvenirs. Near the end, you have to pay a small fee to go to the tip where you can watch the sunset in the western sky. It’s beautiful.

But, it’s all about the beach for me. The beach has to be perfect. I always used to love the Bahamas, which has the best beaches and clearest waters. But they destroyed the beauty of Paradise Island with that monstrosity called Atlantis. Atlantis costs a fortune. Sure it’s fun, but for $14,000 for three people. That’s ridiculous. The “deals” they offer are just not deals at all, but rip-offs. It’s so sad. That beach was always my favorite, now choked with families seeking water slides and souvenir junk to bring home, rather than just enjoying one of the most pristine beaches in the Caribbean.

Punta Cana is a great alternative, when you can find a deal. You should never pay more than $1,200 a person for an all-inclusive. But you have to carefully check out the resorts because they are built like bowling alleys with the cheaper rooms six blocks from the beach. You’ll have to walk long, hot asphalt drives or take golf-card pulled “trains” and shuttles. It’s annoying. A few have villas right next to the beach.

Jamaica is a disaster. The only hotel worth going to is Beaches on 7 Mile Beach. But 7 mile beach is like 20 miles of harassment and hustlers constantly trying to sell you junk and dope to relieve you of your cash.

We stayed at the Lady Hamilton in Jamaica but the beaches were just so lacking, even though the hotel itself was very good.

So many people are afraid to go to Cancun because of the violence from the drug lords.

Clearwater and the Sheraton Sand Key Resort is the perfect alternative.

(photos)