The fourth stop on our road trip was St. Pete Beach. St. Pete Beach was voted the top beach on the East Coast by Trip Advisor in 2021. If your family loves hitting the water, then St. Pete Beach is the perfect place for your family vacation.  It has a great beach with soft white sand, blue-green water and warm waters from the Gulf of Mexico. There are also lots of fun watersports activities to do there.

Where we stayed in St. Pete Beach

In St. Pete Beach, we stayed at Tradewinds Island Grand. The guest rooms at Tradewinds are perfect for families as they are quite spacious. Our room had a bedroom with two queen beds and a living room area with a couch bed, a small kitchen (but with a full-size fridge), a microwave, a small table and a balcony overlooking the ocean. The kitchen came in very handy during our stay as we were able to have some meals inside the room; the grocery store is only 1 minute away from the resort.

Tradewinds Resort also has tons of fun activities for the kids. While there, the kids went ziplining, went on the surf simulator, visited the touch tank, went on the giant inflatable slide, and did arts and crafts (this activity costs extra). We also did a pedal boat ride along the river in the middle of the resort.

Tradewinds Island Grand also has a large pool in the center of the hotel, a mini golf course and a giant chess set. At night, the resort shows dive-in movies by the pool area. As we were only there for two days, we didn’t get to try all the activities, but we certainly gave it our best effort.

Tradewinds also offers live music every night, at various locations throughout the resort.

Things to do in St. Pete Beach with Kids

Here are some fun activities to do with the kids in St. Pete Beach.

Visit the beach

The first activity of course would have to be the beach. If you are staying at the resort, you can rent a cabana or an umbrella and chairs and enjoy spending time at the beach.

Get out on the water

St. Pete Beach is the perfect place to get out on the water and have some family fun. In St. Pete Beach, there have a variety of different watersports on offer. Outside of Tradewinds, Scuppers Watersports offers guided jet ski tours and jet skis for rent, banana boat rides, parasailing, a spinning tube ride and a sunset cruise. The kids went on the banana boat ride, and had an amazing time, so I would definitely recommend that activity.

Play in the Floating Water Park 

Right in front of the Tradewinds Resort, there is an inflatable water park. You can climb, jump, bounce, swing, slide and more on the different inflatables. You sign up for an hour-long pass. Passes are $40 per person and you don’t have to be staying at the resort to use the Water Park. You can purchase a pass at the Adventure Center located right on the beach.

Visit St. Pete

Downtown St. Pete is less than 30 minutes away. In St. Pete, you can take in a Tampa Bay Rays game, visit the St. Pete Pier which has a great free splash pad that kids will love, go to the Great Explorations Children’s Museum where kids can play with the various hands-on exhibits, stop in at the Sunken Gardens (botanical gardens right next to the chidlren’s museum) which features plants from around the world, waterfalls, tropical plants and flowers and flamingos; visit the Dali Museum; or go on a mural tour of St. Pete. After exploring all day, visit one of the great restaurants in St. Pete. St. Pete is a great day trip from St. Pete Beach.

Where to eat in St. Pete Beach

St. Pete Beach has a variety of places to grab food from cheap eats to upscale. Here are a few places that we recommend visiting.

Rumfish Grill

You definitely shouldn’t miss dining at the Rumfish Grill.which is located in the Island Grand’s sister resort Rumfish Beach Resort which is just a short walk away The star attraction of the restaurant is a 35,000-gallon aquarium built by the folks from the show TANKED. While you are able to see the tank from anywhere in the restaurant, try to get a table right next to the tank, as younger kids will be fascinated by all the sea life going by.

While the tank may be the star attraction, the food is a close second. We highly recommend the mac and cheese. It was the best thing we ate during our two-week road trip.

SandBar Bill’s

SandBar Bill’s is a great place for tasty cheap eats. They mainly serve up burgers and sandwiches, but they have a great location right on the beach, so kids can run around and play in the sand while parents kick back and enjoy a drink. SandBar Bill’s offers lots of frozen drink options, at a great price for a Florida beach location.

The Dewey

If you are looking for a great place to grab brunch while in St. Pete, check out The Dewey at Berkeley Beach Club. The Dewey serves up tasty brunch dishes including great savory options such as biscuits and gravy, croque madame, brunch burger and shrimp and grits. If you would prefer something sweet, then you’ll want to try the bourbon peach pancakes or the s’mores French toast. If it’s a nice day, grab a table in their outside courtyard.

Spinner’s Rooftop Grille

Spinner’s Rooftop Grille is a rooftop restaurant with a great view of St. Pete Beach and you get to see that view from all sides, because as the name suggests, the restaurant spins; don’t worry, it goes slowly. The restaurant offers local caught seafood, fresh produce and fresh meats and breads from the local area or from Florida. Some of the dishes on the menu include scallops, tuna tartare, seafood pot pie, cioppino, surf and turf and more.

This is definitely the priciest location on our list but it would be a great option for a special night out. We would recommend this location for kids that are a bit older, maybe 10 and up.

Cocoaddiction

If you love chocolate, then you will want to visit Cocoaddiction. They serve up chocolates, pastries and coffee drinks, all of which are made in house. If you are looking for something unique, grab a chocolate handbag or chocolate shoe. You can also get a box of 9 or 16 bonbons to go. If you are not in the mood for chocolate, don’t worry, they serve up lots of non-chocolate treats, including a fruit tart, lemon meringue tart, cream puff and more.

Go or no go to St. Pete Beach

If you are a beach-loving family then St. Pete Beach is definitely for you. You can play in the water, do a variety of watersports or just relax on the beach and catch some rays. There is something for the entire family to do in Ste. Pete Beach.