- Parking
- Paid lot
- Typical crowd
- Busy
- Best for
- Boat trips, Fishing, Food and drink, People watching
- Facilities
- Restrooms, Showers, Restaurants, Charter docks, Rentals
John's Pass is the channel between Madeira Beach and Treasure Island, and it is the busiest working inlet in the county. Charter boats, dolphin tours, parasail operators and commercial fishing vessels all run out of it.
The village along the boardwalk is unapologetically touristy, with shops, bars and a lot of people. It is also where you go to actually get on the water, which is the point.
The beach itself, north of the pass along Madeira Beach, is wide and much calmer than the village suggests.
What makes it worth the trip
The pass at tide change
Water moves hard through the inlet. Good for fishing from the jetty, dangerous for swimming, and worth watching either way.
The boardwalk
Two levels of shops and restaurants over the water. Loud, busy and genuinely useful if you want a boat.
The beach north of the village
Wide, well maintained and quieter than the boardwalk implies.
Parking
Paid municipal lots and metered spaces around the village and along the beach. The village lots fill first and turn over slowly.
Rates and hours change. Confirm the current cost with the city, the county or the state park before you go rather than trusting any published figure, including ours.
Crowds
The boardwalk is busy most of the year. Walk ten minutes north along the sand and it thins out considerably.
Rules
- Do not swim in the pass. The current is strong and boat traffic is constant.
- Dogs are not permitted on the beach.
- Fishing from the jetty is allowed; a Florida licence may be required depending on where you stand.
- Glass is banned on every beach in the county. Cans and plastic only.
- Sea turtle nesting runs 1 May to 31 October. Fill in holes, knock down sandcastles, take gear home at night and keep lights off the sand after dark.
- Shorebird nesting areas are roped off in spring and summer. The nests sit on open sand and are nearly invisible, so stay outside the posted zones.
- Beach warning flags are not advisory decoration. Double red means the water is closed. Purple means dangerous marine life, usually jellyfish or red tide.
- Most beach towns clear unattended chairs, tents and umbrellas overnight. Take it with you.
Getting there
Tom Stuart Causeway west from Seminole, then Gulf Boulevard. The village sits at the southern end of Madeira Beach.
Good for
Photo: Richard Mc Neil / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). Source