St. Petersburg Beaches: City Beaches, Swimming and Fort De Soto

The City of St. Petersburg lists five beaches: Lassing Park, Maximo Park, North Shore and Spa Beach in St. Petersburg, and St. Petersburg Municipal Beach at 11260 Gulf Blvd. in Treasure Island (City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation, Beaches).

The Parks and Recreation listings give the phone number 727-893-7441 for four of the five beaches; the Spa Beach entry lists none. The table gathers what the department posts for each one. Lassing Park and Maximo Park close 30 minutes after sunset, while North Shore Park closes at 11 p.m. (City of St. Petersburg, North Shore Park).

Fort De Soto Park, at 3500 Pinellas Bayway S. in Tierra Verde, is a Pinellas County park rather than a city one; its fees and rules are in the county section below (Pinellas County, Fort De Soto Park).

Swimming is not permitted at Lassing Park Beach, and city park pages tell visitors to check the latest recreational water testing results before heading to the water (City of St. Petersburg, Lassing Park).

The City of St. Petersburg Environmental Compliance Division samples select surface water sites every Wednesday, and results are usually posted on Thursday. If a sample tests sub-par, the site is retested the next day with results on Friday, and if the second test is still poor, the city issues an advisory for that sampling site (City of St. Petersburg, Recreational Water Quality). The North Shore Park and Lassing Park pages both carry the same instruction to check the latest results at stpete.org/RecWaterQuality before heading to the water.

Red tide is the other check. The city red tide page says blooms occur nearly every summer on the Gulf Coast, with fish kills and unpleasant odors as the most notable impacts, and it links the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission daily sample map and status reports (City of St. Petersburg, Red Tide and Harmful Algae). For a visible blue-green algae bloom, the city advises against swimming, wading or boating in the affected water and says to keep pets away.

Spa Beach Park sits beside the St. Pete Pier with a beach and restrooms, and North Shore Beach is part of a 33-acre bayfront park with a pool, playground, tennis courts and a dog park (Spa Beach Park, North Shore Park).

Spa Beach Park opens 30 minutes before sunrise and closes 30 minutes after sunset, and the Parks and Recreation page lists its features as a beach, restrooms and a scenic view (City of St. Petersburg, Spa Beach Park). The city visitor page adds that Spa Beach visitors can rent watercraft and that special events are often held there (City of St. Petersburg, Beaches visitor page).

North Shore Park on North Shore Dr. NE has, per the city, a sandy beach, tennis courts, a softball field, a dog park, a large playground, scenic walking trails and the North Shore Aquatic Complex (North Shore Park). The city visitor page calls the pool Olympic-caliber and open year round, and lists a palm arboretum for beachside picnics (Beaches visitor page).

A practical detail: city pages give Spa Beach two addresses, 615 2nd Ave. NE on the park page and 600 2nd Ave. NE on the beaches list, and the beaches list prints North Shore with ZIP code 33711 while the North Shore park page uses 33701; the Spa Beach park page in turn uses ZIP code 33711 (Beaches; Spa Beach Park).

An undated Parks and Recreation notice, still posted on October 15, 2026, says the parking lot is open and beach access is available at St. Petersburg Municipal Beach in Treasure Island, while the facility and amenities are closed until further notice (Beaches).

Municipal Beach, at 11260 Gulf Blvd., is the one city beach on the Parks and Recreation list with a Treasure Island address. The city visitor page describes 500 feet of white sand with beach volleyball courts, full shower and changing facilities, a snack bar and beach-accessible wheelchairs (Beaches visitor page). The two city pages conflict: the visitor page lists those amenities without any closure, while the Parks and Recreation notice says the facility and amenities are closed until further notice.

For a beach trip without a car, the city parking page notes that the PSTA Central Avenue Trolley runs from the Pier parking lots in downtown St. Petersburg to Pass-A-Grille on St. Pete Beach (City of St. Petersburg, Parking Information).

Maximo Park is a 70-acre city park where Boca Ciega Bay joins Tampa Bay, the largest of St. Petersburg's four archaeological sites with a beach, boat ramps and shoreline fishing (City of St. Petersburg, Maximo Park).

The Parks and Recreation page lists 7 boat ramps, a covered playground, a disc golf course, an Indian midden, picnic shelters, recreation trails, restrooms and shoreline fishing at Maximo Park, with educational signs about the tribes that once lived there (Maximo Park). The park closes 30 minutes after sunset, but its boat ramp is open 24 hours (Beaches). The city visitor page credits Maximo with three boat ramps and an observation tower with a view of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (Beaches visitor page); the two city pages conflict on the boat ramp count.

Pinellas County charges $6 to park at Fort De Soto in Tierra Verde, which is open 7 a.m. to sunset and, unlike most county parks, all year (Pinellas County, Fort De Soto Park; Pinellas County, Park Hours).

Pinellas County calls Fort De Soto the largest park in its system, 1,136 acres on five interconnected keys, and says yearly attendance tops 2.7 million on average. Drivers pay the fee through the mobile parking apps, pay-by-text, a parking terminal or an annual pass, and the app and text options carry a $0.35 convenience fee; food stands and rentals take no cash. The street address is 3500 Pinellas Bayway S. The park has two large swim centers, with food at the North Beach Swim Center, Gulf and Bay fishing piers open 7 a.m. to sunset (a fishing license is required everywhere in the park), and a beach area set aside for dogs plus two fenced dog areas (Fort De Soto Park). The city visitor page still calls it a 900-acre park (Beaches visitor page), while Pinellas County, which runs the park, gives 1,136 acres; the two official figures conflict.

Beyond the beach, the county lists a 6.8-mile, 12-foot-wide asphalt trail linking the campground, both swim centers and the old fort, a 2.25-mile canoe trail, a 2,200-foot barrier-free nature trail, and ferry service to Egmont Key and Shell Key (Fort De Soto Park). While most county parks shut for two days a year, the day after Thanksgiving and Dec. 25, Fort De Soto Park is open all year (Pinellas County, Park Hours). County park rules ban alcoholic beverages, balloons of any kind, and grills, glass or campfires on beaches, and they keep pets off beaches, boardwalks and fishing piers outside the designated dog area (Pinellas County, Park Rules).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation and Pinellas County websites.