Book Review - BeachHunter's Florida Gulf Beaches Access Guide

BeachHunter's Florida Gulf Beaches Access Guide



The Florida Gulf Beaches Guide is filled with 286 pages of beach goodness.  It covers 120 beaches on the Gulf coast from Tarpon Springs to Marco Island and includes 21 maps as well as 120 black and white photos.  It's based on author David McRee's personal experiences and since he was born in Florida, has lived there his whole life and has personally visited each and every one of these beaches, well, he knows what he's talking about!

Everything inside the book is well documented and organized with great attention to detail.  All the beaches are numbered so they correspond to one of the maps.  One of my favorite features of the book is that David included the GPS co-ordinates and directions to each beach.  As an out-of-towner this feature is a huge plus for me and makes navigation a breeze.  Every beach has oodles of information such as....

• Pets
• Disabled access
• Restrooms
• Food and drink
• Alcohol
• Shelling
• Lifeguards
• Camping

My location of choice has always been Sanibel Island and I usually don't venture off the island when I'm there.  Florida's Gulf Coast has so many beaches to choose from and frankly it was overwhelming trying to decide where to go, much less figuring out how to get there.  But after reading this book, I've already got a list going of new beaches I want to try.  David has literally taken the guesswork out of trying to decide which beaches may offer the features I'm looking for.  This is essential when you've only got a few days of vacation and want to maximize your beach experience.

Another thing I really liked about BeachHunter's Florida Gulf Beaches Access Guide is the treasure trove of different activities that David suggests.  For example....

• Kayaking to the Barrier Islands such as Anclote Key
• Learning the history of Caladesi Island
• Enjoying the sunsets at Pier 60 along with artists, crafts people, musicians and street performers
• Visiting the Clearwater Aquarium
• Check out the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary
• Stroll along Long Pier
• Visit Fort Desoto for the drum roll
• How to reach and explore Cayo Costa Island

David also steers his readers in the direction of beaches where they may have a good chance of finding some nice shells, hunting for sharks teeth, where to snorkel in clear water and where to mosey along a boardwalk.  Get the book and you'll find out too!

In fact - check out this video and David will tell you exactly what you will get in his book.  If you're a fan of Florida beaches then this book is for you.  Now is the perfect time to order it as a gift for someone special.

It's available on his website,  his blog, and also at Amazon.  Right now David is offering a free copy of his Beach Survival Guide e-book.  Go ahead and download it here.

Visit his FB page here.

Be sure to come back on Thursday when David stops by to do an author interview.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.   Get your copy here

I was given an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

My Beach Tour Shells

I was asked to show some of the shells that we found when we did our Sanibel off-island beach tour.  I didn't find a bonanza of shells, but as always, it's just nice to be walking along the beach, swimming and floating in the water and picking up an occasional shell here and there.

I probably brought home the least amount of shells this last trip than I ever have.  But that's ok, the real treasure was spending time on the beach with 2 of my girl friends and sharing our shelling experience.

I usually dip my shells in a little bleach water to make sure they are cleaned up pretty good and then I put them in a mesh shelling bag that I lay in the dirt outside in my garden.  I left them outside for almost a month.   Then I put them in a bucket of soapy water and wash them really good before I lay them on a towel outside on the deck to dry out.

I did find a lot of nice coral on the beaches this trip....

I found 3 alphabet cones but they were all in pretty bad shape.  I found 1 piece of sea glass and quite a few small horse conchs and whelks....

A few murex.....

3 kings crowns and a couple of nice little nutmegs....

The underside of the conch's have a beautiful purple tint to them - never saw that before.  And I'm always a fan of the olives and I make bracelets out of some of them....

This is the longest wormie I've found to date....

A couple of tulips, an operculum and that round rock like thing is a sea pearl.  I've never found one of them before so I was happy to get that....

 Lots of tiny jingles....

A few pear whelks, paper figs, shark eyes and 2 nice angel wings....

And that's it.  Nothing super spectacular, but a few nice ones and like I said, being on the beach with my friends was the real prize anyway.

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Lot's of fun things going on this week folks!  Don't forget to enter the Nocciolata Give-Away here. 

And the lovely Miss Diane is giving away free samples of her heavenly soap, so go over and send her an email requesting your FREE bar of soap here.