Indian Rock beach or Madeira beach

[1disneyfanatic]

Hi, we are looking to rent a 2 bed condo on the gulf coast for 5 days next summer. However we’ve never been anywhere in Florida except onsite at Disney.

We have 10 nights already booked onsite but my teenage son wants to relax after his exams.

We’d like access to a pool, be close enough to walk to restaurants, bars etc and drive to some shopping outlets (teen daughters request!).

We aren’t overly lively people looking for nightlife. Just a relaxed place with a friendly atmosphere and good food.

I’ve seen a few condos at Indian rock beach that have access to the water park which appeals but we can do that at Disney. Madeira Beach looks good but is it too busy at St Johns pass?

Any thoughts would be great.

[debsym62]

We did 4 nights in the area in August, however I chose to stay near Clearwater airport, what that meant was we did quite a bit of driving to get to the beach but we did try a few. I do like the area you are thinking about and if you are close enough to walk that would be good as parking and beach access can be difficult so many places have private beach access. However when you get on the beach it is nice, lovely sunsets as well. We found at weekends on Madeira beach it was a bit noisy families come down with pop up gazebos and many seem to bring boom boxes for their music which does add to the atmosphere but it can be a bit much. Totally different to our beaches here I think but good.

[YorkshireT]

Indian Rocks is good. The Gulf is better the further South you go, but I've been to Indian Rocks 3 times and am back again next summer as it's handy for Busch Gardens. Nice quiet area with nice beach. It also has a great restaurant called Salt Rock Grill (Hulk Hogan goes in) where if you are seated by 5.30 you get a fantastic meal for $16.

[Chocgirl93]

Hi we stayed 4 nights in a lovely 2 bed/2 bath condo at Beachway condominiums in Seminole (5/10 min drive to Madiera Beach) in July of this year.

It was a lovely quiet complex with a nice pool. We visited Redington beach, just a little further north of Madiera beach on our first day. (Madiera Beach car park gets busy, so get there early) and had a lovely lunch at Broke N Bored right next to the beach. We took an Uber taxi to Johns Pass that evening which allowed hubby a few beers and no driving!

2nd day we parked the car at Madiera beach and took the bus to Clearwater, looking at all the beautiful houses en route! We had a fab time on the Little Toot boat trip watching the dolphins ride in the surf then back to Madiera beach until the sun was almost setting.

Our last day was a trip to Busch Gardens, our first time and we loved it, great rides.

Hope this helps, we loved our time here before moving further south to Bradenton for 6 nights. On the way there we stopped off for lunch at Upham beach (St Pete's) another beautiful beach.

Hope you have a great trip, this was our first time to the coast and our 5th trip to Florida. We didn't do any Disney, which was actually fine (did feel a little sad passing World Drive but were lucky to do a 2 night stay at Universal at the end of the trip, so enjoyed some theme park days)

[scooby99]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Indian Rocks is good. The Gulf is better the further South you go, but I've been to Indian Rocks 3 times and am back again next summer as it's handy for Busch Gardens. Nice quiet area with nice beach. It also has a great restaurant called Salt Rock Grill (Hulk Hogan goes in) where if you are seated by 5.30 you get a fantastic meal for $16.

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Although the 2 beach towns lead into each other, Salt Rock Grill is actually in Indian Shores.

Indian Shores ends & Indian Rocks Beach begins at the section of Gulf Blvd where Villa Gallace restaurant is located. Lots of other restaurants in that section.

We love Indian Shores; visit 3 times a year; will be back there in around 8 weeks.
A lovely beach; plenty of choice of condos with pools; steps from the beach whether your condo overlooks the beach or the Intracoastal.

[1disneyfanatic]

Thank you for all your replies. I’m now convinced it’s the area for us.

I’ve written down all your suggestions for places to visit and eat. My son has food allergies so I have to try and research menus before we go anywhere so love when people give personal recommendations.

My daughter is really keen to go to the Dali art museum and apparently there’s a shopping outlet not to far away. We will have a car but parking sounds problematic so I think buses sound like a good option for sight seeing.

I love how helpful this forum is!

[scooby99]

Originally Posted by 1disneyfanatic

Thank you for all your replies. I’m now convinced it’s the area for us.

I’ve written down all your suggestions for places to visit and eat. My son has food allergies so I have to try and research menus before we go anywhere so love when people give personal recommendations.

My daughter is really keen to go to the Dali art museum and apparently there’s a shopping outlet not to far away. We will have a car but parking sounds problematic so I think buses sound like a good option for sight seeing.

I love how helpful this forum is!

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The Dali museum is great.

There are Premium outlets at both Ellenton; approx 45 mins drive south from Indian Shores & Tampa; approx 45 mins drive north from Indian Shores.

Parking isn't problematic at all; never had an issue in our 3 visits every year.
If you're staying in either Madeira Beach or Indian Shores/Rocks Beach, you're either beachfront or on the other side of the street from the beach so you literally are steps away from the sand.
If you're staying inland & need to drive to a beach, yes the beach lots can get busy, mainly at weekends.
Everywhere else, restaurants, shops, attractions has adequate parking, we never struggle.

[OLS]

Originally Posted by scooby99

The Dali museum is great.

There are Premium outlets at both Ellenton; approx 45 mins drive south from Indian Shores & Tampa; approx 45 mins drive north from Indian Shores.

Parking isn't problematic at all; never had an issue in our 3 visits every year.
If you're staying in either Madeira Beach or Indian Shores/Rocks Beach, you're either beachfront or on the other side of the street from the beach so you literally are steps away from the sand.
If you're staying inland & need to drive to a beach, yes the beach lots can get busy, mainly at weekends.
Everywhere else, restaurants, shops, attractions has adequate parking, we never struggle.

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Can you recommend where to look for Indian Shores accommodation rental? I know there is the usual booking.com, home&away etc but I tend to try and go on recommendations to ensure the properties are real!

[scooby99]

Originally Posted by OLS

Can you recommend where to look for Indian Shores accommodation rental? I know there is the usual booking.com, home&away etc but I tend to try and go on recommendations to ensure the properties are real!

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We've used VRBO (part of the Homeaway group) for our rentals in Indian Shores; our first rental was around 10 years ago & we've stayed in 4 separate condo locations in IS with them; all our rentals were as advertised & per the description/photos.

In terms of ensuring the property is real, I guess, we did the usual; checked Google maps, checked if the properties were listed on other rental sites & that the rental calendars on each matched up in terms of bookings, avoided those with empty/near empty calendars or calendars not updated (why?), avoided those whose price sounded too cheap compared to similar properties, looked at reviews (how many & do they sound real, e.g., mention of owner by name & contact with them, mention of what they did locally, mention of good and any minor 'bad' points of the property) & paid via credit card.

We now stay in the same condo 3 times a year so no need to look at other condos; we rent & communicate directly with the owner who gives us great prices, far lower than the advertised rate, holds 'our weeks' for us until we can confirm definite dates & has given us our own closet space so we can leave our beach stuff, toiletries, hairdryer & shoes etc there.

[tim17]

We're staying in IS in a couple of weeks time and have rented a townhouse via VRBO. I did the same checks as Scooby and have had direct contact with the owners so am as confident as I can be that everything's legit.