Pier 60 Clearwater Beach

Hours, fees, and the basics

The fee moved with the 2025 reopening. The city's pre-storm rate card said $10 a day for adults and a $1 walk-on; the reopening figures reported by Bay News 9 and Visit St. Pete-Clearwater are $12 adult, $10 senior, $8 for kids. Budget $12 and confirm at the window. Everything on the plaza is free.

Fishing from Pier 60

Pier 60 is a real fishing pier with a full bait-and-tackle shop, not a boardwalk with a rail. The blanket saltwater fishing pier license means out-of-state visitors, kids, and first-timers all fish legally on the daily pass; Florida's size and bag limits still apply. The end of the pier sits over roughly 12 to 15 feet of water and the pilings hold structure the whole way out.

What is biting by season: Spanish mackerel and pompano in the spring and fall runs, snook and mangrove snapper around the pilings in summer, sheepshead and silver trout in winter, flounder and redfish year round on the bottom, and the occasional tarpon rolling past in May and June. Targeting sharks from a pier requires FWC's free shore-based shark permit for anyone 16 and up, and prohibited species go straight back in the water. First-timers should start at the end with a bottom rig and cut shrimp; the Pier 60 fishing guide goes deep on rigs, bait, seasons, and etiquette, and the fishing hub covers every species and the charters that leave from the marina a block away.

Sunsets at Pier 60, the nightly festival

Every evening of the year, weather permitting, the plaza at the base of the pier turns into a small street festival: musicians, magicians, balloon artists, jugglers, and 30-plus craft vendors, timed to the sunset. It starts two hours before sunset and winds down two hours after. It is free, it is family-friendly, and it is the reason the garages empty and refill in the late afternoon. The Sunsets at Pier 60 guide covers what to expect, where to stand, and how early to arrive on a weekend.

The pier itself is the best sunset viewpoint on the island because it faces due west with nothing in front of it. The second-best spot is the sand just south of the pier looking back at it, which puts the pier in silhouette.

Pier 60 Park: playground and facilities

• A large shaded playground on the sand with two play structures, one sized for toddlers and one for bigger kids, free during park hours.
• Public restrooms and outdoor rinse showers.
• Volleyball nets on the sand south of the pier, first come, bring your own ball.
• Covered picnic pavilions and coin telescopes on the pier.
• A snack shop at the bait house; the ice cream shops start on the 400 block of Mandalay Avenue, a two-minute walk.
• Free child ID wristbands from the Pier 60 lifeguard station during lifeguard hours. Write your cell number on it; the kids guide recommends getting one on day one.

The park is the midday reset for families: shade, a playground, and restrooms without leaving the beach. Lifeguard towers sit on both sides of the pier, staffed 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the lifeguard guide has hours and tower locations.

Parking at Pier 60

The North Beach Parking Plaza at 490 Poinsettia Ave is the closest garage, a multi-level structure directly behind the pier entrance, $3 an hour and open around the clock. With the Surf Style garage and the Hyatt Regency garage it is one of three structures within a block of the pier, and all three fill by mid-morning on peak weekends and again about two hours before sunset on festival nights. The parking guide lays out the full strategy; the short version is arrive by 10:30 a.m., or park at Sand Key Park for a flat $6 a day (the county was weighing a switch to hourly rates in August 2026) and ride the Jolley Trolley back across the bridge. The is Clearwater Beach free guide itemizes every other cost of a day here.

Webcam and checking conditions

The city's own camera at Lifeguard Headquarters looks west over the sand beside the pier, with a second camera on the roundabout for traffic; Visit St. Pete-Clearwater's webcam page covers the wider beach. Mote Marine's beach conditions map carries reports for Clearwater Beach. Between those, the flag guide, and the water temperature guide, you can decide from the hotel whether it is a swimming day, a fishing day, or a sunset-only evening.

Photography on and around the pier

• Sunrise from the end of the pier looking east over the causeway gives dramatic silhouettes with nobody around.
• Sunset from the sand south of the pier, looking back, uses the pier as a foreground.
• Golden hour is about 45 minutes before sunset; the light is better then than at the moment the sun touches the water.
• The walkway vibrates when people run, so long exposures from a tripod are hit or miss.
• Pelicans work the rail near the cleaning stations most afternoons and are the easiest wildlife shot on the island.

The photo gallery shows what the pier looks like at every hour if you want to plan a shot.

What is close by

• Frenchy's Rockaway Grill, 7 Rockaway St, a 15-minute walk north on the sand, home of the award-winning grouper sandwich.
• Crabby's Beachside Pavilion, the 1926 Palm Pavilion building at 10 Bay Esplanade on the north beach, renamed after a January 2026 sale. A nine-story, 144-room hotel is planned for the inn next door; the restaurant stays.
• The marina, across the roundabout, where the dolphin boats, the pirate ship, and the charter fleet leave.
• Beach Walk, the promenade that runs south from the pier along the whole main beach.
• Mandalay Avenue, the shopping and restaurant strip running north, covered in the Mandalay Avenue guide.

Frequently asked questions