48 real pictures of Clearwater Beach — the sand, the sunsets, Pier 60, the clear Gulf water, and the views from above. Click any image for the full-size view.
This is what Clearwater Beach actually looks like: sugar-white quartz sand, shallow blue-green Gulf water, and a sunset over Pier 60 that draws a crowd every single evening. The photos below cover the whole island — the wide shoreline along Beach Walk, aerial views of the beachfront hotels, dolphin tour boats on the Gulf, and the quieter sand at Sand Key Park one bridge south. If these convince you to book, our guides to the best time to visit and the best hours of the day will help you see the beach looking exactly like this.
The nightly show. Pier 60 faces due west over the Gulf, and the Sunsets at Pier 60 festival gathers on the sand around it almost every evening of the year.
The beach itself: broad, flat, and soft — freshly renourished and at its widest in years. This is the sand that keeps Clearwater Beach on the national best-beach lists, and it looks like this along nearly three miles of shoreline.
From above you can see why the island works so well: a narrow barrier island with the Gulf on one side, the Intracoastal on the other, and the beachfront hotels lined up steps from the sand.
The town is named for this water. It runs warm from May through November, and it is home to the dolphins and sea turtles that share the Gulf with swimmers. Check current conditions on our water temperature guide.
More scenes from around the island — plus Sand Key, the quieter sister beach one bridge south with the same white sand and a fraction of the crowd.
Want to stand in these photos instead of scrolling them? Start with the Clearwater Beach vacation guide, see what the beach is known for, or book a sunset cruise and shoot your own.