Honeymoon Island
| Honeymoon Island State Park | |
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IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
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| Location | Pinellas County, Florida, USA |
| Nearest city | Dunedin, Florida |
| Coordinates | 28°04′08″N 82°49′52″W / 28.06889°N 82.83111°WCoordinates: 28°04′08″N 82°49′52″W / 28.06889°N 82.83111°W |
| Area | 2,785 acres (11.27 km2) |
| Governing body | Florida Department of Environmental Protection |
Honeymoon Island State Park is a Florida State Park located on Honeymoon Island, a barrier island across St. Joseph's Sound from Palm Harbor, Ozona, and Crystal Beach. The park is 385 acres (1.6 km2) in land area with 2,400 acres (10 km2) submerged and 4 miles (6 km) of beach. It lies at the western end of Causeway Boulevard, which becomes Curlew Road east of Alternate US 19. Its address is 1 Causeway Blvd. Consistently receiving more than one million visitors each year, it is the most-visited state park in Florida.
Honeymoon and neighboring Caladesi Island were originally part of a large barrier island that split in half during a major hurricane in 1921. The waterway between the islands is known as Hurricane Pass.
According to the Florida Park Service, Honeymoon Island was introduced to the American public in the early 1940s through newsreels and magazines. The advertisements promised undiscovered pleasures for newlyweds. According to the Dunedin Museum (located in Dunedin, Florida on the mainland which lays claim to both Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island), Honeymoon Island was formerly known as Hog Island. In the early 1940s, honeymoon-type huts were built on the island for vacationing, and the name was changed. After the US entered World War II, the thatched huts fell into disuse. The structures were razed as the island was turned into a state park. However, the name stuck. A causeway leading to the island was constructed in 1964.
One of the island's services, a ferry to Caladesi Island, is only for convenience to those in the Honeymoon Island area to reach Caladesi Island across Hurricane Pass. Caladesi Island is easily accessible by walking from Clearwater Beach, Florida, as it has been for decades, and it is only separated by a "welcome sign" from the south.
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