Madeira Beach

Madeira Beach, Florida is on the Gulf of Mexico in Pinellas County across Boca Ciega Bay from St. Petersburg. Locals refer to their little city as “Mad Beach.“

The population of Maderia Beach is about 4,400, and the city is mostly residential with very few little commercial activity.

Two areas in Madeira Beach draw a fair amount of locals and tourists. The first is John’s Pass Village, a shopping venue centered along a boardwalk on John’s Pass. It is an easy walk from the Village to the sandy Gulf beach just to the west. It is a nautically themed.

It is a nautically themed place with hundreds of restaurants, shops and curious small tourist attractions.

John’s Pass Village is a shopping venue centered along a boardwalk on John’s Pass. It is an easy walk from the Village to the sandy Gulf beach just to the west. On Florida’s west coast, inlets to the Gulf of Mexico are called passes. John’s Pass separates Treasure Island on the south from Madeira Beach on the north.

The pass was created by the Great Hurricane of 1848 that separated the barrier island at that point. The pass was first bridged in 1927. That bridge was replaced in 1971 and that one was replaced in 2013.

The village has an authentic riverfront Old Florida village feel. You can still get a reasonably priced room for a night or a week. You can enjoy shopping, beach combing, people watching, dolphin watching and any number of dining experiences.