Ben T Davis Beach, Tampa

Plenty of parking at midday. Current rate is 55 cents/hour. Bathrooms are clean. The swimming area is a fair size and has bouys around to mark it off. You will want to keep on your swimming shoes or sandals, as the beach and shallow water has many shells and shell fragments, which is fine if you like picking up seashells but it can be a bit rough on bare feet. There was a little glass on the beach too. The water did not get deeper than my waist, and we could see the sandy bottom even at the deepest end of the swimming area. This is a good swimming area for people who like to wade and observe some sea life. There was some seaweed in the swimming area, and many small fish that my 7-year old was trying to catch. The live hermit crabs were a surprise to see! This is not a beach for little children, but for folks who like to experience nature a little closer. There are grills near the parking area and picnic benches; there was also a sand volleyball net. This was a nice little beach just off the road.

All-in-all a nice little beach, particularly if you like biking or hanging out at Whiskey Joe's 1st trip as Tampa resident on a summer weekend. Parking -55cents/hour. The machine takes coins/credit. Arrived around 8am and the machine ate $2.20 w/o giving me receipt or recourse. The machine guy arrived 9am, but no help. LESSON 1: Watch to see other users get their printed receipt or test the machine w/1hr before much money in.. particularly before 9:15am. I had rushed to get there to park before a crowd, but found out that there was plenty of parking throughout the day. NO need to rush. Knowing "Florida Man" (a sort of bad national joke), I was kinda leery about walking the narrow and not-so-long beach early alone, and wished I carried my pepper spray, but no problems, and I could've gone over to the nicely paved bike/walking path for more security. Speaking of security, there is no office there. I did see 2 Security officers walking about at one point, but lack of an office has it's drawbacks. I'm sure the guy who lost his fancy IPhone near my car would agree with that. As others mention, it is a crushed shell kind of sand. You may need to endure some Latino music as the cars in the lot aren't far off and.. The bike pathway has numbers of nice amenities.. swinging benches, an air pump, bbq areas, etc. The small concession stand is nothing to rave about, so bring your own soda, etc. or there's Whiskey Joe's. Getting to the beach from my area of Tampa was easy enough..there's several stop lights before getting forced to go over the bridge, but I sure wish I had planned my way back as I quickly faced a tangle of highways, and got lost due to orientation/timing/safety constraints. LESSON 2: Plan your route.