Smathers Beach - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)
Smathers Beach
Smathers Beach
3.5
About
Lap up the sunshine and score a golden tan at Key West’s largest public beach. The crystalline waters, palm-lined shores, and clear blue skies are all you need for a relaxing beach vacation. But if you’re up for some beach activities, there are beach volleyball nets, jet skis and paddleboard rentals available. Couples can opt for a romantic catamaran cruise while families with young kids can enjoy a splashing good time in the shallow waters. You can visit Smathers Beach any time of the year, but it gets particularly busy between March and April, when the spring break crowd rolls in. – Tripadvisor
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  • Momof3inRVA
    Richmond, Virginia62 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fun Beach Day
    We had a fun day at Smather's Beach last week. We liked that the parking is free across the street. We paid $50 to rent 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella. My kids wanted to snorkel and they did see some fish but not that many. We rented a kayak for $30. My kids really enjoyed this. The water was very calm and I felt safe letting the 2 kids go kayaking alone (13 & 12). There were posts in the water that marked how far out the kayaks were allowed to go. The beach did have some seaweed but not much. And the bathrooms were not bad at all. Wish there had been a snack bar. But this beach is directly across from Margaritaville Resort so you could walk across the street to eat there and grab drinks ;)
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written August 22, 2023
  • dmsanger
    O Brien, Florida7 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Seaweed & Construction
    Beach is being rehabilitated it looks like. Construction zone. Not easy to get to the beach. Also churned up by the recent hurricane which left a lot of seaweed on the beach. Will be beautiful when finished I’m sure but this visit disappointing though not the fault of Key West city.
    Visited September 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written September 10, 2023
  • Benjamin L
    Sioux Falls, South Dakota31 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Pretty good. Some seaweed but more space.
    Swimming beaches are in short supply in general throughout the keys for the general public. This one was the most spacious and had real sand as well. There was a fair amount of stinky seaweed. Waves were gentle. We found parking across the street that was free.
    Visited December 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written January 1, 2024
  • Christina O
    6 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Nice beach
    A nice enough beach. Umbrella and 2 chairs $50 for all day. Calm, shallow, great place to swim but no place to buy food anywhere nearby that we noticed. Bathrooms were clean!
    Visited February 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written February 28, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

3.5
3.5 of 5 bubbles1,474 reviews
Excellent
514
Very good
428
Average
292
Poor
112
Terrible
128

CraigandAngieDalton
Watkinsville, GA94 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020
Smathers beach is dirty and gross! There is so much seaweed the city actually has a service with a dump truck/tractor to clean up and shovel the seaweed out of the way. The water when you first get in is dirty with seaweed, sea grass to the point it gets wrapped around your feet, legs, body. You have to swim out a good ways to get out of it! There are vendors there to rent chairs and umbrellas from the day; cost is $15 per chair and $15 per umbrella for the day. We rented a chair and umbrella which was a waste of our money because the beach was so dirty we didn’t easy to spend the day and found a nicer beach at Ft. Zachary Taylor instead.
Written June 10, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

FDinger
Florida1,335 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020 • Solo
I’ve been to Smathers Beach several times over the past few decades. I even saw Jimmy Buffett perform a somewhat impromptu concert on the sand there one afternoon in the early 90’s. It’s a nice beach. I say that knowing the Keys are really not a beach destination, but if you need your toes in the sand, it’s a fine option. It’s narrow but long. It has nice palm trees. During my most recent visit late one afternoon, I saw two weddings, a professional photo session with a lovely girl in a very skimpy bikini, a line of fishing boats out on the water, and pairs of fighter jets in the sky. I also saw a wonderful sunset. I highly recommend a visit to Smathers Beach.
Written November 25, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Court
130 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2022
Smathers Beach is beautiful and huge. There are bathrooms and parking nearby. It was kinda grayish since we went after Hurricane Ian, but I can see how it can be blue and beautiful any other time. We went for a wedding as a backdrop. Lots of weddings on this beach, we saw 4.
Written October 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ek1974
Hartland, WI233 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022
We stayed at Margaritaville Beach Hotel in March 2022. Smathers Beach is just across from Margaritaville. We went around 9:00 and no one is at the beach but my family. It is great for swimming and relaxing.

You can rent a umbrella and chairs from sunset company. But it is quite expensive. They charge $50.00 plus tax for a umbrella and two chairs, and another $25 for extra chair.
Written March 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sharon F
Cincinnati, OH5 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022
According to the locals we talked to, rotting sargassum appears every summer. How bad can it be? We rolled up our windows when driving alongside the rode; that's how bad it is. We decided to venture out of our car at one point despite the horrific smell and walked onto the beach for a couple minutes but quickly turned around. It appears it would be great in non-summer months, but it's quite unusable during the summer.
Written June 20, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

USSBeagle
Midwest US155 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
Better than Higgs beach by a long shot but Sombrero Beach in Marathon puts it to shame. The beach was not too crowded during the week which was nice but several areas where we tried to enter the water had broken glass. The local PD Horse patrol came by which was pretty cool. Bathroom facilities are available and plenty of parking too. There were several food vendors and rental shops for umbrellas, etc. Not much shade so bring or rent an umbrella.
Written March 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Getbusyliving
Great Falls, VA307 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2021 • Family
Absolutely no question that this is the best beach in Key West. Sand is great and clean, water is crystal clear and sand on the bottom is rock free. You can also rent umbrellas and chairs and hobie crafts, kayaks, tubes, etc. On street parking was easy to come by for a nominal fee. No food options but bathrooms are on site. The beach is right next to a busy street but it’s not an issue once on the beach. Great sunsets from here as well. Don’t miss this one if you want some beach time.
Written January 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Snarfyschmoo
Knoxville, TN49 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020 • Family
Enjoyed a few hours on this beach today. Not very crowded. Nice and shady under the palms. There was lots of seaweed washed up but no offensive odor, which was good because we smelled that sulphur smell others referenced several times driving in, and we were afraid it would ruin our beach time. But no odor here today! I did wade through the initial seaweed to venture in the water, which was very warm. Once you went the first five or six steps in, there was no more seaweed. Would definitely return here!
Written June 25, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

GW
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022 • Family
1st time here and we rented floats,chairs, and umbrellas from Sunset company. Kinda pricey but worth it especially when you are not coming with all of those things.The guys there were super helpful and took time out to give us some recommendations for things to do! They were really nice! They will work with you too!
Written May 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

PAboyinFL
Ocala, FL1,253 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021 • Couples
The beach area has a half mile thin stretch of sand that runs along the Atlantic Ocean. Water near the shore is brownish but blues up further out. Bottom has many rocks and stones. It’s an okay beach, but not among the better ones we’ve experienced over our years of traveling.
Written August 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Smathers Beach - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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