My family and I love the beach and anything to do with the water. We have a pontoon boat that we take out as often as we can, but lately it has only been in the bay around Apollo Beach. My 3 year old is always asking to get out of the boat to swim and if you know the Apollo Beach (Beer Can Island) area, you know the water isn't nice to look at and looks kind of... well... dirty.
We have been talking about taking a trip to the Keys, but our boys don't do well in long car rides, so my husband and I decided to find a hotel on the water not too far from home that we could dock the boat at. That's when we found Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove.
The Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove is a family friendly full service resort on 18 acres with 2 fresh water swimming pools, a jacuzzi, a game room, restaurants, a beach bar, shuffleboard, tennis court, private beach, marina, fitness center, playground, volleyball, lounge, and gift shop.
Our room was just the right size for our family and we had plenty of room in our fridge for our snacks.
We launched our boat at a nearby park not even 5 minutes away. My husband rode the boat over to the hotel and docked it at the marina in our reserved boat slip while I unpacked our suitcases. Our first stop was the playground. The kids had fun climbing around and going down the slides. The playground was conveniently right outside our room.
Once we got tired of the playground, we headed over to play a little shuffleboard. Let's just say, I need more practice. :P
Next up, the game room. What kid doesn't love spending money playing games?
Our stomachs started growling and thunder started roaring, so we decided to go grab dinner at the bay front resort restaurant, Periscopes.
We ordered the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer. It was so delicious, we ordered it the next day as well.
As my entree, I ordered the Shrimp Scampi. The flavors were incredible and the shrimp cooked perfectly. We were very impressed by the food at Periscopes.
Of course the kids ordered their favorites, Mac n Cheese, and chicken tenders with fries.
After dinner, we suited up and headed to the pool. I can not believe that I forgot to take pictures of the pool areas, but I did. My bad. We were just having too much fun and my hands were full from carrying drinks from the Nepa Hut Beach Bar.
The pools were quite nice and just the right temperature. We enjoyed our drinks poolside and ordered pina coladas and a few of their other daily specials from the Nepa Hut Beach Bar. They also had local beer to choose from and I found a favorite that I will be on a lookout for.
The staff we encountered while we stayed were all super friendly and helpful from the front desk to the boat slip operator.
Here is a view of the hotel as we were riding to the gulf from our boat...
The private beach was a nice place to wind down after a long day and to watch the colors of the sky unfold during the sunset. They Skyway Bridge made the view even more amazing.
The Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove is the perfect resort for families and is super kid friendly. We highly recommend it and are already planning our next stay before the summer is over.
Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove
6800 Sunshine Skyway Ln, St. Petersburg, FL 33711
727-867-1151
