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North Lido Beach, Lido Public Beach, South Lido Park |
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Lido Key seems to have something for everyone. Here you will find natural, secluded beaches in the northern and southern parts of the island, and condos, hotels, restaurants, upscale shopping (St. Armand's Circle), and a fine public beach in the central part of Lido Key. Also, the world renowned Mote Marine Laboratory on City Island is located on the bay side of New Pass.
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Above, the promenade between
the beach and St. Armand's Circle. Quite a bit of beach parking here if
you don't mind a 5 minute walk to the beach. At left is north Lido beach. This is only a small part of it. The beach keeps going for probably half-a-mile or more beyond what you can see here. The sand is very white. This beach is within easy walking distance of St. Armand's Circle, a small upscale shopping village filled with boutiques, art, souvenir shops and small restaurants. Note the lifeguard tower and patrol vehicle to the right. |
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Here is north Lido beach looking south toward Lido Public Beach. There is a wide sidewalk along Benjamin Franklin Drive, making it easy for people to stroll around with a minimum of interference from traffic. The cars you see at the left are parked. It is not a traffic jam. | |||||
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Lido Public Beach is a pretty beach with a very nice parking lot and concession building with covered tables. Parking is free. The beach chairs and cabanas are for rent. Traffic tends to get pretty slow through St. Armand's Circle. The Circle is a roundabout, which we Americans just hate. Also, I'm not all that fond of the "upscale" shopping attractions being so close to the beach. But obviously plenty of folks do like it because these beaches are very popular with locals and visitors. Every spring there is a great art show held at St. Armand's. I always go to that. | |||||
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Here is a view of South Lido Park. It is at the south end of the Key at Big Pass. This park has lots of shade as you can see in the photo, good restroom facilities, picnic tables, and a very large parking lot. This is a good beach park for fishing, sun bathing, or picnicking. Swimming is not advised here because of very strong currents. | |||||
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At left is a section of the Gulf beach at South Lido Park. Erosion can be very bad here, so sometimes there is a lot of beach, and sometimes there is a little nub. At the time this photo was taken, May 2002, the beach was quite large. On the other side of Big Pass you can see Siesta Key. | |||||
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The boardwalk and concession facilities at
Lido Public Beach are nicer than is usual along the central west coast
of Florida. Covered picnic tables are within a few feet of the
concession. Below is a view of the courtyard of this concession facility at Lido Public Beach. |
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