Boca Grande, Florida Named America’s Best Small Beach Town by Travel + Leisure Magazine

Old Florida meets laid-back island living in elegant Boca Grande.

While the state of Florida welcomes nearly 140 million visitors each year, only a small portion of them make their way to serene Gasparilla Island and its main town, Boca Grande, an upscale yet down-to-earth community on the Gulf of Mexico that’s just the right amount of sleepy (except when it comes to its role as “Tarpon Capital of the World”).

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On Gasparilla Island, enjoy world-class fishing and beautiful beaches

The Gasparilla Inn & Club, whose pool area is shown here, is known for its white sand beaches and world-class tarpon fishing. BRANTLEY PHOTOGRAPHY | Gasparilla Inn and Club.

Appeared Originally in the Tampa Bay Times.

Driving over the Boca Grande Bridge brings back 30 years of memories vacationing on Gasparilla Island with my children, relatives and family friends. It still has the same homes, the same shops, the same restaurants and the same ambiance from those bygone days. Rather than a been-there, done-that vacation, it’s a so-glad-to-be-back respite.

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