During our last Florida vacation, we scheduled a quick 3-day getaway at the Guy Harvey Outpost Resort in St. Pete Beach Florida.  This was our first experience at a TradeWinds Island Resorts property and our first visit to St. Pete Beach.  We were traveling over a holiday and many of the city shops and restaurants were closed for a full day of our stay.  However, we absolutely loved St. Pete Beach!   Honestly, there are so many activities available at the Guy Harvey and their sister resort, the TradeWinds Island Grand, we found plenty to do to keep us occupied during our short visit.

*Our stay was partially hosted by the Guy Harvey Outpost Resort, all reviews and opinions are that of our own.

The Rooms:

The Guy Harvey Outpost Resort features suite style rooms with a nice sitting area, kitchenette, and bedroom.   Each morning, housekeeping left us a few bottles of complimentary water, which was a nice touch.  We especially liked the kitchenette that featured a full refrigerator, microwave, and stovetop.  Due to our youngest son’s food allergies, we usually seek out properties that offer a way for us to bring our own food and make special meals for his needs.   In the evenings we were able to put the kids to sleep, shut the door between the bedroom and sitting area, and enjoy a glass of wine together.

Must Do

Morning walks along the Beach: The water is calm and beautiful.  There were many locals and visitors on the beach enjoying a  morning run or leisurely walk.  If you pay attention, you’ll most likely see dolphins swimming along the shoreline.    We took full advantage of the beach, enjoying the warm weather and building sand castles.  Because we visited in November, the sea water was a bit cold, but that didn’t seem to detour many people.  The area is bustling with water sports rentals such as kayaks, paddle boards, and jet skis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resort Activities:  When you stay at either the Guy Harvey Outpost Resort or their nearby sister resort, The TradeWinds Island Grand, you receive a Go Pass that allows guests to enjoy the amenities and activities at either location.  Between the two resorts, there were enough activities to keep our family busy throughout the entire visit!  One of our kid’s favorite activities was the High Tide Slide located just a short walk down the beach at the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort.  This is a huge inflatable beachfront waterslide with three slides.  You can also use any of the heated pools at either location.  When we weren’t playing on the beach or the waterslide, we were enjoying the heated pool at the Guy Harvey Outpost.  Each location also offers various family-friendly evening activities ranging from dive-in poolside movies to our favorite after dinner treat, making S’mores on the Beach.  During our three day visit, we didn’t have enough time to enjoy all of the activities available at the resorts.  Ah well, another reason to go back!

One attraction you should not miss when visiting the Guy Harvey Outpost is the touch tank experience located inside the outfitter shop.  Our boys got to touch and learn about various sea creatures like sea stars, hermit crabs, and horseshoe crabs.
Here they are holding a brittle star, a type of sea star with long spiny legs that they use to crawl along the sea floor. The touch tank program is offered twice a day for one hour by trained marine volunteers from the Sea Marine Exploration Center and Aquarium. It’s a pretty cool educational experience for both kids and adults!

 

 

 

 

Shopping:  St. Pete Beach is such a cute beach town!  We spent a few hours driving around.  I highly suggest a trip to their downtown where there are locally owned shops and boutiques.  Because we were visiting on Thanksgiving the shops downtown were closed, but I was able to get my “shopping fix” at the Guy Harvey Outfitter shop, located inside of the Rum Fish Grill at the Resort.  This shop features a large selection of Guy Harvey Marine Art and apparel.   I purchased a hat, several pieces of jewelry and miscellaneous items all featuring Art by Guy Harvey.

 

Also featured inside of the Rum Fish Grill is a 33,500-gallon saltwater tank that was designed by the Animal Planet show, Tanked. It’s an amazing sight, filled with over 20 species of marine life including grouper, redfish, stingrays, and a green moray eel. For $35, you can actually snorkel inside of the tank as a guest at The Guy Harvey Outpost.  Tip: The tank snorkel opportunities are limited, so make sure to make your reservations early.

In a separate tank, they feature other species including the invasive lionfish that are invading and damaging reefs throughout the Caribbean. We ran into Captain Tim at the Guy Harvey Outfitter shop who gave us a mini educational talk about the lionfish and how they are affecting the ecosystem.

 

Who is Guy Harvey?

Guy Harvey is a Marine artist and conservationist, originally from Jamaica, who is famous for his depictions of various sea life and sportfish.  He is an avid marine conservationist and founder of the Guy Harvey Research Institute and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation.  Guy Harvey works closely with many marine conservation organizations around the world to protect global fishery resources.  He is a researcher, a scientist, conservationist, and marine artist; and he is the man behind the famous Guy Harvey Outpost resorts.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at The Guy Harvey Outpost Resort.  It is extremely family friendly, and because their suites feature a small kitchenette, we found the resort to be allergy friendly as well.  The onsite restaurants were happy to go out of their way to make special accommodations for our food allergy needs or allow us to bring our own food for our son if necessary.  Guy’s Gulf side Grill made a special fruit plate for us in the morning, and the Rum Fish Grill made a special grilled vegetable kabob using separate cooking utensils to prevent cross contamination of our son’s food allergens.  We were very happy with both their food allergy friendly efforts and service.   The Guy Harvey Outpost Resort offers something for everyone.  Families with kids of all ages could spend a week here without ever leaving the property.   If you are looking for an adult getaway, they also offer adult options including a separate adult-only pool area.