Photo Gallery | USA TODAY Poll: Clearwater Beach voted 'Florida's Best'

Street performers and artists entertain nightly at Pier 60, but sunsets are the real draw.

A children's play area is part of the draw at Clearwater's Pier 60.

Clearwater resident Hulk Hogan opened a store on Mandalay Avenue in Clearwater Beach.

Clearwater Beach, which beat out nine other nominees to win a recent USA TODAY reader poll as “Florida’'s best beach town.” Waiting for customers at the Palm Pavilion, a local institution on Clearwater Beach.

Sand Key, just south of Clearwater Beach across Clearwater Pass, offers a quieter alternative.

Brooke and Emily Kearney get up close and personal with Hope, a resident dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

A view of the marina from the rooftop bar at Pier 60, a new hotel in Clearwater Beach.

A sign in downtown Clearwater gives a history of the Fort Harrison Hotel. Now owned by the Church of Scientology, it opened in 1926.

Volleyball games and tournaments are staple attractions on three-mile-long Clearwater Beach.

The original Frenchy's, one of four in Clearwater Beach, is famous for its grouper sandwiches.

Sandpearl Resort guests Ben, Jack and Abbie Schoen, snowbirds from Toledo, dig into the soft white sand of Clearwater Beach.

Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise offers daily sailings from the Clearwater Beach marina.