Skyway Fishing Pier State Park had over 1.29 million visitors since 2018
April 26, 2023. Updated Aug 11, 2023.
From 2018 to 2022, the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park had over 1.29 million visitors. In 2019, there were over 312,000 visitors.
The 5-year average from 2018–2022 was 258,569 visitors. Since 2019, the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park averaged 283,360 visitors. Had it not been for external factors — Covid-19 that resulted in a month-long closure with an incremental reopening, environmental disaster Piney Point, red tide, and hurricanes— visitors may have continued to trend upward. Currently, 2022 is trending upward.
“When the new Sunshine Skyway Bridge was built over Tampa Bay, connecting St. Petersburg with Sarasota, the old bridge was turned into the world’s longest fishing pier,” according to the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park website.
The summer months are the most active, with June and July being the busiest, followed by May. The Skyway Fishing Pier State Park is internationally known in the fishing community.
The number of visitors since 2018 provides insight into the external factors that negatively influenced visits, the 153,525 increase in visitors from 2018 to 2019, the monthly visitors, and visitor trends during bird migration season trends. Travel and tourism opportunities have had a slight impact but this has been untapped by the tourism and cruise industry. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection provided the data in the 2018–2022 data table which is a public record.
Overview of Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Skyway Fishing Pier State Park
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is the Gateway to Tampa Bay located in Lower Tampa Bay.
The Skyway Bridge is a four-lane bridge that carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, connecting St. Petersburg to Terra Ciea and passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, and Manatee County. A park map is available on the website.
The Skyway Fishing Pier State Park comprises the Skyway North Fishing Pier (0.62 miles) and Skyway South Fishing Pier (1.5 miles). The separation between the two is approximately 2 miles.
In 1992, when the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge’s center spans were demolished, the salvaged debris was used to create artificial reefs. This created rich fishing grounds for grouper, Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, tarpon, snapper, hogfish, grunt, sheepshead, crabs, and more. Baitfish is plentiful.
Skyway Fishing Pier State Park is unique, operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The fishing piers are lit at night. Both the Skyway North and South Fishing Pier allow vehicles so you can drive to your fishing spot. Each pier provides a concession, restrooms, and a bait shop. The North and South Pier are accessible to people with disability. Handicap parking is available.
Many consider Key West to be Florida’s premier fishing spot. But for those of all levels, this destination is a gem,” according to Daniel McGinn’s article in the Boston Globe. I went to Tampa Bay in search of big fish. I found an angler’s paradise. Daniel McGinn is an executive editor of Harvard Business Review.
The fishing at the Skyway is pier-based fishing, which is different from land- and boat-based fishing. The Skyway Pier is different than other piers because this was the old bridge that extended into Tampa Bay and is considerably longer than other piers, you can drive onto the pier, the tide cuts across the pier, and the weather is to be respected. The Skyway Pier offers an array of opportunities and challenges.
External factors had a negative influence on the number of visitors
In 2020-1, external factors had a negative impact on the number of Skyway Fishing Pier State Park visitors. The external factors were Covid-19, Tampa Bay’s environmental factors: red tide, wastewater spills, Piney Point, and weather factors such as tropical storms and hurricanes. On May 1, 2021, Covid-19 restrictions that had limited vehicle capacity since April 2020 were removed, but, in April 2021, a new external factor Piney Point environmental disaster, would have severe repercussions from April to October 2021.
“The sixteen-month red tide bloom that engulfed Florida’s west coast from late 2017 to early 2019 was one of the longest and most severe in memory,” according to the article, 2018 Red Tide Impact and Response, in Science and Environment. The infographic continued, “In 2017–2019, an historically severe red tide bloomed off Southwest Florida’s coast. Before it was over, it had spread to the Panhandle and Atlantic Coast. The Tampa Bay area, including Hillsborough, Pasco, and Manatee Counties, experienced environmental, economic, and social impact in 2018.”
Red tide appeared during the Piney Point disaster, further curtailing fishing and tourism from June to November 2021.
During 2022, two hurricanes shut down the North and South Skyway Fishing Pier, Ian in September and Nicole in November. Red tide followed in October and was present until March 2023.
Comparing “Monthly Visitors for 2021 and 2021” shows Piney Point’s environmental impact in May and Hurricane Ian’s impact in September.
In November, a second hurricane, followed by red tide, decreased visitors. During both hurricanes, the Skyway Bridge and park closed. An analysis of daily visitors would be needed to assess the impact on visitors.
A report on the 2018 Red Tide Bloom from the Science and Environment Council of Southwest Florida, funded by the Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund and the Sunrise Rotary Club Foundation of Sarasota, “details conditions in the five-county Tampa Bay/Sarasota Bay region before, during and after the red tide. A few key takeaways were:
- Bird hospital admissions were up 300 percent, although the report says that most sick birds never made it to the hospital
- In the report’s five-county assessment, 190 turtles and 68 manatees died; across the entire Florida west coast, 1 out of every 12 manatees died in 2018, according to data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
- Fish kill reports to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were 400 percent above normal
- Scientific surveys of fish showed an 84 percent decline in August and September 2018, compared to the same period in 2017"
The key question may be what drove the 153,525 increase in visitors from 2018 to 2019?
After the 16-month red tide bloom had a negative impact on 2018 tourism, three factors may have contributed to the 2019 increase in Skyway Fishing Pier State Park visitors.
“The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences found that between the significant bloom events that happened from 2017 to early 2019, revenues were down across the board for industries like charter boat fishing, marine recreation and Airbnb reservations in Southwest Florida.” Source: WTSP.
First, in February 2019, the red tide bloom dissipated.
Second, the significant uptick in 2019 may also consider continued Tampa Bay’s growth and increased tourism. VISIT FLORIDA announced an all-time record 126 million visitors, according to FloridaTrends.
In March 2019, Skyway Fishing Pier State Park visitors increased by 17,888. Fishing returned to Tampa Bay. From March to December 2019, visitors accounted for 280,728 of the 312,929 Skyway Fishing Pier State Park visitors in 2019.
Third, in 2018, a group of fishing friends at the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park called the Skyway Misfits, decided to start sharing fishing photos and videos from the Skyway on Facebook because the red tide bloom had curtailed fishing. The online content started getting “hits” which increased the buzz across Tampa Bay’s cities and counties, the United States with worldwide reach. If you were not fishing the Skyway, you could keep up to date by watching the action. One group, the Skyway Misfits, had inadvertently created a branded social media presence that went viral across numerous online channels.
In September 2019, the group started the Skyway Misfits Facebook page with the goal “ to always continue having fun fishing while spreading fishing education, knowledge, and skills with a mission to have more children fishing with proper fishing etiquette and knowledge. In May 2020, the Skyway Misfits started the Youtube Channel.
With a worldwide branded presence for the Skyway North and South Fishing Piers, the Skyway Misfits were able to grow to over 30k followers on Facebook, 366k Youtube subscribers with 146 million views, 1.7 million TikTok followers, 81.4k followers on Instagram, and are intent to grow their Snapchat and Twitter followers.
All three factors contributed to 2019’s visitor growth.
The 2017 visitor data is needed to asses the extent of 2018’s red tide’s impact on visitors.
A fourth external factor is worth mentioning and that is travel and tourism. Within Tampa Bay, there is minimal mention, if any, of the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park by Tampa Bay County Tourism Bureaus. With Tampa Bay’s reputation as Florida’s angler paradise, Visit St.Pete/Clearwater , Visit Tampa, Visit Bradenton, Visit Florida, the hospitality sector may want to reconsider their approach. The addition in 2019 of the Skyway Bridge light display, and the return of Port Tampa Bay’s sailing operations for cruise ships, have seen an uptick in visitors. In addition, the daytime views of the Skyway Bridge and what the piers and area have to offer is an untapped market to increase visitors and brand impressions.
Monthly visitors from 2018–2022
Due to external factors, the monthly charts do not show a stable trend pattern. However, both Florida’s and Tampa Bay’s increase in tourism is a positive external factor to consider.
Florida FWC approves controversial fishing regulations at Skyway Fishing Pier State Park
Another external factor is the controversial Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Rule for the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park Rule. Starting Oct. 1, 2023, the following changes will be in effect:
- Anglers must have proof of completing the annual education requirement.
- Anglers must have proof of completing the annual education requirement. (1) Fishing rigs with more than one hook attached (e.g., sabiki rig, chicken rig, topwater plug). (2) Any multiple hook (e.g., treble hook).
- Anglers are limited to use of no more than two sets of hook-and-line fishing gear (e.g., rods or handlines).
Visitors during bird migration season
Tampa Bay is a bird migration destination and layover for many bird species on the endangered and protected list. Tampa Bay’s bird migration season is from November to March.
Visitors to Skyway Fishing Pier State Park during bird migration season from November to March were lower during the non-bird migration season from April to October. While the non-bird migration season has two more months than the migration bird season, the year’s visitor peak months are May through July.
From 2018–2022, 36% of visitors (459,194) were during the bird migration season, whereas 64% of visitors (833,650) were during the non-bird migration.
When reviewing the percentages for bird migration and non-bird migration, the 2020–2021 range is not in line with the other ranges. This can be attributed to 2021's Piney Point environmental disaster in April, followed by red tide.
In May 2021, Covid-19 restrictions ended, and the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park resumed 100% capacity. Not even lifting Covid-19 restrictions could overcome the Piney Point environmental disaster and red tide from April to October 2021, where September is the exception.
Travel and Tourism
During the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission February 2023 Commission Meeting, Chairman Barreto commented that this is a fishing pier. However, the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park provides an untapped and unbranded opportunity for the Florida State Park, Tampa Bay’s county visitors bureaus, and the hospitality sector. Until then Skyway Fishing Pier State Park remains one of Tampa Bay’s best-kept secrets in Tampa Bay.
The Skyway Fishing Pier State Park has seen an increase in local, national, and international visitors to view the Skyway Bridge. The end of each pier provides up close and unique views of the Skyway Bridge during the day and lit up at night, and cruise ships sailing under the Skyway Bridge.
The Skyway Fishing Pier State Park provides sweeping views of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Tampa Bay, Egmont Key, and Fort DeSoto. The park has become a destination for photographers and those who want to experience the views, sunrises and sunsets, weather and storm watchers, maritime traffic, Skyway Bridge light display and cruise ships, and walkers joggers and runners, and bicyclists. The Skyway Bike Trail connects St. Petersburg, St. Pete Beach, and Pinellas County to the park and provides scenic views.
Bird photographers can often be seen at the “Skyway” photographing pelicans, and royal and least terns diving for fish. Blue herons, egrets, and snowy egrets are often there as well as many other bird species. Osprey can be seen flying by carrying a fish in its claws.
A “sightseeing” admission from sunrise to sunset is available if you are not going to fish. Otherwise, it is full admission, which is valid for both piers for 24 hours.
Skyway Beach is a favorite spot for kiteboarding and windsurfing.
Data Table for 2018–2022 Skyway Fishing Pier State Park Visitors
