People ask it every way: Tampa to Clearwater, Clearwater to Tampa, Tampa Clearwater, and every FL/Florida combo. FDOT’s city figure is short. The arguments are about which Clearwater and which Tampa, and which of three roads across the bay you are actually on.

Weekend beach plans from downtown always started with the same question: city Clearwater or Clearwater Beach? Those are not the same mile.

Quick Answers

  • City to city (FDOT): 23 miles either way
  • Toward Clearwater Beach: about 25 miles in the separate beach count I used—then the Memorial Causeway after downtown Clearwater
  • Main water crossing: Courtney Campbell Causeway (SR 60)
  • Not the same road: I-275 / Howard Frankland (St. Pete side) or Veterans Expressway tolls north–south

The Official City Miles

FDOT’s official intercity mileage was last updated 9/14/2026. Those figures are the shortest distance between city pairs for mileage reimbursements. Tampa to Clearwater is 23 miles. Clearwater to Tampa is 23 miles. Both directions match. Confirm the matrix on FDOT intercity highway mileage.

Another city-to-city count also came to 23. That agreement does not make it the beach. Tampa to Clearwater Beach came out at 25 miles in that same count. Clearwater Beach is not one of the cities FDOT measures in that matrix.

Nearby traps: Clearwater to Largo is 4 miles; Tampa to Largo is 25 (Largo to Tampa 24). St. Petersburg to Clearwater is 20; St. Petersburg to Tampa is 20. Three official pairs, two the same length, none of them the beach sand.

Three Roads, Three Mistakes

Courtney Campbell Causeway (SR 60)

The direct crossing is the Courtney Campbell Causeway—northernmost bridge across Old Tampa Bay, four lanes of SR 60, maintained by FDOT, from Clearwater in Pinellas to Tampa in Hillsborough. It runs about 9.9 miles from eastern Clearwater to Tampa’s Rocky Point island and then to western Tampa mainland. It first carried traffic as the Davis Causeway in 1934 with a toll then; the state took it over in 1944. That toll is history. Current Turnpike West Central Florida schedules name the Courtney Campbell next to the Veterans and give no plaza rate for it.

FDOT District Seven has a PD&E study (started June 2025) for capacity and storm hardening—limits about CR 611 / N. McMullen Booth Road in Pinellas to west of SR 589 (Veterans) in Hillsborough, roughly 9.5 miles. Study expected to finish third quarter 2027. That is a study, not a new bridge you drive today. The 9.9 and 9.5 describe the causeway corridor, not the whole 23-mile city pair.

The causeway has beaches of its own: Ben T. Davis Municipal Beach (City of Tampa) at the east end, and an FDOT-owned beach on the west end. Those are on the drive between the cities. They are not Clearwater Beach.

Clearwater Memorial Causeway

Clearwater Beach is a second bridge. The Clearwater Memorial Causeway carries SR 60 between downtown Clearwater and Clearwater Beach across the Intracoastal—six lanes, opened August 2005, hurricane evacuation route. Want the sand? Finish the Courtney Campbell, get through the city, then cross this span. The 25-mile idea is that longer trip. FDOT’s 23 stops at the city.

I-275 and the Veterans

Tampa International sits on the SR 60 version of this trip. The airport says Highway 60 passes the entrance just east of the start of the Courtney Campbell. From St. Petersburg, Clearwater, the gulf beaches, and the west, the airport says I-275 North to exit 39—that is the Howard Frankland side, not the Courtney Campbell. See TPA.

If you are in Clearwater and get on I-275, you chose the St. Petersburg interstate, not SR 60. The Sunshine Skyway toll (if your route dips that far south) appears on Turnpike West Central Florida schedules—separate plazas, SunPass vs toll-by-plate rates. Do not put that toll on a Courtney Campbell trip.

The Veterans Expressway (SR 589) runs north as a toll road—segment plazas, not a Tampa–Clearwater total. It is how someone in Carrollwood reaches the airport and SR 60. It is not the road over to the beach.

Where “Tampa” Starts Matters

I-75 is the east-side bypass past Brandon, Temple Terrace, and New Tampa. Plant City to Tampa is 22 miles by FDOT; Lakeland to Tampa is 33. A hotel by I-75 is a different start than downtown. Downtown to the beach and airport to the beach are not the same trip even though both get called Tampa to Clearwater. The airport’s “about five miles west of downtown” figure is terminal position—not a substitute for the 23.

I am not writing a drive time. The causeway has lower capacity and lower posted speeds than a freeway. The PD&E study is not a live detour map.

For theme-park miles instead, use Tampa to Orlando. For a day back in town after the beach, things to do in Tampa and Ybor cover the return.

Rocky Point on the Way

The causeway hits Rocky Point on the Tampa side—handy for waterfront dinner at Rusty Pelican before or after the beach run. Westshore shopping at International Plaza sits near the airport end of SR 60. From downtown, that Rocky Point stop is how a beach return becomes dinner without another long hop across the bay the same night.

What I Actually Did From Downtown

Beach Saturdays started with the same checklist: city Clearwater or Clearwater Beach, gas before the causeway, and no reliance on a single drive-time promise. FDOT’s 23 settled arguments about “how far.” The Memorial Causeway settled arguments about “why are we still not at the sand.” I noticed how often apps offered I-275 when SR 60 was the plan—useful if you are coming from St. Pete, wrong if you already decided on Courtney Campbell from Westshore or the airport corridor.

I also learned not to treat Ben T. Davis or the FDOT beach on the causeway as the destination photo people mean by Clearwater Beach. Those stops are on the drive. The island is after downtown Clearwater. For a short water view without committing to the full beach day, the causeway beaches were enough. For Pier 60, budget the extra city-plus-Memorial miles and a later return.

Last updated: November 2, 2026 (FDOT mileage matrix dated 9/14/2026).

FAQ

How far is Tampa to Clearwater?

FDOT’s official city-to-city figure is 23 miles each way (matrix updated 9/14/2026).

How far is Tampa to Clearwater Beach?

Treat the beach as a separate, longer idea—about 25 miles in the count I used—plus the Memorial Causeway from downtown Clearwater to the island. It is not FDOT’s city pair.

Which bridge should I take?

For city Clearwater from western Tampa / the airport corridor, SR 60 / Courtney Campbell is the direct bay crossing. I-275 is the St. Pete interstate. The Veterans is a north–south toll expressway, not the beach road.

Is the Courtney Campbell a toll bridge?

The historic toll is gone. Current schedules do not post a Courtney Campbell plaza rate the way they do for Skyway or Veterans plazas.

Can I combine this with TPA?

Yes—Highway 60 passes the airport entrance near the start of the Courtney Campbell. Build time for airport traffic separately from beach traffic.

Final Thoughts

Quote 23 for city Clearwater on SR 60, quote the beach as its own hop after the Memorial Causeway, and do not mix Howard Frankland instructions into a Courtney Campbell day. From downtown, that is the beach plan I actually used as a mental map.

When you come back sandy, downtown dinner and a Riverwalk walk beat another causeway crossing the same night—start with things to do in Tampa.