Isla Del Sol Yacht & Country Club

Isla Del Sol is a 350-acre island community tucked between the southern tip of St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach, linked to the mainland by the Pinellas Bayway and surrounded by the sparkling waters of Boca Ciega Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway. The island was born in 1957 when the Florida Department of Transportation built the 8-mile Pinellas Bayway and its three bridges, creating the connection that made development possible. The original vision called for 4,300 units but was ultimately scaled back to roughly 3,200 households across Isla Del Sol and the neighboring Bayway Isles and Point Brittany areas; Isla Del Sol itself is home to around 700 residences across seven individual condo associations — names like Palma Del Mar, La Puerta Del Sol, Bahia Vista, Vista Verde, Casa Del Mar, and Bahia Pointe — each with its own clubhouse, waterfront pool, and personality. The heart of the island is the Isla Del Sol Yacht & Country Club, a member-owned private club (member-owned since 1990) centered at 6000 Sun Blvd. It's the social and recreational hub that gives the community its identity: an 18-hole championship golf course originally designed by Mark Mahannah in 1977 and redesigned by Robert Walker and Chip Powell in 1993, a 76-slip private marina with depths from 6 to 22 feet, nine lighted Har-Tru clay tennis courts with a full tennis center, pickleball courts, a fitness center, a pool overlooking the bay, and multiple dining venues — all walkable within the island. Membership is separate from condo ownership, but residents can join and plug into a full calendar of themed dinners, cocktail parties, live music, golf tournaments, racquet events, and charitable functions like the club's signature Play for Hunger, which has raised over $3.8 million for local causes. Housing stock is almost entirely condos, with a handful of villas and single-family homes scattered around the island. Most units are two-bedroom, two-bath with 1,000–1,300 square feet; many are waterfront with panoramic views of Boca Ciega Bay, the Intracoastal, or the golf course. Prices typically run from the low $300,000s for interior garden-view units up to roughly $750,000 for top-floor penthouses with Gulf-side views, with the median sale price over the past 12 months sitting around $380,000. HOA fees vary by building but generally cover water, sewer, trash, Spectrum cable and internet, pool and grounds maintenance, flood insurance, and building exterior. There is no CDD. The vibe is resort-style coastal living — palm-lined streets, tropical gardens, 15 mph speed limits, quiet interior roads, and sea birds strolling across the lawns. It's popular with retirees, snowbirds, and second-home owners, and while Isla Del Sol is not deed-restricted 55+, the retirement-age population is substantial and the lifestyle is unmistakably retirement-oriented: golf in the morning, tennis or pickleball midday, cocktails on the dock at sunset. St. Pete Beach is two miles west, Pass-a-Grille Beach two and a half miles southwest, Fort De Soto Park a short drive south, and downtown St. Petersburg about 10-15 minutes northeast. The island is not gated (except for Bacopa Bay), but residents have long maintained an active crime watch and the neighborhood feels safe and tight-knit.