Built from dredged bay bottom in the 1920s, Davis Islands is Tampa’s island village — a curving, palm-shaded neighborhood of Mediterranean homes, marinas and waterfront parks five minutes from downtown and a world apart in mood.
Locals bike its quiet streets to the Davis Islands Yacht Club, the public boat ramps, the seaplane basin park (where a young Channing Tatum of seaplanes once landed — the basin hosted Tampa’s first international air service) and the little business village with cafés and the island’s beloved dog beach at its southern tip.
Sunset over the bay from the island’s west shore, with downtown glittering behind you, is a Tampa insider’s ritual.
Every city needs an escape that isn’t one. Davis Islands is Tampa’s.
