John’s Pass Village in Madeira Beach is where most visitors to the Gulf beaches end up at least once: a boardwalk over the water, dolphin cruises, fresh grouper sandwiches and a hundred little shops. We have been one of those shops for years, so here is our honest, slightly biased list of things worth carrying home.
1. A natural sea sponge
Sponge diving is the reason Greek families like ours ended up on this coast, and a real sea sponge is the most Florida souvenir there is: it came out of the Gulf, it will last you a year or two in the shower, and it weighs nothing in a suitcase. Pick one up in the baskets at our shop and squeeze it; you will feel the difference from anything synthetic. Our sponge guide explains which to choose.
2. Handmade soap that smells like the trip
Scent is the fastest way back to a vacation. Our goat’s milk bars come in more than forty scents, from Cocomango and Caribbean Fruit to Lavender and Oatmeal Honey, and at $3.75 a bar they are the easiest gift on the boardwalk. Buy a few for the people watering your plants.
3. Something for your own bathroom
Visitors buy soap for gifts and then come back for themselves: Mediterranean sea salt scrub, day and night face creams, bath salts and a wooden soap rest so the bar drains properly.
4. A soap-and-sponge set
If you only have room for one thing, a goat’s milk bar with a small sponge is the set we wrap most often for weddings, teachers and hostess gifts. Ask at the counter and we will put one together.
5. The rest of the boardwalk
Beyond our door, the things people tell us they loved: a grouper sandwich on the water, a sunset dolphin cruise from the marina, saltwater taffy, and simply standing on the boardwalk at dusk watching the pelicans. Parking is in the John’s Pass Village lots and garage on Village Blvd; the boardwalk is a short walk from there.
Plan your stop
We are at 12917 Village Blvd, open seven days a week, 10am to 9pm Sunday through Thursday and until 10pm Friday and Saturday. Details, directions and a map are on our visit page. And if you get home and wish you had bought more, everything ships from the shop.
