Merry Pier Is Down to One Boat, and the City Holds Every Key to What Comes Next
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
In 1902, Joseph E. Merry opened a store at the end of the Eighth Avenue dock. He sold bait, groceries and tools and rented boats to visitors, according to the Florida Division of Historical Resources marker cited by the St. Pete Catalyst. This November, one commercial boat runs out of that same spot at 801 Pass-a-Grille Way. It's a fishing charter, and it's paying rent month to month.
The city now holds the pier outright. For the first time in years, nobody sits between the City of St. Pete Beach and the pier. The bait shack, the slips and the longer-range ideas are now city decisions, and most of them get made between now and spring.
The handoff came one step at a time over 2026:
Before the storms, the shack was more than a place to buy bait. Colleen Bouchard ran Shell Key Shuttle next door, and she told Bay News 9 what it used to carry: "They rented bicycles, sold bait, and it used to be a fish store where you could buy fish to cook at home." The rebuild brings back the building. Who runs it and what it sells is still open.
The rebuild's cost changed a lot between bids. Earlier bids reportedly came in between $170,000 and $180,000, The Gabber reported. In January, Bay News 9 reported that commissioners had asked staff for a revised, scaled-down plan to lower costs. The contract approved on October 13 is for $80,137, a little more than half the $144,000-plus the city had budgeted at the start of the year.
Public Services Director Camden Mills told commissioners the project would take about six months, including about 90 days of construction, the St. Pete Catalyst reported. The contract charges $500 for every day the work runs late. Six months from the October vote puts the finish around spring 2027, if the schedule holds.
The pier under the shack is newer than it looks. In 2022 the city finished a major rebuild with new decking, pilings, utility connections and lighting. Then the 2024 hurricanes damaged it again two years later. This time the job is the building on top, not the structure underneath.
For now the list of tenants is short:
| Operator | What it does | Where it stands this winter |
|---|---|---|
| Offshore Hustler Fishing Charters | Fishing charters out of Pass-a-Grille Beach | Month-to-month slip at $700 a month, approved Oct. 27 |
| Shell Key Shuttle | Boat runs to Shell Key Preserve | Sold, and leaving the pier property, per city staff on Oct. 27 |
| Bait shack | Bait, supplies and pier-side retail before the storms | Rebuild contract approved Oct. 13, about six months of work |
The Offshore Hustler deal says a lot about the city's new position. The charter used to pay $500 a month to the former leaseholder, not to the city, The Gabber reported. Commissioners raised it to $700, or $20 per foot, on a 4-1 vote. One commissioner had argued for $875, or $25 per foot. Some said the city could earn more under a permanent agreement. The long-term options on the table include inviting businesses to submit proposals or having the city manage the leases itself.
So the next pier tenants, from a new bait shop operator to a shuttle captain, will sign with the city directly. That's a first for this generation of the pier.
Shell Key Shuttle checked guests in at Merry Pier by Eighth Avenue, so for years a Shell Key trip could start on foot from most of Pass-a-Grille. With the shuttle sold and leaving the pier, the nearest departures this season are a short drive south in Tierra Verde.
Hubbard's Marina runs a Shell Key Ferry from the Fort De Soto boat ramp. After Labor Day, its posted schedule shows departures at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. Pickups from the island are listed at 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. The posted fares are $35 for ages 12 and up, $20 for ages 3 to 11, and free for ages 2 and under. Schedules on the water change with the season, so call the marina before you plan around a specific boat.
If you'd rather paddle, St Pete Kayaking and Island Kayak Tours both run guided Shell Key trips that launch from Tierra Verde.
Whichever way you go, the island's rules come from Pinellas County's Shell Key Preserve page:
The same October 27 meeting raised a bigger question about the pier. Representatives from Forward Pinellas named Merry Pier as a possible hub for ferry service linking communities along Gulf Boulevard, the St. Pete Catalyst reported. Principal planner Nousheen Rahman said Mayor Scott Tate had raised the idea of ferry service with the agency a few weeks earlier.
"Identifying a hub is probably a really key step. That is a potential idea for a hub for St. Pete Beach."
For now it's only an idea, and commissioners took no action. The Forward Pinellas recommendations for St. Pete Beach include looking at publicly owned docks and partnering with neighboring barrier island cities. The agency has also added waterborne transportation to its long-range transportation plan, a step that makes such projects eligible to be considered for future transportation funding.
The history fits. Ferries were bringing passengers to Pass-a-Grille by 1905, and until 1919 the town could only be reached by water. That made the Eighth Avenue dock the center of local business long before Gulf Boulevard carried today's traffic. Other ferries in the region are growing too. The Catalyst reported that the Clearwater Ferry received about $655,000 in state transportation funding to expand, and that PSTA is preparing to launch the Tampa Bay Ferry between downtown St. Petersburg and Tampa before the end of 2026, operated by Hubbard's Marina. Whether Merry Pier joins a ferry network will depend on lining up partners, picking destinations and setting an operating plan.
Right across the street, the Seahorse at 800 Pass-a-Grille Way reopened this year after flooding from Helene and Milton closed it in late 2024, The Gabber reported. A block over, on the Gulf side, Art on the Patio sets up at Paradise Grille, 900 Gulf Way, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Its remaining dates on the Visit Pass-a-Grille calendar are November 15, 21, 22 and 29 and December 5. On the bay side, Pass-a-Gift at 3112 Pass-a-Grille Way is the new name for a local boutique stocking coastal décor, keepsakes, jewelry and apparel.
The next pier decisions will come from St. Pete Beach City Commission meetings: who runs the rebuilt shack, how the slips get leased, and whether Forward Pinellas comes back with a ferry plan. The Gabber covers those meetings in its regular roundups.
If you live a few blocks from Merry Pier and want to know how your home fits into a stretch of Pass-a-Grille that's changing this year, Madison Wells is glad to talk it through over coffee or by the water. Request Your Free Home Valuation, and we'll put together a personal, neighborhood-level look at where your home stands.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
