Treasure Island Offers Cabana Rentals and Peace of Mind

When “Treasure Island” is mentioned, the first images that come to Greg Taylor’s mind are sun, sand and a peaceful beach.

Taylor is an expert on the subject. As the owner and operator of Taylor’s Beach Service, he is on the beach dusk ’til dawn, seven days a week.

Over time, he has become a philosopher of sorts: He knows a lot about this island community, what attracts its visitors, and what makes the beach tick.

For 41 years, the Taylor family has served the Treasure Island community by renting out concessions to its many visitors along Municipal Beach. Cabanas are the most popular rental item, but umbrellas, lounge chairs, paddle boats, kayaks, canoes and aqua bikes are also available to the public. A white Chevy S-10 pickup truck is Taylor’s mobile office.

What began as his father’s 72nd job in 1965 quickly became Clyde Andrew Taylor’s passion, later passing it on to his son, Greg.

“My dad started working at the city beach in August 1950,” said Taylor. “He worked as a lifeguard for five years, then kind of talked the guy who worked the umbrellas and chairs into switching jobs with him.”

When Taylor’s father started working at Municipal Beach, there was another operator. In 1965, he was awarded the city bid for the operation.

“We’ve had it ever since,” said Taylor. At one point, in the 1960s, Taylor’s Beach Service also had locations at Pass-A-Grille, Ft. DeSoto County Park, parts of Madeira Beach and Indian Rocks Beach, with 15 employees on the payroll.

“When I was 11, back in 1968, my dad said, ‘Come out to the beach and I’ll put you to work,’” said Taylor. It was the summertime, I was out of school and he let me run a row of umbrellas down on the city beach.”

That was his summer job. “I continued that after school and the next summer. That’s how I got rolled into it, working for my dad.”

Taylor said his father treated him like a partner for about five years – in the ’80s – and then gave him the reins.

Treasure Island beach in the 1960s, when Clyde Andrew Taylor started working in the beach concession business.

Credit: Greg Taylor

Copyright: Greg Taylor