- The new 18 hole course is the best in Tampa Bay; this place is now everything a tropical disc golf course should be.
- I love 1 and 17; these holes play along Tampa Bay and have beach sand fairways. ( ^ _ ^ )
- Big park; lots of other things to do, swimming, working out, hiking all available.
- A fenced-in dog park and exercise gym are also on the property.
- Big picnic shelters located around the course, great for hunkering down in during a pop-up thunderstorm.
- Great scenery along the bay; play in the evening to get the sunset over the bay on hole #17.
- Challenging blue tees and fair orange tees; these offer a great mix and can offer different shots. The short tees retain the original par for each hole, which means even an amateur or beginner can nab some birds here; this is an extremely thoughtful design.
- All shots needed; you can even find yourself needing an overhead once in a while, and a few holes offer great roller opportunities.
- The signage is great with the pin location indicators and next tee arrows hanging under the baskets. There's also a large kiosk right at the entrance to the course with an amazing map; take a picture before you start and you can't get lost.
- Tees are brand new and in great shape.
- Not too hard to get to; located close to Gandy Blvd at the end of Westshore, and if you go up Gandy just a bit more there's plenty of food.
- Direction indicators under each basket show the way to both orange and blue tees for the next hole.
- Though not drastic, this course has some elevation, enough so that it doesn't feel flat, and what of it there is has been well utilized.
- The oil port near the dog park gives the opportunity to see huge cargo ships pulling out or coming in. This is pretty neat.

*** There is nothing more inherently Florida than an OB line defined by the tide! Beach holes for the win! ( ^ _ ^ )

*** These are extremely minor ***
- You do need to be aware of other park users.
- Bugs are an issue during the summer, and the winds can get pretty strong off the bay.
- The rough can be especially thick in spots, so be sure you know where you're throwing (more of a challenge than a con); spotting each other is a good idea.
- Sometimes there are beach-goers on hole #17 but they've always moved for me.

- Play through the orange tees first if it's your first time here, or if it's really windy as others have suggested, to get the lay of the land.
- This has pretty much become the best Tampa Bay course for me; with the beach holes and tropical vegetation, it really is a "Florida" disc golf course.
- The city recently started a restoration project and there's now a natural rock wall to prevent erosion running all the way down hole #17's left side. This will keep the fairway of that hole from eroding and also discourage too many people crowding onto the sand. Another very nice and scenic touch.

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Update 2/16/20 - I've played Picnic Island a bunch of times since the re-design, and with the new beach holes, coupled with the fact that it offers the best blend of a fun course for an amateur player to play a big course and still get a good score to a harder layout that can even challenge a pro, I'm going to call this the best disc golf course in Tampa Bay and give it the 5.0 it deserves. A lot of people will say Oldsmar or Cypress are better but if you're not a seasoned veteran those courses will beat you up, while Picnic Island won't; it's still fun for a casual or an amateur. I really feel like it is the best course in Tampa Bay; any skill player can have fun here as long as you play within yourself, and this place has beach holes. Why don't more Florida courses have beach holes?!

This course is truly the gem of Tampa. Has a little bit of everything to test your game. Hole one is the best starting hole of any course I've ever played. Big hyzer out over the waters of tampa bay!! Numerous par fours, and a great mix of some technical par 3s. The setting is second to none, with a couple of beach holes, and more hills then one would think for the tampa area. A must stop for anyone in the area!!

Not many here, except for: bring the bug spray!

- located in a beautiful park
- multiple pins that drastically change the hole
- long and short tees
- fantastic design and use of space
- scenic views
- well maintained
- top notch signage
- well defined fairways

This feels like the most complete course in the area.

This is a wonderful course all around. It is very easy to navigate and the difficulty level can be very easy, but also taxing if a simple mistake is made. Being that the course is on the beach it of course has wonderful views. Love this course, go play it!

Beautiful park located on the bay with a couple holes playing on the beach. Good mix of distance and shaped shots, both open and tight fairways. Majority of the course plays through Florida coastal scrub so shots that miss the fairway can be punished. I like the use of the no now areas as on to help separate fairways.

Bring sunscreen year round and bug spray during the rainy season. Watch for other park users on the beach holes and near the dog park.

Another top level course design by Hos. I enjoy the challenge of many of his other layouts, but the location on the bay has really set this course above the rest. Park has excellent facilities and many other activities available. The course and park would be excellent for hosting a high level tournament.

This course has both extremely long holes and some shorts. Bunches of tunnel shots. Big changes when they move the pin from A to B and C it's like a whole new course.

Hot! You are in the sun for a good part of the day and the shady parts have alot of bugs.

This course is definitely one of the most scenic ones around us with 2 holes that run right down the beach.

To start with let me set the scenery because that is a lot about what sets this course apart from the others. Picnic Island is a limestone outcropping just a mile long and a little over a quarter mile wide located just southwest of old Port Tampa. The island elevation rises from sea level to about 17 feet with the highest point located between the #5 and #6 fairways which gives a spectacular view of Old Tampa Bay. After you pass the shuttered gypsum wall board factory, it is a true park with the only structures being picnic pavilions, restrooms and the ranger office. This is a scrubby flatlands habitat with pine, cedar, and cabbage palms as the predominate trees. The underbrush can be thick and includes saw palmettos, thorny vines and some cactus. There are the typical Florida brush animals such as squirrels, gopher turtles, rabbits, snakes, the ever present raccoons, and lately, feral cats. There are also a host of birds including a resident osprey with a nest tower located between the #4 Tee and the #16 baskets. And don't forget the mosquitoes. The winds are predominately from the northwest in fall and winter and from the east to southwest during the summer months.

Picnic Island offers a variety of challenges for both the novice and the pro. There are holes to test your distance and holes to assess your accuracy. If you can't throw the disc far there are landing areas where a short, smart and strategic shot is rewarded. There are tunnel shots carved out, such as #3 and #7, but also natural, tree lined tunnels like #9 and #14. Some holes have pins that are placed in coves, #6 , #7, #12 and #14, and a couple of holes with pins placed on or next to the beach, #1 and #17. There are usually some trees to navigate so careful disc selection is a must and a few holes offer brush and tree islands between you and the basket as do #4, #6, #13, and to some extent #16. Distance, accuracy, disc selection and shot strategy will all be brought into play on this course.

There are a lot of cabbage palms that will nestle your disk in the fronds about 12 feet off the ground and throwing rocks at them won't work. Bring a Fat Max tape measure to push them out. This is a scrub brush habitat so don't be surprised if you lose a disc. All disc colors will blend in and can hide in plain sight. This isn't a design issue, this is Florida. There is a dog bark park located to the northwest side but a number of people still like to walk through the course with their pets. At least they are all friendly, including the people.

I'm afraid my local course is going to get busy. The good side is that I only have to travel less then 10 minutes to play a championship course. Oh well.

The potential at this course is amazing. Two tee pads and 3 pin placements per hole make this worth playing for the variety. The course is right on the Bay and the views are tremendous. There are short holes that test your accuracy but some long bombs to hang it out too. There are also some elevation changes on a few holes which we don't see much of in Florida. Every hole is fun, and with the trees being planted, it will make more defined fairways as well as an even more beautiful course. Both tees have a well designed sign per hole and the custom orange Innova Discatcher baskets have flags and directional arrow signs to guide you to the next tee. In the southwest corner of the parking lot, there is a large map of the entire course to aid in your round. The biggest pro..... it is a Gregg Hosford designed course and that alone is worth checking out.

Not too many cons about the playability of the course. Probably wise to use a spotter for some holes because the brush is thick in some areas and would make finding a lost disc easier. Would be nice to see a few more benches at the tees for resting. And it might be wise to have some bug spray when you go. In the summer they can get pretty bad.

We have been waiting for what seems like forever for the additional 9 holes to be installed and it has been worth the wait. As it stands, this is probably one of the best courses in Florida and there are still plans in the works to improve it in several different ways. It is already a well manicured park and with more trees it will be postcard worthy especially when the sun is setting on the Bay. Come check this place out.