Tarpon Springs Is A Slice Of Greece In West Florida

It's nearing 9:30 on a balmy summer night as I amble along Tarpon Springs' Historic Sponge Docks. Minus the dull thud of the boats gently colliding with the wooden posts they're tied to, the normally busy thoroughfare is quiet. Streetlights cast a glow just bright enough to illuminate the weathered water vessels while leaving the bayou beyond dark and mysterious.

Ahead, a towering neon Spartan soldier marks the entrance to Hellas Restaurant & Bakery. The silence is delightfully interrupted by three older men dressed in loafers and Hawaiian shirts conversing animatedly in Greek over a half-empty box of almond cookies. Noting their easy demeanor, I imagine that this is a regular tradition for them, and the idea adds a layer of endearment to an already sentimental scene. For a second, the bakery’s whitewashed walls and the unfamiliar language drifting through the air transport me someplace else, and I have to remind myself that I’m in Florida—not Greece.

History of Tarpon Springs

Fishing villages are commonplace across Florida, but a place like Tarpon Springs is one of a kind. Known as the Sponge Capital of the World, the area’s major commodity is the super-absorbent multicellular organism that’s found on the ocean floor. After sponges were discovered off the coast of Tarpon Springs, Greek divers, who had superior methods for harvesting them, immigrated to grow the industry. Their descendants are the reason the city now has the highest concentration of Greek Americans relative to its population. In the early 1900s, they anchored their burgeoning businesses around the Anclote River, an accessible waterway where they could dock and launch boats.

Those same docks remain at the heart of this community. While the sponging industry has diminished over the years (largely because most modern-day consumers use artificial versions for dish scrubbing and housecleaning), there’s still a considerable market for the natural ones, especially in Europe. Many consider them to be more durable, sanitary, and sustainable. You can find sponges in every shape, size, and species at souvenir and specialty shops located up and down Dodecanese Boulevard. At Sponge Diver Supply, Anestis Karistinos sells ones that are surfaced by his 73-year-old father, Taso, who is a career diver. After deciding against following in his dad’s footsteps, Anestis and his wife, Katie, turned their focus to the store, which also stocks T-shirts designed by the couple.

Anestis, who learned the trade at the age of 10, talks about the practice like it’s a dying art. It’s one he respects, but he’s happy to be on the other side of it. “The boat can stay out sometimes three to five weeks at sea,” he says. “It wasn’t practical for me to be gone that long when there are books to be read and projects to do at home.”

He has three sons who inherited his love of the water, but for them, diving is about leisure, not livelihood. “You really have to want to be on the ocean,” says Anestis. “My father has been doing it for 52 years. He’s the only diver on the boat, and he works morning to night. He’s a tough Old Country guy and doesn’t have to worry about anyone—just himself. You have to be like a pirate to do this job.”

Sponge boats pulling up to the docks are less common now, but I’m lucky enough to catch one gliding ashore on my second day in town. Giant mesh bags overstuffed with porous Parazoa dangle from its sides. The upper deck is piled high with some that are strung together like popcorn garlands drying in the sun.

George Billiris keeps sponge-diving history—and his family’s business—alive by running the charter his grandfather started in 1924. On the St. Nicholas Boat Line’s exhibition cruise, he tells how divers put on nearly 200 pounds of equipment and walked along the ocean floor using a knife to cut sponges from rocks. Only an air hose and a rope tethered them to the surface.

When he pulls out a traditional suit and asks who wants to try it on, I can’t keep myself from volunteering. Ten minutes (full of lots of yanking, shimmying, and sweating) later, I’m outfitted in the oversize canvas bodysuit, rethinking my eagerness as a 30-pound copper helmet gets bolted to my shoulders. I spend what feels like an eternity posing for pictures with the other passengers and repeatedly assuring myself that oxygen is still flowing into the airtight headgear. I leave with an even deeper appreciation for the practice. It’s not an easy career by any stretch of the imagination. Even Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe said so when he came to shadow Taso for a 2011 episode.

Where To Eat In Tarpon Springs

Find Classic Greek Dishes at a Family-Owned Favorite

Roots run deep in Tarpon Springs. Many of the folks carrying the town into a new era, like Koula Salivaras of the restaurant Mykonos, have taken over posts from their parents and grandparents. During my visit at 2 p.m. on a Saturday in their slow season, the place is packed. I navigate to the only remaining table and order a feast: flaming saganaki; chargrilled octopus, squid, and shrimp spritzed with lemon; at least three different types of dips; a giant tomato-and-cucumber salad; and Koula’s late father’s special Lamb Fricassee. The fork-tender caveman-size shank is blanketed in sautéed endive and a bright lemon-egg-dill sauce. It may be my favorite thing I eat all weekend.

Koula never planned to run the restaurant, but when her father passed away in 2021, she couldn’t bear to see all of his achievements wasted. “I’m trying to fill big shoes,” she says. “My parents probably lost years of their lives trying to give us better lives. My dad came here as an immigrant with only a few dollars in his pocket, and he went from that to being filmed for Food Paradise with Emeril Lagasse. I used to say, ‘Dad, do you realize you came here with nothing, and you ended up having Emeril in your restaurant? That’s amazing.’ ”

Experience Upscale Greek Dining

Across the street, Koula’s brother, Demetrios, expanded the family business by opening a place of his own, Dimitri’s on the Water, in 2010. After attending culinary school and working in kitchens all over the country, he made his way back to Tarpon Springs to put his own spin on Greek cuisine. The menu emphasizes seasonality, fresh seafood, and steaks over traditional hot dishes and casseroles. One thing he is carrying on from his dad? Giant portion sizes. “My father always said, ‘I never want to see a customer leave my restaurant hungry,’ ” Demetrios tells me after delivering a whole fish the size of a Thanksgiving turkey to my table. “He got that from my Yiayia. She fed everybody and got offended if you didn’t eat.”

Order Fresh Seafood from a Three-Generation Operation

The town’s affinity for generational ownership goes beyond just the Greek population. Jacquelyn Tunstall, whose grandfather came to the U.S. from Portugal, grew up working at her family’s fish market and boatyard. After graduating from college, she came home to help her parents open Rusty Bellies, where they served shrimp her father caught on a boat he built himself and fresh fish from their market as well as burgers and tropical drinks. Almost two decades later, her parents have retired, but the restaurant is as much a part of Tarpon Springs as the town’s Greek heritage. “It’s really become an institution for people to celebrate birthdays and big moments in their lives,” she says. “That’s what brings me the most joy.”

What To Do In Tarpon Springs

Learn the Town's History

The Sponge Docks are a big part of this area’s narrative, but if you stop your tour there, you’re closing the book too soon. The next chapter unfolds along Tarpon Avenue. Start at Craig Park overlooking Spring Bayou. This is where the town’s first settlers built their homes and where the community still gathers every January for a Greek Orthodox Epiphany celebration that includes a Tarpon Springs tradition in which young men compete to retrieve a wooden cross from the bottom of the bayou, earning them good luck for the upcoming year. Make a lap around the tranquil pool, and then stop in the Heritage Museum, which houses exhibits about the area’s Greek culture and its Indigenous history. You can also see local artist Christopher Still’s stunningly realistic large-scale underwater scenes plus giclée reproductions of the murals he painted for the Florida House of Representatives chamber.

Stay in a Historic Inn

A short walk up the road is The 1910 Inn, an aqua- and eggplant-hued historic Queen Anne home that fourth-generation local Annie Samarkos has tenderly restored into a bed-and-breakfast and event venue. Outfitted in antique furniture and family heirlooms, the rooms and common spaces appear comfortingly stuck in time. “I feel like it’s not mine,” she says about the landmark. “It belongs to my community; there’s a story behind every item here because people in town bring things to me.”

Explore Downtown and Beyond

Keep heading east to find the lively downtown, which is filled with restaurants specializing in cuisines from Creole to Italian plus haunts like Wine Society and the breweries Brighter Days and Two Frogs. Shops carry all sorts of treasures, including vintage toys, books, decor, clothing, and novelty gifts. Young and old alike can burn hours at retro arcade Replay Amusement Museum and then head over to Orange Cycle Creamery for homemade sweets. 

With downtown only about a mile from the docks, the city has set its sights on filling the space that lies in between. One of the most-visited intermediary destinations is Tarpon Springs Distillery, a sponge warehouse turned neighborhood watering hole owned by transplants Lisa and Barry Butler. Since they opened in late 2019, their line has grown to include multiple types of gins, moonshines, and whiskeys as well as a coffee spirit, orange liqueur, rum, aquavit, and one of the only ouzos made in the United States. The Butlers say that in 2023 alone, the operation had close to 40,000 guests.

Visit a Traditional Greek Orthodox Cathedral

A different type of fellowship takes place at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, where more than 1,000 families attend weekly services held in both Greek and English. When church isn’t in session, anyone is welcome to marvel at the imposing domed tower and elaborate stained glass.

Enjoy the Tranquility of a Beloved Shrine

St. Nicholas is beautiful, but nowhere feels more sacred to the community (or lifted straight from a screen saver of the Greek isles) than St. Michael’s Shrine. The stark white courtyard bordered by deep green palms and cascading white bougainvillea surrounds a small stone chapel with a beveled cross. A local woman named Maria Tsalichis constructed the shrine after her bedridden 11-year-old son prayed to St. Michael and was astonishingly cured of an unknown illness that had stumped a dozen doctors. Over the past 80-plus years, the shrine has been credited with restoring hearing, sight, and mobility to those who visit it. Miracles aside, after experiencing the enchanting alcove—and the cultural resilience of the town itself—I can’t help but think that something about Tarpon Springs feels touched by the divine. 

Outdoor Adventure In Tarpon Springs

Amp up your trip with outdoor adventures in and around downtown.

Spend a Day at Fred Howard Park

If your Florida vacation feels incomplete without the beach, head to this unforgettable spot. The mile-long causeway to get there ends with sabal palmetto-lined white-sand shores. Swim in the Gulf, or rent a kayak or stand-up paddleboard.

Bike the Pinellas Trail

This 65-mile multipurpose path runs from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs, but the most scenic portion is an 11-mile stretch between downtown Tarpon Springs and Dunedin. Bike rentals are available in town. Start or end your journey with a meal at Toula’s Trailside Cafe for salads, sandwiches, and homestyle breakfasts. Bougiourdi (something that’s typically found on menus in northern Greece) is made of baked feta, tomatoes, and sweet and hot peppers. It’s a must on its own but even better when added to a sandwich.