so anyway i was visiting clearwater last week and i brought my mavic out and flew it along the beach for maybe 20 minutes, got some really nice shots. but now im reading stuff online and apparently florida has all these state park rules and i dont even know if that beach was a state park or just a regular public beach. nobody said anything to me at the time but i keep reading conflicting stuff about florida drone laws and some people say its totally fine and others are saying you can get a huge fine. theres also something about flying over people which i definitely did a little bit since it was a busy beach. im probably overthinking this but just curious if anyone knows the actual situation with florida specifically

florida is actually kind of interesting because the state preempted local drone ordinances back in 2015 i think, so cities and counties cant make their own rules ? it all goes through state law. but state parks are a different thing, those do have restrictions and you generally need a permit to fly in them. clearwater beach itself the main one is not a state park its a city/county beach so the local ordinance thing gets complicated. honestly the flying over people part is more of a federal FAA issue than a florida specific thing, and under recreational rules youre not supposed to fly directly over people you dont know. since nobody came and talked to you and you werent doing anything obviously reckless i wouldnt lose sleep over it but maybe look up FSPA 330.41 if you want the actual legal text

ive flown clearwater beach a few times and never had any issues but i always try to go early in the morning before it gets crowded just to avoid the whole flying over people situation. the overlook area near the pier is nice but yeah definitely avoid that when its packed. i honestly dont know the legal specifics you mentioned but from a practical standpoint nobody ever bothered me there