Updated: Friday, July 8, 2011 3:03 pm

Honeymoon Island, Florida's most popular state park, drew 1.1 million visitors last year to its Gulf Coast beaches, and residents welcome them openly – as long as they don't arrive to camp overnight in recreational vehicles.

In public hearings this week, residents and officials from the park's advisory group gave a resounding "no" to the state Department of Environmental Protection's plan to outfit 17 acres at the 385-acre park with a campground that allows RVs. The plan goes to its next vote before the DEP's Acquisitions and Restoration Council next month.

The park, which began with a community of bungalows built for honeymooners in 1939, is now a haven for bird watchers, seekers of beach shells - for which the island is known - and other nature lovers who enjoy the park's beaches, mangrove swamps and tidal flats. Snorkeling and picnicking are favorite pastimes.

Just as it did in the 1940s, a visit to Honeymoon Island State Park during a North American vacation offers honeymooners a beautiful expanse of South Florida's landscape in which to spend sun-filled days with spectacular sunsets. The location is a barrier island across St. Joseph's Sound from Dunedin, Florida.