Clearwater Beach Cam from Crabby’s Dockside

When you have insomnia, counting imaginary sheep running through your wide-awake grey cells is the proverbial norm to do. With this live feed you’ll be able to replace those images of woolly ruminants who don’t stop leaping over fences for ones of stationary palm trees. You may be quite surprised to discover that views of palm trees, even when their fronds are stirred by an ocean breeze blowing off the Gulf of Mexico, work exceptionally well when it comes to inducing that long sought after, but elusive sleepiness.

The palm trees you’ll be counting, if you stay awake long enough, on this live feed reside along the four kilometre long seafront of Clearwater Beach, a barrier island resort in Florida. And it has to be said, they add a fitting and very tropical touch to this city’s promenade, most of which was previously destroyed by hurricanes. After weathering the storms, Clearwater’s stretch of white sand is still considered to be one of the best in this southern state and as you can see for yourself, that’s a well-deserved accolade.

Thanks to Crabby’s Dockside, a restaurant which serves up incredible seafood dishes in the luxurious location of Clearwater, crustaceans included, for this view of the beachfront. It’s a bucket list-inspiring one. But for anyone with OCD – if the symmetry of the spaces marked out in the parking lot keeps you awake and you’ve run out of palm trees to count, try calculating the number of grains of sand there are on the beach. That’s something that will definitely keep you busy until you nod off.