Anna Maria Island: Florida’s Best Secluded Beach

KIDS RATINGS

Fun: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)
Difficulty: Very Easy    Easy    Moderate    Hard   Very Har

KEY FEATURES

Terrain: White sand beach, clear water, some boardwalk and grassy areas
Time Needed: 1 hour to all day (we prefer all day)
When to Go: Anytime of the year

COST

Free

AMENITIES

• There are no bathrooms at the northern beaches on Anna Maria Island. Closest bathrooms located at Manatee Beach a few miles away. We would always stop here on the way to our favorite beach spot.

• Restaurants, gift shops, gas stations, convenient stores on Anna Maria Island

• No hotels on Anna Maria Island, however there are many home rentals. Check Airbnb or  www.annamaria.com
• Hotels nearby in Bradenton

THINGS TO BRING

• Towel

• Beach toys, umbrella and chairs

• Snacks, lunch, water

• Life jackets/floaties for children who need them

• Sunscreen

• Snorkeling gear

DETAILS

When we moved to Florida, I made it my quest to find the best beach in the State. Who would have guessed that we found it on our first try?

After going to more than a dozen beaches on the Atlantic and gulf coasts, in the end, Anna Maria Island remained our favorite beach in Florida!

Anna Maria Island rarely sees the same number of crowds that other touristy beaches get. There are no hotels on the island, only privately owned homes—many of which are right off of these more secluded beaches. It is a great place to rent an Airbnb for a few days.

We loved the calm tranquility of this Gulf Coast beach. The water temperature in the summers can reach 88 degrees while the winter temperatures can drop to the 60s. Anna Maria Island can be enjoyed any season.

Our Favorite Beach on Anna Maria Island

The main beach on the island is called Manatee Public Beach, which is located in the City of Homes Beach on Anna Maria Island (a bit confusing, I know). Although, the main beach is as good as several other beaches in Florida, our favorite beach on the island was actually a bit more secluded, and until recently, we did not realize it was technically a city park.

This more secluded beach on the island has the softest sand and clearest water that we found in our many beach visits around the state. Our days were filled with swimming, sand castle making, tubing, kite flying, skim-boarding, kayaking, snorkeling and many, many smiles.

THINGS TO DO  

Ride the Trolley

Anna Maria Island offers a free trolley you can ride to catch a tour of the island. This is a fun way to add variety to a day at the beach. You can also park at Manatee Public Beach and then take the trolley to the less crowded beach areas on Anna Maria Island. The trolley runs every 20 minutes from 6 am to 10:30 pm. 

Play in the Sand

Anna Maria Island has the softest sand in Florida. Our kids spent hours playing in the sand. Bring a few sand toys or just use your hands! 

Swimming and Tubing

Anna Maria Island is where my oldest daughter fell in love with swimming. Anna Maria Island has calm water great for swimming the majority of the time. The beaches also don’t get too deep too fast, giving your littles plenty of room to swim and play. 

As you enter you enter the water, its good to do the “stingray shuffle.” Essentially, you just shuffle your feet across the ocean floor to detour any small sting rays in the area. Don’t worry. We are talking about little guys that are few and far between.

When the ocean is calm, the waves on Anna Maria Island are perfect to relax in a tube on. Most of the time I would just be chilling on a tube riding the waves into the beach. So peaceful and relaxing.

Kayaking

We own kayaks, so we often brought them with us to Anna Maria Island. On calm ocean days we would dive for sand dollars, sea stars and other sea creatures in the clear water off the kayaks.

There are several places to rent kayaks, such as Beach Bums, which is located at 427 Pine Ave, Anna Maria, FL 34216. They offer paddle board, kayaks, bike, and golf cart rentals. Check out their web page www.beachbumsami.com .

On one occasion we found over 20 whole sand dollars. My husband called it a “sand dollar graveyard.” However, be careful not to take live sand dollars from the ocean, if you are lucky enough to find one. We also loved dolphin watching from the kayaks.

Snorkeling

Now, this it not the type of snorkeling you can do on the reef in the keys. This is more shell/critter/fish finding snorkeling. However, we still spent hours with our heads in the water finding whatever we could.

The water is the most calm and clear in the morning hours and then the waves usually pick up in the afternoon. Make sure to hit Anna Maria Island in the morning if you want to snorkel.

Skim or Boogie Board

The shallow calm water on Anna Maria Island creates a perfect place to skim board. My brothers and husband loved this at Anna Maria Island because of the large area of shallow water on the beach line when tide is low. 

Rend a Skim Board at Lazy Turtle Beach Rentals. They also rent Boogie Boards. If there are more waves when you are visiting Boogie Boarding is a great option. 

Watch the Sunset

The Sunsets on Anna Maria Island are Stunning. Whenever we could, we would stay until the sunset. It was always worth the wait. 

PROS & CONS

PROS

• Sand as soft as flour

• Clear water on calm days

• Not crowded

• A few quaint shops and restaurants

• Rentals available

CONS

• No bathrooms at more secluded beach sites
• Very limited street parking to access secluded beach sites – may need to ride trolley

Neutral

• Small waves

• No hotels

DIRECTIONS

Anna Maria Island is one hour south of Tampa or one hour and 45 minutes from Disney World.

The address to Manatee Public Beach on Anna Maria Island with amenities is 4000 State Road 64 and Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, FL 34217.

The City Park beach that we loved to go to is accessed off neighborhood roads that are perpendicular to the beach. Google simply calls it “City Park.” (Side note: Google states that it is part of Bradenton Beach, and sometimes Holmes Beach, but ignore that and read the instructions and maps below). 

To get to the City Park beach, you have to drive north of Manatee Public Beach for a few miles on Gulf Drive. You can also get off of Gulf Dr. and onto Marina Dr. (which is what we would do), which it turns into Palm Dr. and eventually back into Gulf Dr. Either way, it almost seems like you are getting further away from the ocean as you drive through neighborhoods, but if you follow one of these roads, you should be good.

You will need to park in front of homes on side streets that serve as outlets to the beach. Pay attention to signs of where parking is allowed. The city does ticket. The main sides streets that we would park on were Palmetto Dr. or Willow Dr.

These are pretty close to the Anna Maria Island Creamery & Bakery and a few other little shops and restaurants. We would get Ice Cream there (and use the bathroom, but only if you purchase something).

MAPS

MORE INFO

annamariaisland.com

OTHER NEARBY ADVENTURES

Siesta Key (50 minutes)

Tampa (1 hour)

Bush Gardens (1 hour and 15 minutes)

Disney World (1 hour 45 mintues)