Anna Maria Island
Seven miles long, a few blocks wide, three small cities, and a free trolley that runs the whole length of it. Anna Maria Island has spent a century declining to become anywhere else, and it is the rare beach destination where the bike and the cart at the house are genuinely better than the car.
Getting your bearings
Gulf Drive is the spine. It runs from Coquina Beach at the southern tip up through Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and the City of Anna Maria to the north end. The two walkable business districts sit at opposite ends: Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach, and Pine Avenue up in Anna Maria.
The thing most visitors miss is that the island has two coasts. The west side faces the Gulf, with the sunsets and the swimming. The east side faces Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay: shallow, warm, almost waveless water, mangroves, and dolphins working the channels. With small children, the bay side is the answer on at least half the days of a week.
The bridges matter more here than anywhere else Amenio serves. Manatee Avenue and Cortez Road are the only ways to the mainland and both are posted above the limit a low-speed vehicle may use, so the cart is an island vehicle and the car is a mainland vehicle. Plan the week that way and nothing about it is frustrating: Cortez, Robinson Preserve and De Soto National Memorial are all short drives.
Every guide for here
Best Family Beaches on Anna Maria Island
Coquina, Cortez, Manatee Public Beach, Bean Point and the quiet street ends between them, with parking, shade and shelling notes for families.
Read guideAnna Maria Island With Toddlers
The bay side is the secret: shallow, warm, waveless water a ten-minute ride from the Gulf. Plus the free trolley as a nap, and outings that fit between them.
Read guideWhere to Eat With Kids on Anna Maria Island
Waits are the whole story on a seven-mile island. When to go, where a group of ten actually fits, the dockside places in Cortez, and the long-standing island names.
Read guideRainy Day Things to Do on Anna Maria Island
The island itself has almost nothing indoors, which is why this guide points over the bridge: a planetarium and manatee habitat in Bradenton, an aquarium, and an art museum with a circus in it.
Read guideBiking Anna Maria Island
Seven miles of island from Bean Point to Coquina Beach, the paths and lanes along Gulf Drive, crossing to Longboat Key, and where the sand gets deep.
Read guideGolf Cart Rules on Anna Maria Island
Why the bridges are the boundary, how the three island cities differ, what Florida's low-speed vehicle law requires, and where to park a cart in Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach.
Read guideState Parks and Preserves Near Anna Maria Island
Robinson Preserve, Coquina Beach and Leffis Key, De Soto National Memorial, Myakka River and Fort De Soto, with drive times from the island and where bikes are welcome.
Read guideThe Best Time to Visit Anna Maria Island
Month by month, starting with the thing that surprises everyone: high season here is winter, and September is the quietest warm month of the year.
Read guideHurricane Season on Anna Maria Island
Why a low barrier island with two bridges evacuates early, how to find your zone, what the 2024 storms did here, and who secures the equipment at the house.
Read guideUnique Things to Do on Anna Maria Island
The free island trolley, Bean Point at sunset, Bridge Street, dolphins from the Coquina boat ramp, and the working fishing village across the bridge in Cortez.
Read guideWhat to Pack for a Beach Week
Written for a family whose chairs, umbrella, bikes and cart are already at the house, which is exactly the part every other packing list gets wrong.
Read guideCommon questions
What is there to do on Anna Maria Island?
Seven miles of Gulf beach and a calm bay side, two small business districts on Pine Avenue and Bridge Street, a free trolley running the length of the island, Bean Point at the north tip, and the preserves and parks just over the bridges in Bradenton. It is a small island and that is the appeal: most of what you will do is within a bike ride of the house.
How big is Anna Maria Island?
About seven miles long and only a few blocks wide in most places, split between three cities: Anna Maria at the north end, Holmes Beach in the middle, and Bradenton Beach at the south. Gulf Drive runs the whole length and connects all three.
Do you need a car on Anna Maria Island?
On the island, rarely. The free trolley runs the length of Gulf Drive, the island is flat enough to bike end to end, and a street-legal cart covers everything on the island's roads. You need a car for the mainland, because the bridges are posted above the speed limit a low-speed vehicle may use.
Are the Anna Maria Island piers open?
Check before you go. The Anna Maria City Pier, the Rod and Reel Pier and the Historic Bridge Street Pier were all destroyed or badly damaged by the 2024 hurricanes and each is on its own rebuilding timeline. The beaches and the bayfront parks beside them are open.
Is the equipment already at our vacation rental?
At an Amenio partner home, yes. Bikes, a six-seat street-legal cart and beach gear are at the house before you arrive. The cart unlocks once the driver, who must be 21 or older, uploads a driver's license and current auto insurance and signs the low-speed vehicle walkthrough.
Staying at an Amenio partner home?
The bikes, cart, and beach gear are already part of your stay. They are at the house when you walk in, so there is nothing to pick up and nothing to carry home.
See what is at the house on the bikes, golf carts and beach gear pages, or call or text 850-231-8000.