Local Guide

Golf Cart Rules on Anna Maria Island

Anna Maria Island is seven miles long, three cities wide, and almost entirely posted at speeds a street-legal cart can use. That makes it one of the best cart islands in Florida and also one of the most actively policed. Two things decide everything: what kind of cart you are in, and where the bridges are.

The distinction that decides where you can go

Florida law separates two vehicles that look almost identical. A golf cart is built for a golf course, cannot exceed 20 mph, is not registered, and may only be driven where a city or county has specifically designated. On Anna Maria Island that means the rules change city by city, which is exactly why visitors get confused.

A low-speed vehicle goes faster than 20 mph and no more than 25, is titled and registered, carries insurance and a license plate, and has headlamps, brake lights, turn signals, mirrors, a windshield, a parking brake, seat belts and a VIN. Under state law it may be driven on any road posted at 35 mph or less, in any of the three island cities, without a local ordinance being involved.

The six-seat carts at Amenio partner homes are registered low-speed vehicles. If you see a plate on the back of a cart on the island, that is what you are looking at. If you do not, that cart is living under a different and narrower set of rules.

The rules that actually affect your week

A registered low-speed vehicle, not a golf cart

Florida law treats these as two vehicles. A golf cart tops out at 20 mph, is not registered, and may only go where a local government has designated. A low-speed vehicle goes over 20 and no more than 25 mph, carries a plate, and may use any road posted at 35 mph or less anywhere in the state. Amenio's island carts are the second kind.

Licensed driver, 21 or older

The state requires a valid driver's license in your immediate possession to operate a low-speed vehicle. Amenio requires the driver to be at least 21, and that is the person whose license and insurance are on file.

The bridges are the edge of your map

The Anna Maria Island Bridge on Manatee Avenue, the Cortez Bridge and the causeway beyond are posted above 35 mph. A low-speed vehicle cannot legally travel on them. Whatever is on the mainland, you get there in a car.

Seat belts, and only as many people as seats

Island police enforce both. Everyone in a seat, everyone belted, nobody riding on a rail or a lap. This is the single most enforced cart rule on the island.

Holmes Beach has its own golf cart rules

The middle city restricts unregistered golf carts to city streets and keeps them off Gulf, Palm and Marina drives except to cross at an intersection. It does not change what a registered low-speed vehicle may do, but it is why you will see some carts turning where others do not.

No carts on the beach, the dunes or the trolley lane

Sand is off limits everywhere on the island, and so is anything that gets in the way of the free trolley. Beach accesses are for people on foot.

Why the bridges matter more here than anywhere else

On 30A, the road a cart cannot use runs alongside the road it can. Here, the roads a cart cannot use are the only ways off the island. Manatee Avenue crosses to the mainland over the Anna Maria Island Bridge and continues along the Palma Sola Causeway, and Cortez Road crosses the Cortez Bridge into the fishing village. Both are posted above the low-speed vehicle limit.

The practical version: the cart is your island vehicle and the car is your mainland vehicle. Cortez, Robinson Preserve, De Soto National Memorial and everything further out are car trips, and they are all short ones.

Where a cart goes on the island

Gulf Drive, end to end

Coquina Beach to the north end

The island's spine and the reason a cart is worth having. It runs the length of Anna Maria Island and connects all three cities. Posted limits sit in low-speed vehicle range the whole way, dropping through the business districts.

Worth knowing: It is also the trolley route and the busiest cycling corridor on the island. Expect to be the slowest thing on the road at some point, and be at peace with it.

Pine Avenue and the City of Anna Maria

The north end: shops, restaurants and the walk out to Bean Point. City streets here are low speed and cart-friendly, and the city marks cart parking near the business district and beach accesses.

Worth knowing: Pine Avenue parking turns over quickly but is genuinely full at lunch and dinner. Take the first legal space you see rather than circling.

Bridge Street, Bradenton Beach

The south end's compact main street, a couple of blocks from Gulf to bay. Easy to reach by cart and very easy to walk once you arrive.

Worth knowing: Bradenton Beach parking is metered and enforced in the business district. Pay it.

Holmes Beach and Manatee Public Beach

The middle of the island and the busiest beach on it, with the largest public lot. Manatee Avenue meets Gulf Drive here, which is the island's one genuine intersection.

Worth knowing: Do not follow traffic east over the bridge. That is where a cart trip legally ends.

Coquina Beach and the south end

The long shaded stretch at the bottom of the island, with parking, a boat ramp on the bay side and the Leffis Key preserve across the road.

Worth knowing: Longboat Pass Bridge continues south toward Longboat Key. Check the posted limit before you assume a cart may cross it.

Parking, which the island takes seriously

A low-speed vehicle parks in a marked space and pays what a car pays. Being smaller is not an exemption.
Parking on a swale, a right of way, a sidewalk or in front of a residential driveway is ticketed, and residents call it in.
The Pine Avenue and Bridge Street districts fill at lunch and dinner. Turnover is fast, so waiting beats improvising.
Beach access lots go early on weekends. The free island trolley exists partly for this reason, and it is genuinely easier than a third lap of the lot.
Bring the cart home at the end of the day. It is registered to the house you are staying at.

How the cart at your house unlocks

At an Amenio partner home the cart is parked at the house before you arrive. Three things happen on a phone before it unlocks:

The driver uploads a valid driver's license, and that driver must be 21 or older.
The driver uploads current auto insurance.
The driver signs the low-speed vehicle walkthrough: controls, seat belts, charging or fuel, and the roads the cart may and may not use. On this island that last part is the one to read twice.

Common questions

Can you drive a golf cart on Anna Maria Island?

Yes, if it is the right kind of cart. A registered low-speed vehicle may be driven on any island road posted at 35 mph or less, which is essentially all of them, in all three cities. An unregistered golf-course cart is a different vehicle under Florida law and each city limits it separately, with Holmes Beach keeping them off Gulf, Palm and Marina drives except to cross.

Can you take a golf cart off Anna Maria Island?

No. The bridges to the mainland and the causeway beyond them are posted above 35 mph, and a low-speed vehicle may not travel on a road posted above 35 mph. The island is the boundary. Trips to Bradenton, Cortez or Longboat Key by way of a high-speed bridge are car trips.

Do you need a driver's license for a golf cart on Anna Maria Island?

For a low-speed vehicle, yes: Florida requires a valid driver's license in your immediate possession, plus registration and insurance on the vehicle. Amenio goes further and requires the driver to be 21 or older, with a license and current auto insurance uploaded before the cart unlocks.

Where do you park a golf cart on Anna Maria Island?

In a marked parking space, like any other vehicle. All three cities enforce parking hard, particularly near beach accesses and in the Pine Avenue and Bridge Street business districts, and a cart parked on a swale, a sidewalk or a right of way gets ticketed the same as a car would.

Do all passengers have to wear seat belts in a golf cart here?

In a low-speed vehicle, every seat has a belt and everyone should be in one. Island police enforce seat belt use and passenger capacity actively, and it is one of the most common reasons a cart gets pulled over. Amenio carts seat six, which means six people.

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. Amenio works only with partner vacation homes on Florida's Emerald Coast, Suncoast, and First Coast, so if your house is one of ours, the gear is already there.

Want to see what is at the house? See the carts, or find your reservation. Questions about equipment at your home? Call or text 850-231-8000.

Already booked a partner home?

Open your stay to see the bikes, cart and beach gear waiting at the house.