We are planning a week on Anna Maria Island. We have 2 kids. ages 6 & 9. we are looking at accommodations now and wander what part of the island is the best part. We want to be on the beach and be on a gentle, swimmable side. Then, do we need a car once we are there?
thanks,
Mark
What area of Anna Maria Island is best for families
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We just returned from our first visit to Anna Maria Island. The entire island is family friendly and has a tram that runs the length of the island.
We stayed on Bradenton Beach, the most southern beach on the island (then Holmes Beach and then Anna Maria) in a 2br condo at Anna Maria Island Club. The condo is right on the gulf beach. We enjoyed our stay there. We also considered La Costa right up the beach. There are a lot of rentals on the beach and even on the bay. The farther north you head, the more residential the island gets. The north end is often listed in the rental descriptions as the quiet end or preferred end of the island. The entire island was pretty quiet and we did like being in Bradenton Beach near Bridge Street and the Publix grocery store.
Anna Maria Island allows one week rentals of vacation homes, if you are interested in having an entire house. Those that are not on the beach, often have small pools.
There are a lot of rentals listed on www.vrbo.com. There are also a lot of rental companies. Mike Norman is one of them. If you don't like searching for accommodations online, you could contact them
We had a car. Without a car, you would need to arrange transportation from the airport. Sarasota is about a half hour, Tampa is about an hour away. Having a car makes grocery shopping easier--we did walk across the street to the convenience store to get a morning paper, bread, milk etc. The trolley runs about every half hour. You could take it to get to restaurants and grocery shopping.
Bradenton Beach is the most active with mini golf, souveneir shops, more traffic, etc, and as such We don't care for it. By far our favorite part of the island is Anna Maria, quiet, residential but with a nice shopping street. With young kids I would rent a house or cottage with a small pool near the beach, but then we don't like condos.
If you do like condos, La Costa is nice because it is on the water side of the road and the pool is essentially on the beach.