Heaven on Earth can be found here. If I could just stay here, & go no where else I would be happy. Only thing is the beaches aren't dog friendly here. The closest is in Venice. It's ok though. We go to the same spot on the beach. We have the best free parking here always found and the beach is steps away. There's no restrooms here. The closest is the Walgreens. There's also a nearby plaza with Crepes, tacos, ice cream, and souvenirs, Publix and CVS are just down the street. It's a perfect spot in our happy place in Anna Maria Island. Also pretty close to getting off the island which is good bc the traffic is crazy in other spots. read more

See all

Tony and I enjoyed a few hours at Manatee Beach on Anna Maria Island. This park is for the public and Beautiful! Free parking no pets no alcohol and the water is 3 Shades of Blue with white sands ...hardly any shells! We both agreed this is one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen all week! If your in the area you have to check it out! Tony Vanoy Lisa Diane Boyce-Vanoy #vacayinthesouth2025 read more

See all

This is a very pretty beach with white sands. There is a little place to purchase food/cafe. and another place to purchase drinks and snow cones. There are tables to sit at. It was very busy when I was there. There is also a little gift shop. There is plenty of free parking and a play area for the kids. There is a rinse station, and there are lifeguards. It's a cute area. There are plenty of restaurants in the area as well. read more

See all

Predatory Parking Enforcement. Be aware of the posted and especially the unposted rules for parking before $75 violations ruin your entire trip. read more

Received a $175 parking ticket for something that wasn't clearly marked, and I was only parked for five minutes. Very disappointing experience. I won't be returning to Anna Maria Island. read more

Dry cleaner sand very nice there is always live music usually same musician. Family friendly. Best part is you can get some mace ice cream at the ice cream parlour read more

Wow, this is one nice island with lots of different beaches, shops, and small restaurants. Traffic can be quite slow at times, so allow lots of time to get to your beach of choice. I prefer Manatee Beach with its change rooms, showers, Snack bar, large free parking lot, and deep beach (but not too deep like Siesta Key). read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

My friend and I went on a mini road trip/beach hopping trip along the west coast of Florida. Out of all the beaches we went to, we LOVED Anna Maria. Anna Maria was definitely ranked the top on our beach trip. This was the only beach on our trip that had free parking (definitely a huge pro). There is public parking available and parking spots on the side of the roads. Make sure you read the parking signs because some areas are specifically no parking due to local residents who live on that Island. I usually avoid the main entrance to all beaches because they tend to be crowded and noisy. So I went to the northern side of Anna Maria Island. Parking was a bit difficult since this place is a popular spot, especially during the summer and spring break. Expect to be stuck in traffic on the bridge to get to the beach during those busy seasons. Once we found parking, the walk was very short to the beach. The beach is beautiful! Water was clear and it's not overflowed with seaweed and jellyfish. The sand is like flour where it is super soft under your feet. Not a lot of birds to annoy you and stare at you waiting to attack for food. This place is just a beautiful place to escape from your busy life and just relaxxxxx. I highly recommend this beach to be on your Florida trip itinerary. I think this may just be my favorite beach in Florida! read more

Love Anna Maria Island Beach, hubs and I will take an impromptu walk on the beach after the kids are all dropped off to school. The beach has a combination of fine sand, some areas covered in hard shells. Water is pretty clear with bath water temp in the summer. During early mornings you'll also see dolphins playing close to shore. Lots of parking, there's a small area with picnic tables and bbq grills next to the parking lot. Bathroom facilities are clean. Anna Maria Beach Cafe has awesome water views, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

I like this beach but the overall people in charge and parking is shit! Its just awful how crowded it gets and such few parking spots. The parking police is basically handing out tickets left and right. Its almost like they rely on tourist to meet their quota. Just awful. I went to their beach on Saturday and saw them handout 5+ tickets. Good luck contesting it when you get one. read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

Magical sunsets. White sands. Clear, turquoise waters. No wonder everyone flocks here in the summer. I visited in September which is considered off season. All the cafes and restaurants were open but a local said much of the island takes turns closing for maintenance or rest during Sept and Oct. There is a surprising amount of free parking at this beach, but not much in other areas of the island. There is a trolly that provides transportation to several areas. I love this beach. read more

We visited Anna Maria Island Beach while in the Sarasota area. The sand is quartz white and does not heat up during the day! The water was incredibly warm and surf stays relatively calm during the day, from the early morning to late evening. There are a quite a few beach access areas, but parking is very challenging to find. The city has dedicated parking with facility such as bathrooms and on duty life guards. The further down you go away from the main access, the less people you will find. This also means there aren't life guards on duty and no public services such as bathrooms. I would highly advise that you bring some form of shade and plenty water and sunscreen. Overall, Anna Maria Island and beach were out favorite location we visited. I would place this on your do not miss list! read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

See all

I just had my first trip to Anna Maria Island and I loved it! It was the perfect vacation for a calm trip. The beaches were not packed with people which made it very easy to keep our distance. The first day we got there, there was a large black pipe in the middle of the beach, which was rather confusing, but after some research we learned that it was there to restore the sand. It was nice to learn that the community of Anna Maria Island was doing what they could to keep their beaches in a nice condition! The black pipe was not a bother because there was plenty of beach! Our house was a short 5 minute walk to the beach and at times it was difficult to cross the street, but the residents were very nice and would let us cross. Because of COVID we didn't venture out to restaurants or shops but definitely plan on coming back to enjoy island life here! read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

5 Stars for a stunning, powder white sand beach on a cute, quaint island. I've lived in Florida most of my life and have spent a good amount of time on its beaches. I say that because I can say with a fair amount of certainty that this beach is top two for me (possibly the best, but I don't want to commit to that...). My suggestion is to make a weekend trip of it. Rent a place near or on the beach so parking isn't an issue (because otherwise, it'll be an issue) and you can spend maximum time with white powder sand between your toes. The sand is a game changer. I've literally burned my feet on sand at other beaches (where skins was flaming off an hour later), but the sand here is soft and cool. Beyond that, it isn't crazy busy like some beaches around the state. Plenty of places to post up and not necessarily have someone within hearing distance of your conversations. The water is lovely blue and isn't plagued by seaweed like down south. It can be a bit chilly (for FL standards), but you'll get used to it quickly, or be happy for the respite from the heat. Overall, a clear favorite and a place I'll return to over and over again. read more

You absolutely must visit this beach if you are: - young couple - young fam - older romantic couple - looking for a chill spot - looking for calm waters - looking for a turquoise water - looking to bring your own food and grill - couple with teenage kids - an adventurer looking to find sick looking sunsets This place has it all!!! Oh hey no swimsuit no worries they have a shop. Hungry? That's ok. Low key food places around. My favorite beach on earth kid you not! And I have been to a lot of beaches! We are blessed to have this spot in our good old America! read more

I love Anna Maria! Start to finish best beach experience. First time I've experienced free beach parking. Restrooms easily accessible and changing rooms. Never knew what real powdered sugar sand felt like until today. Water crystal clear. A lot of people arrived after 10am but didn't feel too crowded when I left at 2:30pm (I arrived at 6am). I stuck around after my run from Holmes Beach public parking to the tippy tip top of Bean Point (4 miles/8 Total), and floated in my tube for a couple hours. Pure bliss! read more

See all

It's a bit off of the beaten path if you don't mind driving. It's a beautiful beach with free parking (although it can be tough to find a spot during busy times). There is some street parking nearby as well which is also competitive, but free is a great price. The beach itself is not a long walk from the lot to the water. The crowd is much different from St Pete Beach: many locals, older people, families. Not spring breakers. Which creates a positive: if you want to bring your libations you will not be hounded by patrol officers :) There are bathrooms, showers, changing rooms and also a cafe area with live music. This is a great place to enjoy the beach with an unrowdy crowd. And the water??? BEAUTIFUL and crystal clear. You'll spot dolphins here regularly. read more

See all

Would not recommend this to anyone for vacation, got a 50 dollar ticket for having 1 ft of vehicle on side walk the front of car may I add, car was backed I'm driveway the nite before! Didn't know bout the violation of parking on sidewalk no signs stating this. The home is over priced, the fridge quit working, the ac in house barely works, they brought a small white fridge for temporary, doors n door knobs broke on house, have to pay to get to most beaches 10-20 dollars an hr to park while on beaches, some restaurants offer 2.5 hrs free if u eat there but then u spend 100 plus at restaurant n still get charged on beach not for me or my family!! read more

The water was beautiful and warm! My family and I went around 2pm so parking was plentiful and the beach area was not extremely crowded! They have a bar right on the beach that plays live music and serves decent food. read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Got a piña colada at their beach bar! - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

The beaches south of Bean Point seem to get overrun early by folks enjoying the sun and surf. It is great if you're happy with the busy-beach environment, but it's worth a visit to Bean Point if you want to enjoy the beach at a slower pace. read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Sunset from the beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

A very clean island, there are no tall buildings or fast food, you can see sharks at Bean Point and on the other side you can see dolphins. Golf carts can be rented to tour the island read more

See all

A great spot to lay in the sand, swim in the ocean, or watch the sunset. We visit the Bradenton/Sarasota area once a year and this beach is a must to visit. Not eat as crowded as Siesta Key. There are also bathrooms, a touristy gift shop, a beach cafe, and tiki bar! read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

We must be the only people who don't love this beach. We visited here and were very disappointed. The beaches on this side are very crowded, the sand is coarse (it's ground seashells) and the water was murky. It's also very heavy traffic all around the area. We finally found Bayfront Park and the water there was amazing. Definitely recommend that park! read more

Highly highly recommend!! So magical, the view is incredible. I felt like I'm on vacation read more

See all

Dip your toes in the sand. Go on: do it! I've never had trouble finding a place to hang out / park here. I'm sure others may have had frustrations peak-season, but I find as long as you get here early enough in the morning you have no problems. Water is clear and great here, and there are numerous eating / drinking establishments a short walk / drive from this location. If you don't get here early on weekends / peak days, and you're coming up SR 64, you will be in traffic due to high volume of beach goers / boaters launching just after drawbridge. FYI, that bridge goes up every 15 minutes, creating more delays. A trick is to come up Cortez instead and take a right on Gulf Dr to get here. Plenty more places to eat/drink if you take this alternate route. Word of caution: although food and cooking is allowed, you will be fined for alcohol if not at a bar / restaurant. Either use discretion with unmarked containers or refrain entirely less you pay out the nose and are asked to leave. read more

Ok, let's talk about the beach! Well... no one tells you that is not just one beach. It is a coast that shares different beaches. Most do not have an obvious entrance. You will go in circles searching for parking. Best advice I can give and wish I would've known. Stay in the area closest to beach so you can walk there. It is gorgeous, but not easily accessible. Best place to enter would be Manatee Beach, as it has a gift shop and restaurant. The sand is like sugar and does not heat up. It stays nice and cool. Water is warm. A complete delight! Nice atmosphere for families. read more

Awesome beach. Free parking nice people. Not to crowded in the week. There are umbrella and chair rentals. Great place to bring the family. They have bathrooms and open showers and 2 rooms for changing. So glad that we came here instead of Miami. read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Pristine water - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

This is a beautiful beach - nice clear water ( not all the time ) but beautiful warm water nice clean sand - and always a beautiful sunset to be seen! read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

See all

This is a special, out-of-the way, not so much known beach that we stumbled across a few years ago. Parking back here is generally found on side streets and you can only park on one side of the street generally. Several paths access the beach between two homes, just look for the signs. The beach here is pretty fat, meaning it's got a lot of depth between the water and the back side. The sand here is crystal white and the entire beach is extremely clean. We like the beach here because the water is fairly shallow going out a good 30+ ft. We also like the fact that the beache curves around the nose of the island so you get multiple views. For one reason or another we've made our way to this beach for sunsets several times..there's just something about the geographical positioning of the beach that makes them more appealing. There's generally low traffic back here but no amenities. For pedestrians, the trolley on Anna Maria Is runs the distance of the island and beyond. Cheers read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

I'm actually on this beach, as I write a review for the beach. We've been here about a week and I've seen this beach go through a few different phases. Though the Water and wind have changed there are a few things that stay consistent. The sand. White sand, some areas are powdery, some areas are like a bed of sea shells. If you're looking to lie out, walking less than a hundred yards from any one spot will find you a good soft section of sand. The birds. Not the annoying seagulls you can find on the east coast up north, but real birds, living in their natural habitat hunting for food. Small birds, big birds, they're always around doing something. Now the Water. Our first day, it was pure glass. Small ripples (not waves) almost 100℅ visibility through the Water. Second day the waves picked up a little but nothing to fret about. For the other four days here, the waves have been constant and rolling. Good for the boogie boarders, bad for the snorkelers. Over all, a pretty nice beach to visit. Not too crowded, even the week of July 4. read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

See all

This was the second beach we visited while in the area. I did like the first one a bit better, but this beach was great! The parking is an issue so again, get there early. This beach is WAY closer to the shore line. There are areas that provide shade as well as areas that are sunny. We started off in a shaded area then quickly moved our gang to the sunny part. Since is was early April we though we were good to go with weather, although it was SUPER windy the day that we went. I hear fishing off this beach is awesome as our friend is an island native who caught a 300 lb. Grouper directly off the beach! There were a ton of people casting their lines in hopes of the same. There is also a large population of Bull Sharks so beware. Stay close to the shoreline and you should be A-OK :-) read more

What you need to know about Anna Maria Island is that Holmes Beach is a VERY nice beach. The sand is white, the water clear, public parking is nearby, public restrooms are available, and there is a beachside bar and grill to boot! The day went went there was also spectacular weather. Our expectations were met at every turn. It's hard to imagine how a beach experience could get any better than Holmes Beach. read more

Once again, central Florida's western beaches do not disappoint! Muck like Siesta Key and fort DeSoto, this is a pristine beach with great sand, nice water and isn't over-crowded. We went on a Saturday and there was plenty of parking left at 9:30 am. There are bathrooms and a changing area nearby, a kids play ground, and a shop to get snacks, lunch and drinks. Like I said, this beach is very clean and the water is great. Another gem on Florida's coast! read more

See all

We've Been coming to Anna-Maria island for over 20 years and have supported the businesses. The 1st place we stopped Add construction all around. The owner said an employee had been fined for parking too close to the road even though they took all their parking spaces away. We went to the next shop, and in under 5 minutes received a citation for $50 for parking too close to a stop sign. It was the only parking space available. My husband is 79 and needs to park close. We thought that on an island they would be a little more le ient sinve parking is so limited. Sadly we will not come back to Anna-Maria. It certainly would be nice to have a warning read more

Newly moved to Florida in April and I must say this beach is my new favorite thus far. 45-1 hr south of st Pete, fine white sand and tropical looking water at its best for this area. Average beach crowd of all ages but plenty of space for everyone. The beach parking fills early so I suggest finding a beach access spot and parking legally down and adjacent roadway, obviously not blocking driveways. Check it out you won't be disappointed! read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Anna Maria beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

See all

We came for the day. We were looking for a nice beach away from huge crowds to take the kids for the afternoon and this beach didn't disappoint. The sand was soft, white and powdery. The water was blue and I am assuming only gets bluer in the summer. There was a nice stretch of beach too so that you can space out nicely to others around you. Not too crowded which was a plus for a Saturday. To get there was some traffic but there isn't a bunch of street space. It's a nice quaint beach town with lots of vacation rentals and condos. We had no problem parking. We went to the lot near the sandbar restaurant. We were even able to use the $10 it took for parking for $10 off of our bill at the restaurant. My kids had a blast. The waves were just big enough for them to splash around but not overpower. We will definitely be back here. What a gem! read more

See all

This is a great beach to visit when you are in the Bradenton area. It is an island that includes many businesses such as restaurants, bars, ice cream shops, stores, and residences. There are also hotels and vacation homes many of which are not chains. It's a pretty good size island that people drive around. Of course there are many boats as well. There are many favorite areas of public beaches and private beaches. Parking is alright but depends on the area. I love how calm and clear the water and sand is at the beach. It's a great place to visit! read more

Beautiful beach soft sand and Crystal blue water. This whole island is beautiful lots of beach houses that make you love being in Florida. read more

Anna Maria Island Beach - Beaches Near Me - Holmes Beach, Florida

See all

Very clean great beach for the family. Water was very clear good sand will be back! Parking was limited but we eventually found a spot

Beautiful beach with some of the best sunsets I have ever seen over the Gulf of Mexico! Some of the softest sand and great hunting for Sand Dollars. read more