If you've ever dreamed about life in a secluded and peaceful island paradise where the average temperature year-round is in the 70’s, you’re surrounded by soft, white beaches and warm waters and where the natives are as friendly as any you’ll ever meet, you should definitely get to know about Anna Maria Island.
Anna Maria Island is one of several barrier islands on the west coast of Florida; this one off the coast of Bradenton, in Manatee County. The island has only less than 9,000 permanent residents although it's population grows considerably during winter months. The strangest thing about this delightful little island may be how few Americans know about it. Europeans and Canadians, however, have certainly noticed it.
Anna Maria Island is a narrow strip of land about 7 miles long, stretching from the waters of Tampa Bay on the north, the Gulf of Mexico on the west, by Longboat Key to the south and Anna Maria Sound and Sarasota Bay on the east. Anna Maria Island is comprised on three cities; Anna Maria to the north, Holmes Beach in the center and Bradenton Beach on the southern end. Each of its three cities boasts spectacular beaches and great areas for fishing and scuba diving but each city also strives to preserve the “Old Florida beachcomber lifestyle.” They do it by limiting the size and height of buildings that can be built. You’ll find no high-rise condo developments on this island. In fact you'll see nothing more than three stories high.
Whether you would like a multi-million dollar waterfront estate, a restored older beach cottage, a maintenance-free condo, or, yes, an upscale home in an golf and country club community, Anna Maria Island can fulfill your fantasy so long as you want to fulfill your dream in a secluded place where the term “laid back” really means something very special; where even the giant sea turtles choose to come ashore to build their nests and give birth to the next generation of baby sea turtles.
That golf course community we mentioned is called Key Royale. Within the city limits of Holmes Beach, Key Royale is one of Florida’s most prestigious waterfront golf country club communities. Actually a small island of its own attached to Anna Maria Island proper by the small bridge, Key Royale is something you'd never expect to find on a placid barrier island. If, in addition to enjoying a round of golf on a 9-hole par 32 course and its lovely clubhouse, you are also an avid power boater or sailor, this may your paradise. Virtually every home in Key Royale is either directly on the waterfront or has canal access to open waters.
The city of Holmes Beach, itself, is the largest of the 3 communities on Anna Maria Island and boasts three miles of gorgeous white, sandy beaches. While there's been serious pressure in recent years to take advantage of tourism, the city works to maintain its rustic flavor through attention to the types of buildings and homes permitted to be built. Home types in Holmes Beach include single-family homes, maintenance-free condos and villas offered in architectural styles from Old Key West to Bimini and Grand Cayman.
At the other end of the island, Bradenton Beach is ideal if you want the casual ambiance of a secluded waterfront village. Gulfside homes enjoy gorgeous Gulf of Mexico sunsets while those facing onto Anna Maria Sound and Sarasota Bay are separated from the waters by natural mangroves. Between is a charming village famous for its ultra-casual "beachcomber" lifestyle.
On the northern end of the island, the city of Anna Maria is a quiet, serene place most of the year with narrow roads and almost no street traffic beyond the local trolley. The entire city of Anna Maria is a protected bird sanctuary. While swimming or scuba diving in the waters off Anna Maria, you are as likely to run into a manatee as another swimmer.
For transportation, most locals get around Anna Maria Island on the trolley that runs the length of the island with connections to the bus service on both Longboat Key and across the causeway to Bradenton. Should you wish to leave the island, there are three bridges to the mainland; one at the southern end of the island connects to Longboat Key, another connects Bradenton Beach to the mainland at Cortez and the third connects Holmes Beach to the mainland in the Palma Sola section of Bradenton.
When you wish to liven up your days or evenings, you are a short bridge and causeway drive from the mainland city of Bradenton Florida, the largest city in Manatee County. In addition to being home to several of the best golf courses in Florida, Bradenton also offers every type of boating, fishing and sailing activity imaginable. There is also a constant flow of activities and events going on that will entertain the youngest to the oldest members of your family. Bradenton is as bustling and vibrant as Anna Maria Island is serene and laid back. Bradenton is also home to two major health care facilities, Blake Medical Center and Manatee Memorial Hospital.
We believe that after a single visit to Anna Maria Island, you, too, will refer to Anna Maria Island as "that Little Island Paradise in the Sun.”
My goal as a Sarasota real estate professional is to help you find that one home or condo here in the Sarasota - Bradenton area that fits your needs and desires perfectly whether its on the mainland, on Longboat, Lido, Bird, Siesta or Casey Key or on Anna Maria Island. Please call me with your questions or inquiries at 941.266.1799.
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