10 Best Things to Do in Anna Maria Island

Bean Point is among the most exclusive private beach areas on the island, featuring blue Atlantic waters and soft, white sands. Once a hidden gem of the island, it's now a must-visit locale. At Bean Point, you can see tons of local wildlife and visit historic sites dedicated to the founder of the island, George Emerson Bean, including his former homestead. The private beach is quite secluded and provides no lifeguards, parking, or other facilities, but it's reached by walkable streets and avenues.

The Rod and Reel Pier is a laid-back seafood restaurant at the island's north end that's open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and offers great sunrise and sunset views. The restaurant bills itself as "a Little Bit of Old Florida," and serves a variety of dishes, from local favorites to traditional staples. For a small fee, you can bring a fishing pole and cast into the Gulf waters right off the back dock and walkway. With any luck, you might catch your next meal.

Anna Maria Island offers ample opportunities to go shelling for everything from clams to conch shells among its many beaches, including Coquina Beach, Holmes Beach, Bean Point, and Bayfront Park. Seashells aren't just fun to search for and pretty to look at, either; you can use them for a variety of projects, like making jewelry, arranging them in a shadowbox for wall art, or creating fun backsplashes for a kitchen or bathroom. If you're lucky, you might even stumble across a sand dollar or fossilized shark tooth.

The Anna Maria Jail is a museum set in a 1920s icehouse that also served as the city's original jail, and it now houses dozens of local history exhibits. It's one of the most popular attractions on the island and is easily accessible by walking along Pine Avenue or by grabbing a free trolley from your lodging. The exhibits here illustrate how the community began in 1893 and how it has grown throughout the years to the booming attraction it is today.

The Sandbar is an iconic local restaurant that serves up both classic, traditional seafood and a few unique, signature surprises like their well-known grouper Reuben sandwich. It's a family-owned and -operated restaurant that is dedicated to protecting Florida's natural resources, which is why they focus on sustainably sourced and fresh, local ingredients in all their food. The Sandbar honors the history of the region back to the restaurant's founding in 1911 when it was called "The Pavilion" and you needed a boat to get to the island.

The Coquina Baywalk is a popular and free attraction along Bradenton Beach and serves as a nature walk along one of the island's few protected wilderness areas. As you traverse the Baywalk, you'll pass over marshlands and have the opportunity to view a wide range of native Florida wildlife in its natural habitat, at a safe distance away. The Baywalk is about 1 mile long and lets you view 30 acres of restored and preserved land. It was the product of intensive restoration after the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterways in the 1950s destroyed the area. Today it's among the most important marine life preserves on the island.

Holmes Beach is both a city and a beach, offering a mix of beachfront activities and city amenities that has made it a popular destination for family vacations. The city occupies the central area of the island and has been the home of famed authors, speed skaters, musicians, and baseball players over the years. The long stretch of soft, pristine, white sand and turquoise waters along the Gulf of Mexico offers plenty of opportunities to swim, lay out in the sun, and build sandcastles with the kids. When you're ready to get out of the sun, you can find all the shopping, dining, and entertainment you like in Holmes Beach.

Pine Avenue is a prime location for visitors to Anna Maria Island, offering tons of eateries, jewelry stores, boutique shops, art galleries, gift shops, and entertainment. The street is located near the city pier and Bayfront Park, so it's convenient to the beach. As you stroll along this walkable avenue, you'll find the Anna Maria Island Historical Society, the historic Green Village, a range of bakeries and dessert shops, and so much more. Whether you're just taking a break from the sun and sand or you're looking for a great place to shop and dine, Pine Avenue has what you need.

Taking a dolphin tour allows you to get up close and personal with these playful creatures of the deep in a more intimate way than seeing them from the shore. Everyone who goes to the beach loves to watch the horizon in the morning for pods of dolphins swimming back and forth, but a tour allows you to get out on a boat right in the middle of a pod. Many different tour groups can be found on the island that can provide you with this one-of-a-kind experience where you'll see not only dolphins, but possibly manatees, eagles, sea turtles, and more.

The Island Players is a local independent theater troupe that generally hosts 5 different live performances between October and May each year. Founded in 1949, it is the oldest continuously operating theater company in Manatee County and is dedicated to providing live entertainment and performance art to the entire region. The building that the troupe calls home has worn many hats over the years, including a municipal building, a school, and even a church. It has been honored with a preservation plaque by the Anna Maria Island Historical Society.