Florida's best kept secret, Anna Maria Island, features beautiful white sugar sand beaches, older Florida charm, award winning restaurants, year-round golf courses, and pristine shopping all within easy walking and driving distance, or a ride aboard the free 'Anna Maria Island Trolley', which stops near your next vacation destination, the Palm Isle Retreat. One of the few places in the world where the sunset is regularly applauded, this tiny slice of paradise stretches for 7 miles into the Gulf.
The Palm Isle Retreat is an oasis of an island within a sea of Palm Trees and other flora that is really amazing. Enter the east side of this duplex into a newly renovated living/dining area opening directly into the kitchen.
Venture up a short staircase leading you to the 2 main bedrooms: one has an extremely comfortable queen size bed and the other, 2 twins. A newly renovated, shared bathroom is in between them. If you go down a few steps from the living area, you will find a bonus room, Foosball table, sleeper sofa and additional bathroom with shower. The back door leads to a relaxing patio with a hot tub, fire pit and patio table surrounded by Areca palms in a private fenced yard.
Our home is much easier to navigate than 3-story duplexes on Anna Maria Island because our first floor is on the ground level while the second floor is an easy split level. Other homes on the island tend to require climbing multiple flights of stairs up or taking elevators because their homes begin on the second floor and go up to the third floor. This home features:
• New Fire Pit with lighted Areca Palms and comfortable chairs surrounding it
• Huge Yard to play in
• Large, partially roofed, front deck
• Quiet old-style Florida neighborhood
• 5 burner grill
• 65-inch High Definition LED flat screen TV with ~300 Cable channels and another TV
• Wireless Internet service with 25 MB per second high speeds
• Complete privacy for the entire home
• 8 Maximum People
• 2-3 Parking Spaces
• 2 Bathrooms including tub and shower
• Washer & Dryer
• 1,660 square feet living area
The 81st St Beach along with White Avenue Beach are "the best beaches on AMI" with their large area of shallow, clear blue water, and sand that is truly incredible. The shallow sandbar extends many feet out into the Gulf allowing our littlest guests to venture far out! You may also spot surfers in the right circumstances on this beach.
In a few minutes, you will be spending your day on the beach, or venture out a bit further and hang out fishing in one of the many great spots nearby. Sightings along the Gulf of Mexico beach and inter-coastal waterway include Manatees, Rays, Dolphins, many kinds of fish, a wide variety of birds, and other amazing creatures. Common sights along the beach areas include Sea Turtle nests and bird nesting sanctuaries during special times of the year. Once in a while, you’ll come across a Gulf-side wedding!
While some prefer the isolation of the nearby beaches, others opt toward more people at the public beaches. If that is your desire, venture to Coquina Beach at the south end of Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria Island, or Manatee County Beach at the west end of Manatee Avenue in Holmes Beach, or Anna Maria Pier at the east end of Pine Avenue for the intercoastal/Tampa Bay access. Anna Maria Pier is a special place where many times you can see fish, rays, dolphins, and manatees swimming underneath you as well as fish from the dock and have a nice meal or an ice cream cone at Two Scoops Ice Cream Shop. (The Pier is currently under repair, Winter 2017.)
If you're in the mood to tour around the rest of the island, catch the free trolley nearby and it will take you to any of the beaches, restaurants, shops or grocery stores along Gulf Drive anywhere on Anna Maria Island. Take the trolley to the old historic Bridge Street area of Bradenton Beach to enjoy the Key West style restaurants and shops. If you enjoy painting or photography, the sunsets are among the best in the world.
Enjoy live music nightly and dinner at Manatee Public. By timing it right (usually 7pm), you can enjoy sea creature (fish, eel, and shark) feeding by the owner while enjoying Ice Cream at Holy Cow Ice Cream.
A lovely sunrise can be enjoyed along the Coquina Baywalk. Bean Point and Coquina Beach are great beaches to visit along with Sunset Park next to our home.
Just across the Cortez bridge on the south side of the island, is the old school Florida fishing village of Cortez, where restaurants have excellent seafood and some have live music. Swordfish Grill is our favorite on the dock.
We have 3 favorites for breakfasts: 1) Rod & Reel Pier, 2) Ginny's & Jane E's, and 3) The Donut Experiment (fun for the kids but not completely filling).
Eco tours and on the Gulf and Intercoastal via boats, kayaks and jet skis are always nice. The Ringling Museum in Sarasota is great.
The Regina is a sugar barge that sunk just off our beach during a storm in 1940. It is in about 20 feet of water just 150 feet or so off the beach. It is marked with a buoy. The Regina is 10th Florida Shipwreck Underwater Archaeological Preserve.
Our kids love going to the Bridge Street Pier or taking the free trolley just around the corner up to Anna Maria Pier and looking for fish in the water (especially in the morning to early afternoon when you can see well through the clear water), talking to the fisherman, and eating at the restaurant or getting ice cream at Two Scoops. The Blueberry Pie ice cream is my favorite... The Trolley stops every 20 minutes from about 6am to 10pm.
We have 3 favorites for breakfasts: 1) Rod & Reel Pier, 2) Ginny's & Jane E's, and 3) The Donut Experiment (fun for the kids but not completely filling).
The City Park, an easy walk or bike ride, is an open park area to play Frisbee or football.
After enjoying the beach or park, you can use the hose right next to the front door to wipe the beach sand off before relaxing in the spa / hot tub or sitting on the beautiful deck patio. You can enjoy the spa / hot tub or sit on with Adirondack-style chairs around the palm trees.
Traditional Florida flora and fauna are evident in the landscape: various palm trees of different sizes that increase your privacy including Areca Palms, Cabbage Palms, Queen Palms, and Palmetto Palms. A Frangipani/Plumeria tree creates beautiful large flower blossom clusters usually in May or June, which smell ideal and are the basis for Hawaiian leas.
Your stay includes the following as well as easy access walking or biking:
• 7 miles of white sand beaches 3 blocks from home (straightforward easy walk)
• Sandbar Seafood & Spirits Restaurant 9 blocks from home (easy walk or bike ride)
• Anna Maria City Pier with Fishing, Bait, and Restaurant 14 blocks from home (nice bike ride or lots of parking available)
• Bean Point (#1 tourist attraction on AMI) 17 blocks from home (easy bike ride)
• Manatee Public Beach and eatery (lots of people) 20 blocks from home (easy bike ride)
• Slim's Place Sports Bar 10 blocks from home (easy bike ride)
• 2 Kayaks
• Paddle Board
• 4 Bikes for riding around the neighborhood including kids bikes or to fun beaches, fishing piers and eateries
Please see the listings on the VRBO website (using a slash and the listing number below) to see reviews from our properties:
977187 - Beach View Retreat - Anna Maria Island
557191 - Gulf View Retreat - Anna Maria Island
614098 - Pool Side Retreat - Anna Maria Island
933895 - Palm Isle Retreat - Anna Maria Island
1021349 - Dolphin Pool & Beach Home - Casey Key
1021417 - Sea Turtle Pool & Beach Home - Casey Key
