Waypoint: Anna Maria Island, Florida
Anna Maria Island is a beautiful slice of Old Florida and a rootsy destination for day trippers or passagemakers.
Photos by Dori Arrington
While the barrier islands along Florida’s west coast stand steadfast to the wind and waves, they are also vulnerable to the ravages of tropical storms. Hurricane Ian showed us just how fragile these treasured islands are, when it carved a devastating path of destruction through Florida’s Southwest Gulf Coast. It is advised that recreational boaters avoid the area most severely hit by the storm to give communities an opportunity to remove debris from the waterways and rebuild. Fortunately the Gulf Coast from Sarasota north was largely spared Ian’s wrath and is very much open for business. Boaters can still enjoy this area and all it has to offer.
Cruising along Florida’s Gulf Coast gives a boater a scenic view of these islands, most lined with high-rise hotels and condominiums, until you reach a seven-mile-long island just south of Tampa Bay, where the high-rise development suddenly disappears. This is the barrier island of Anna Maria, where locals decided their sand spit of an island was more valuable held together by the roots of sea oats and loblolly pines than asphalt and concrete.
From early on, the developers of Anna Maria wanted to share the paradise they discovered, but they didn’t want to pave over the natural beauty that originally attracted them. The successive island’s administrations have held true to this, and in doing so, have preserved a treasure of Old Florida. Largely escaping the wrath of Hurricane Ian, Anna Maria is a perfect spot to visit during Florida’s temperate winters.
Access to Anna Maria from the Gulf is through Southwest channel, a well marked entrance just south of Tampa Bay’s main shipping channel. The channel passes through two popular weekend anchorages, Egmont Key to the north and Passage Key to the south. Passage Key is a designated National Wildlife Refuge, originally established to protect nesting colonies of native seabirds and wading birds. When Refuge status was first conveyed, the Key was a 60-acre mangrove island with a freshwater lake. Today, it has eroded into a low-lying sandbar fluctuating in size. Caution is necessary when passing, as the Key can be completely awash during a high tide.
Turning due south once clear of Passage Key, you reach the narrow entrance of Bimini Bay, and the center of boating life on Anna Maria. Nestled amongst mangroves and small islets is the home of Galati Yachts. Tied up in their well protected basin, you will wake to the pleasant chatter of shore birds nesting in trees behind your boat, and you’ll only be a short walk from the historic village of Anna Maria.
The northern end of the island is known as Bean Point. It’s named after George Bean, the island’s first homesteader, and is the heart of island life. Pine Street bisects the northern end from Anna Maria Beach on the Gulf side to the City Pier, extending out into Tampa Bay’s cyan waters. Bean and fellow developer Charles Roser built the first city pier well out into the Bay’s deep water, allowing steamboats to offload visitors to their new town. Visitors enjoy the pier as much today as they did when the original was built over 100 years ago.
Anna Maria’s focus on a simpler life means a stroll down Pine Street qualifies as an evening’s entertainment. Art galleries, restaurants and gift shops, all locally owned, cater to visitors and residents alike. Mostly single-family homes line the streets of town, blending in seamlessly with merchants and the few small guest cottages. They’ve even preserved the old city jail, where scofflaws and the disorderly were once left overnight as mosquito bait, in barred cells with no screens.
Anna Maria has two links to the mainland—one at the island’s mid-point in the town of Holmes Beach and the other about two thirds south at Bradenton Beach. Each town is a little different from Anna Maria village and has unique vibes of its own, but Old Florida charm is felt in both. The bridge at Bradenton Beach connects Anna Maria to the small fishing village of Cortez, one of the few working commercial fishing communities left in Florida.
Around the same time George and Abbie Bean were moving their family to Anna Maria Island from Maine, several fishing families from Beaufort, North Carolina collectively decided to move south and settle in Cortez. The fishermen heard of the plentiful catches on Florida’s Gulf Coast and the ability to fish year-round enticed them to bring their boats and nets to this remote outpost. Direct descendants of the original families can still be found casting their nets here today.
Three museums in the area that tell the story of these early settlements are worth visiting. First is the Anna Maria Historical Society. The museum’s main building was originally the island’s icehouse. FISH (Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage), is a non-profit organized to help preserve the heritage of Florida Gulf Coast fishing communities. At the Florida Maritime Museum, you can take classes focused on teaching the skills and heritage crafts of these island communities.
With easy access by road or water, Anna Maria is a worthwhile destination. White-sand beaches, crystal-blue waters and magnificent sunsets await. Add in some of the freshest seafood offered at local waterfront restaurants, and you can experience all of the benefits of an exotic, tropical vacation, while staying close to home.
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This article originally appeared in the January 2023 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/voyaging/anna-maria-island-florida-as-a-cruising-destination
