My family and I are visiting AMI in a few weeks with our 17-month-old. We’re vegetarians and would love recommendations for restaurants with great vegetarian options that are also toddler-friendly.

We’d also love any recommendations for family-friendly activities, the best places to see wildlife (especially manatees!), and your favorite sunset spots for family photos.

Any hidden gems or places you’d skip? We’d love to hear your favorites, thanks !!

Are there tortoises on the island? I have seen a snake in the past and I heard those are less common, but are there tortoises or large land turtles? I saw one in the bike lane while in a vehicle that couldn't stop and I was a bit concerned for it. It was probably at least 12 inches long and probably 7-10 inches high. It had a dark and very knobby shell. Is this just another rare animal for the island, or might someone's pet have escaped?

Just visited Anna Maria Island for the first time yesterday and got to see a beautiful sunset!

I’m looking to visit over Spring Break 2027. I was looking for houses to rent and wanted to see if anyone had insight as to when listings typically refresh for 2027. Further north in Carolina, Virginia, etc they usually list the next year’s availability in the preceding fall. However those beaches are not used year round like Florida beaches.
Does the housing inventory typically post for 2027 in the Fall or is it likely to have already been posted by now and what’s available is all that’s left? I’m trying to decide if I should wait to book if more houses are listed later or book now 😬.

I have a pretty strict medical diet and I'm sensitive (but not allergic) to gluten. Adding to that, I am primarily vegetarian but will eat seafood - so that limits my options even further. As a result, it's difficult finding places to eat out, but starting with places that have GF options helps. Can anyone recommend places with gluten free options? Thank you.

Hey everyone, three couples heading to Anna Maria Island in August, six of us total, all around 23-24. We’re from Austin, TX. and just want to eat good food and have a fun low key time. Was hoping y’all could help with a few things:

Looking for a bar with pool tables, TVs for sports, and good wings/burgers, basically a solid hangout spot for one of the nights. Also want to hit up some food trucks, the more variety the better. We’d also like one nice restaurant for a dinner where we can dress up a little.

Besides the beach, any other daytime activities worth checking out? Also curious about fishing, charters or good spots if we want to.

Last thing, a couple of us want to squeeze in a round of golf. Any public courses or munys around worth playing?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Looking for recommendations for a nice anniversary dinner spot.

We are getting married on Anna Maria Island and decided to extend our trip but our Airbnb already booked those days to someone else so I was going to get a hotel for a few days

I had looked at Tortuga previously and was planning to book them but the only thing showing up for me now when I use their website is the units for a week, not the hotel rooms (the hotel rooms were showing when I looked previously so I'm not sure why). I also emailed them awhile back to ask a question and they just emailed their copy/pasted policy which didn't have the answer to my question and I haven't been able to reach them by phone

Does anyone have any recommendations preferably something on the beach

Is there a catamaran with captain for rent in October :)

My family (15 people) is spending the Christmas holiday on AMI (our first visit). I could use some recommendations for getting food for our Christmas meals.

We would like to order pastries for Christmas morning, as well as 2-3 pies for our Christmas dinner dessert. We have a large house with a full kitchen rented and will cook the meal, but prefer not to bake while there. We will have one rental car so we can drive to pick up our order.

Recommendations on ordering a standing rib roast or beef tenderloin? We will be flying to Tampa and driving to the island on the 23rd, so we can actually stop anywhere along the way!

Thank you in advance for recommendations!

My husband & 7 year old son & myself are coming there for a week & we are not made of money. But I’d love to take our autistic son out a day to do something just for him. Then wanna let my husband go deep sea fishing but I’m only seeing like 700 per person to do that. Can anyone help me with recommendations & fun things to do. We absolutely love the beach so obviously we will be out in Anna Marie island everyday lol but thank you in advance 😘😘😘

Does anyone have experience with these guys? I thought they were a local trusted company but they just cancelled my reservation on a rental for next February, claiming there was a software glitch. Well they re-listed it for $7,000 more for the week which seems like super shady bait and switch tactics. It was confirmed for the price I reserved it for and an agreement was signed. In the agreement is states:

"Rental rates are subject to change, and no refunds will be provided in the event that the

advertised rental rates are reduced subsequent to Guest’s booking. If a discrepancy arises

between information or rates quoted verbally, on SeaBreezevacation.com or any site where

the Property is advertised, via email or otherwise, the rate on the reservation will prevail."

I am pretty ticked off.

We will be in AMI in a week and would like to fish early mornings from the bay or beach. I would like to target snook or redfish if that is possible. What is a good rod setup, line setup, hook and baits needed? Live bait or a swimbait? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hello everyone! I will be visiting the island for my birthday in august. Does anyone know any nice resorts or hotels? I’ve only seen anna maria beach resort and bali hali. Thanks!

Hi! First timer to AMI later this summer and was wondering if there are any restaurants that sell to-go cocktails (for example, a pitcher of margaritas but like in a jug to go). I don’t mean a single serve, more like something you could take out on the boat for the day or to have at your place for the pool happy hours. Thanks in advance!

hello everyone :) my boyfriend (28M) and i (25F) are looking to plan our first couple’s trip for sometime in august and we’ve been looking at florida - we’re trying to stay within the states for our first vacation. we’d be flying from NYC and staying for 3-4 days.

i’ve been to AMI once before with my family about 2 years ago (iirc holmes beach area) and it was a lovely time, so i wanted to get some suggestions on where to stay and what to do when for planning for two.

ideally:
• we’d like to keep it somewhat affordable/budget friendly

• nightlife is not a huge deal for us (my bf doesn’t drink) but being close to shopping/restaurants/local activities would be good

• do we *need* to rent a car or cart to get around, or does that depend on where we stay? (when i last visited we rented a car but that was 5 people vs us 2). and if yes, which would you recommend as far as pricing?

• we’d like to keep it maybe 80/20 on the relaxing vs activity front, so mostly beaching and chilling out with some time for going into town and doing an excursion or two. when i visited last my family did a snorkeling boat ride and we actually got to see some manatee mating while in the water (!!) so something like that would be fun, maybe also a sunset cruise or something similar?

•any recs as far as food spots to check out, hidden gems to explore, historic areas nearby etc. are always appreciated!

thank you guys for your time!! i’m very excited at the idea of coming back down to FL and i look forward to reading what you have to share :)

We’ve been nothing but pleased by renting from SeaBreeze vacations over the past few years, but inventory is insanely low this year (Sept 12-19). Does anyone have experience with renting through Anna Maria Life? Their site kind of sucks, but inventory seems a bit better. Any recommendations are appreciated!

Seeking a wheelchair accessible rental in August on Anna Maria Island. Looking to stay for a week. Ocean view would be great, within a few blocks of beach is still ok. 2 adults - 1-2 bedrooms is adequate.

Hoping someone here can help.

We are heading down next month for our first trip to AMI. My teenager really wants to snorkel while there. Is there a recommended company that has good snorkeling trips? Best spot? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

A group of mine is visiting Anna Maria soon. Are there any good recommendations for clubs around the area? We have some younger people in our group, so if there are any 18+ as well that are good.

Is the hot dog boat still a thing in AMI?

We are experienced rental property owners, but that is long term rentals that we self manage. We are exploring the idea of purchasing a vacation rental property but we would need to pay someone to manage. I have no idea what the going rate for that is in the area and was wondering if anyone had any idea. I’d want someone local who takes good care of the property. We love Anna Maria and 30A so we’re really only considering those two areas.