Coquina Beach([""])

Located on Anna Maria Island in South Florida, Coquina Beach is a long and wide beach with white sand.  This beach was listed as one of the world’s “Top 10 Island Beaches for Perfect Sand” by the Conde Nast Traveler magazine in 2015.

The beach is open between 6 am and 12 am.

Coquina Beach has many amenities including lifeguards, a concession stand, restrooms, volleyball courts, changing rooms, pavilions, nearby rental facilities for beach chairs and watersports equipment, a nearby boardwalk, showers, nearby hiking/biking trails, barbecue areas, picnic areas, and a playground. 

Dogs are not allowed here.

Coquina Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, fishing, picnicking, hiking, biking, swimming, volleyball, bodyboarding, surfing, paddleboarding, scuba diving, jet-skiing, water-skiing, wakeboarding, boating, snorkeling, wildlife watching, surf-skiing, kayaking, and canoeing.

This beach is ideal for less-experienced swimmers because the considerably shallow and clear water here usually has gentle waves.  If you are planning to swim, paddleboard, kayak, or canoe here, we recommend being careful because the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents, dangerous waves, and submerged rocks.  The water here is also known to occasionally have high levels of microbial contamination.  In addition, please also note that swimming is also prohibited in the nearby Longboat Pass Inlet.

If you like fishing, the southern end of the beach is an ideal fishing site and you can catch many kinds of fish here. If you like beachcombing, you can find a large variety of shells here.  If you like hiking, there are hiking trails near this beach you can use to explore the nearby mangrove forests.  There is also a boardwalk nearby with interpretive signs on local biodiversity.  

The northern part of the beach is ideal for visitors looking for a quieter beach experience because this beach sees fewer visitors as compared to other nearby beaches.

There are beach wheelchair rental facilities near Coquina Beach for visitors with disabilities.  In addition, this beach also has disabled-friendly picnic pavilions for disabled visitors.

Getting to Coquina Beach is easy – this beach is located near 2651 Gulf Drive.  There are multiple free parking lots nearby.  We recommend checking the local Coquina Beach weather reports before visiting this beach because the weather here can sometimes get extremely stormy.

If you like taking Coquina Beach pictures with beautiful views, Coquina Beach offers excellent Instagram-worthy views of the Gulf of Mexico and the southern Florida shoreline, especially during sunsets.  In addition, this beach is also used as a seasonal nesting site by sea turtles.  This beach also occasionally hosts a market named Coquina Beach Market that offers many kinds of items including jewellery, clothes, and handicrafts.

There are many great attractions near Coquina Beach.  Perico Preserve is a nature preserve that has many interesting habitats including coastal wetlands and hilly scrub vegetation – this preserve offers many interesting activities including hiking, biking, birdwatching, and picnicking.  Palma Sola Causeway Park is a recreational park that is a 20-minute drive away and has a beach named Palma Sola Causeway Park Beach.  This park also offers many amenities including drinking water facilities, picnic areas, restrooms, picnic areas, a dock, and barbecue facilities.  De Soto National Memorial is a 23-minute drive away and commemorates the 1539 expedition of Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto.  The memorial’s visitor center has interesting historical exhibits and it also offers historical demonstrations.  There is also a nature trail near this monument.  The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is a 27-minute-drive away and houses many ancient and contemporary artworks from all over the world – the museum exhibits photographs, paintings, sculptures, and prints and some of the famous featured artists here include Diego Velazquez, Marcel Duchamp, and Benjamin West.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium is an aquarium and research center that is 18 minutes away by car and is home to many kinds of aquatic and non-aquatic animals including jellyfish, crustaceans, fishes, an alligator, otters, and birds.  This aquarium also offers interesting exhibitions on local coastal ecology and biodiversity and it also offers many educational programs.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Coquina Beach.  Coquina Beach Cafe offers many amazing dishes for breakfast and lunch including salads, fries, hot dogs, burgers, and bagels.  Blue Marlin Seafood is known for serving excellent seafood, along with a variety of other delicious dishes including steaks, sandwiches, and soups – this restaurant also offers live music on weekends.  Shore Longboat Key serves excellent seafood, along with a variety of other dishes including steaks, pastas, fried chicken, burgers, and barbecued ribs – it has also been praised by many publications including Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Sarasota Magazine.  Bridge Tender Inn Dockside & Tiki Bar offers many amazing dishes including sandwiches, burgers, pastas, salads, seafood, barbecued ribs, and roast duck.  If you are looking for another nearby good and affordable restaurant, Cortez Cafe offers many excellent dishes for breakfast and brunch including soups, salads, burgers, and wraps.

If you are looking for a hotel near Coquina Beach, there are many great nearby options.  The 4-Star Zota Beach Resort offers many amenities including a pool, a restaurant, multiple bars, poolside cabanas, and a gym.  The 4-Star Compass Hotel Anna Maria Sound offers many amenities including a lounge, a pool, a gym, a nearby marina, a restaurant, and poolside cabanas.  A more affordable hotel is the 3.5-Star Cedar Cove Resort & Cottages – this nearby Coquina Beach resort offers many amenities including a beach club, a bocce ball court, bike loaner facilities, barbecue grills, a library, a convenience store, rental facilities for golf carts and cabanas, tiki huts, and hammocks.  A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Tortuga Inn Beach Resort that offers many amenities including multiple pools, boat docks, a private beach area, barbecue areas, outdoor sitting areas, and a pergola.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, the 2.5-Star Silver Surf Gulf Beach Resort offers many amenities including rental facilities for watersports equipment, loaner facilities for beach chairs and beach towels, a pool, barbecue areas, and massage services.  If you are planning to stay in a modestly-priced and a more flexible form of accommodation, you can book a vacation rental near the beach – there are many Coquina Beach rentals nearby and one of the famous vacation rental properties here is the Coquina Beach Club condo.