Location: Longboat Key
Top Things to do in Longboat Key
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What to do and see in Longboat Key, Florida (FL): The Best Nature & Parks
Gorgeous Longboat Key combines serene seashore enjoyment with luxury shopping and dining choices. Families enjoy the many water sport activities from fishing, boating and kayaking to plucking perfect seashells along the shoreline. Couples and friends explore chic dining and shopping spots around St. Armand’s Circle. The aristocratic heritage of the St. Armand and Ringling families resonates through quiet gardens and plush Palm Beach-style shopping. Umbrella-draped cafes and handsome restaurants offer exceptional European fare and inventive coastal specialties. Work off that decadent dessert with a stroll around the circle for leather, jewelry, resort wear and art gallery browsing.Venture just across the bridge over Sarasota Bay for unrivalled cultural treats. The Ringling circus family bequeathed an elegant legacy of art and architecture. The estate includes the acclaimed John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the family’s winter Ca’ d’Zan mansion – a Venetian Gothic masterpiece - the Circus Museum and historic Asolo Repertory Theater. With elegant gardens and terraces spread over 20 bayside acres, the complex provides hours of enjoyment.
Restaurants in Longboat Key
1. Coquina Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 452 reviews
This scenic beach is located next to a small park on Anna Maria Island.
Reviewed By KeithC152 - Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
This is our favourite beach in the world. The brilliant white sand leading down to a nice blue green is superb. It's nearly always clean and tidy but currently its does have a few issues. Parking is restricted as the never ending improvement works are going carried out (it's taken over a year so far and still nowhere near complete) and now an addition area is fenced off as they rebuild the beach patrol huts. That said, once you get on this beach it is just glorious, dolphins and manatees are frequent visitors, beautiful.
2. Quick Point Nature Reserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 46 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
Quick Point Nature Preserve, located at 100 Gulf of Mexico Drive on the southeast end of Longboat Key, across Sarasota Bay from Sarasota, Florida, is a 35-acre nature park offering hiking trails, boardwalks, a canoe launch, a fishing pier, tidal pools, scenic vistas, wildlife viewing and bird watching. Its wetlands and mangroves provide vital benefits to Sarasota Bay, particularly in bringing food and shelter to bay life and serving as a filter against pollution and protection from erosion. It protects one of the last undeveloped landscapes on the long barrier island that has turned into a popular tourist destination. The woodland is filled with winding trails of stony footpaths and boardwalks connecting one second of the park to another. It is surrounded by lagoons, one man-made, whose function is to protect animal life and safeguard the ecosystem of Sarasota Bay. And while you are walking through the park, you can catch a full panorama of downtown Sarasota gleaming in the sunlight. Among the inhabitants of the lagoons are fish such as mullet, conch and whelk. There are wading birds who enjoy the lagoons, such as the Snowy Egret, White Ibis, Herring Gull, Great Blue Heron, Great American Egret and Osprey. Sarasota Bay lost about 30 percent of its seagrass in the 1940s and 1950s due to stormwater and wastewater discharge. Recently, however, improvements in wastewater and stormwater treatment and technologies have led to the recovery of seagrass beds by seven percent since 1988. It's a beautiful sight to see.
3. Joan M. Durante Community Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 157 reviews
Reviewed By catwrites - Los Angeles, United States
Great park! Usually pretty quiet and not too busy. We usually walk here because my son loves running around and playing on the playground. We also like walking along the different paths, which offer nice views of the bay, and enjoy looking at the different birds and plants all around.
4. Longboat Key
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 132 reviews
Reviewed By Jim4413
Spent a few days with my son and family at my daughter in law’s uncle’s fabulous condo here in Longbeach Key, Florida. Scenery stunning, fabulous beach with, despite recent red tide problems, dolphins rolling fifty yards offshore. Fantastic seafood restaurants. Awesome, unforgettable experience.
5. Bayfront Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 3 reviews
Reviewed By sej60 - Newton, United States
This park was created in November 2017 and is in the middle of Longboat Key behind Ace Hardware. There is a small children's playground, beautiful views of Sarasota Bay, basketball courts (with basketballs!), shuffleboard courts, and pickle ball and tennis courts. The courts have lights and are available until 11 pm. There also is a multipurpose field for soccer or baseball. There is a community center with programs for yoga and other physical activity. It is a wonderful community resource.
