we had a great experience in this area. The place we were supposed to stay had a broken pipe and…read moreMichaela provided us an incredibly nice Vrbo home and was great to work with. http://www.dammrealty.com

This Beach is great and very nice is nice and calm waters and mostly clear water this beach should…read morebe call betiful greenish blue water beach

Wonderful beach! Sand is soft and not too hot. Water is warm and felt awesome. Ample parking…read more And best of all - not too crowded! Awesome afternoon here.

The beach and the water is very nice. Major problems: the lack of parking; very few amenities…read morelike showers and bathrooms; inconsiderate high powered Ebikes everywhere. Just try walking over the Cortez bridge and have an Ebikes barreling towards you or coming up from behind - so far after a week not a single one of dozens has bothered to slow down when passing me. I ride a bike all the time at home so don't think I'm a bike hater.

Tony and I shared our "Last Day" at the Beach at Cortez Beach on Anna Maria Island. The waves were…read morevery high today and strong. Much stronger than rest of week! The sand was wet like "Sand Castle making" feel to it! The water was clear but there was a lot of seaweed rolling in! We had a nice 2.5 hrs Going to miss this area but we Def have a new place to venture too! Cortez has lifeguards no drinking no pets no smoking rules it also hasno bathrooms no showers or changing rooms! But it does have free parking! Lots of shells!

Park here for shops on the pier. This beach was outside of our rental. It's very popular for…read moredolphin watching and fishing off the concrete runway. Ocean is very shallow. I didn't see anywhere to wash the sand off. There are bathrooms.

This is the 5th beach on my Florida journey, and this one wins HANDS DOWN! Right over the bridge,…read morestraight into the FREE parking lot and then steps to the powdery sand beach. On this spectacular day, we walked right into the water hardly even having to acclimate to the water temperature. Crystal clear water, so I can almost see my toes and whatever decides to swim by me. Thank you for such a beautiful visit. The food area takes cash/credit and there's plenty to choose from. The only problem is these love bugs are EVERYWHERE! My fried fish tacos were delicious, served with fresh pico de gallo! Yum!!

Manatee beach was very nice it was a weekend so it was crowded not a long walk from parking to…read morebeach that was nice water was nice and calm

Heaven on Earth can be found here. If I could just stay here, & go no where else I would be happy…read more Only thing is the beaches aren't dog friendly here. The closest is in Venice. It's ok though. We go to the same spot on the beach. We have the best free parking here always found and the beach is steps away. There's no restrooms here. The closest is the Walgreens. There's also a nearby plaza with Crepes, tacos, ice cream, and souvenirs, Publix and CVS are just down the street. It's a perfect spot in our happy place in Anna Maria Island. Also pretty close to getting off the island which is good bc the traffic is crazy in other spots.

My friends and I had a perfect beach day! It was my first time at this beach and I loved it! There…read morewater is so clear and pretty and the sand is very soft. There are so many food options at the Anna Maria Island Cafe! My friend got a chicken tender platter, and although I think the prices are a bit high, you do get a lot of food. Also she was charged .50¢ to pack her food "to go" which is strange. All in all we had a great day and will definitely be back!

Great spot to have drinks and snacks after being on the beach all day. Not many options near this…read morebeach spot. Largest and nicest parking lot around. Grab a drink and you get to keep the plastic fun glass.

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. The drinks are watered down garbage. With all…read moredue respect to the native wildlife, the young lady tending bar had the personality of a manatee. AWFUL!!

This beach was very clean with a lot to offer: a big parking lot, showers, bathrooms, changing…read morestations, grills, picnic tables, chair rentals, and a bar with drinks. The beach itself was also very clean and well-kept. I highly recommend stopping here if you want a relaxing beach day. I came around noon, and there was still plenty of parking.

A really nice white sand beach. The beach is very clean and well maintained. The water was clean…read moreand warm. While there there was a police/security presence which passed by on a regular basis ensuring beach goers were able to enjoy the beach without anyone creating any issues. In the section we were at, we did not notice any lifeguards, but basically everyone was very careful.

Predatory Parking Enforcement will ruin your day with $75 violations for subjective failure to…read moreachieve surgical grade precise compliance. No room for error with the both posted and unposted rules. Know before you go.

Anna Maria Island is just gorgeous, regardless of the section of beach you end up on. Even with all…read morethe rental properties and tourists, it was surprisingly clean on the sand and in the ocean. The waves were minimal, and there were so many fish swimming around us the whole time! I counted three different schooling fish species and a few crabs, which were unusually easy to spot because of how crystal clear the water is. I do want to note that we couldn't fins any public trash cans, showers, and bathrooms. It ended up wasting our water bottle reserves and probably led to spending more money at businesses that had these amenities than we would've otherwise. Options for surrounding businesses are limited and pricey. For instance, the only pizza place within walking distance is great if you can afford $20+ average-sized pies. There's also only one beachside bar along this stretch of beach access that has a long wait time and doesn't list cocktail prices on their menu. Parking is slim, but a lot of it is free if you park on gravel roadsides. Since it has always been extremely windy when I've visited, I definitely suggest firmly anchoring any tents or umbrellas. Also bring materials to hold down blankets and towels. They don't allow alcohol on these beaches, so also keep that in mind when packing your coolers. All in all, this beach is a must-see!