Anna Maria Island, on Florida's Gulf Coast, was the destination for our 2004 vacation. I came home with over 500 colorful, digital photographs and not one roll of film to process! My intent in publishing this page is to provide a content-rich resource about Anna Maria Island, Florida. If you're looking for a specific Anna Maria Island photograph or Florida wildlife photographs and you don't see it, give Jim a call at 781-244-5655. This page displays only a small portion of my Anna Maria Island and Florida wildlife photographs. Hundreds of others are available.

Place pointer over images for captions.

Click images for large versions.

Anna Maria Island Vacation Accommodations:

Images in this first section of the page link to rental property pages. All other images link to larger versions of Jim's photographs.

Anna Maria Island offers an abundance of vacation rental properties.

Gulf front vacation rental properties offer easy access to the beach and views of dazzling sunsets over the warm, Gulf of Mexico waters.

Luxurious units are available, well appointed, with every amenity.

This beach front vacation rental property on Holmes Beach offers the ultimate in comfort and convenience.

Enjoy television and CD players in every room, an elevator up from your parking garage, a private, solar heated swimming pool, gorgeous views of turquoise waters, tropical gardens with majestic palm trees and a deck which leads down to the beach.

For contact information about renting any of these properties, visit this page or send e-mail to info@annamaria.com

Anna Maria Island Florida

Getting there:

Anna Maria Island is located on the West cost of Florida in Manatee County, just south of Tampa Bay, on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

We had an early morning departure, out of Boston's Logan International, via Jet Blue. Our experience flying Jet Blue was very good. Direct TV at every seat kept the kids occupied, when they weren't looking out the windows.

We booked airline tickets on-line, several months in advance, so they were reasonably priced.

Arrival at Tampa International Airport was on schedule. Anna Maria Island is about a 1 hour drive from there.

For ground transportation we rented from Hertz. The Ford Taurus performed OK, but its tendency to automatically lock doors caused the keys to get locked in the car. Hertz gave us 2 keys, but they were locked together with a steel cable! Go figure. I

Hertz initial rates are higher than many competitors. Ask about discounts for AAA members or corporate discounts for large company employees.

If you don't like getting lost, and you rent from Hertz, I highly recommend requesting the Hertz NeverLost system, about $9.00 per day. It's an easy-to-program navigation system that guides your every turn using GPS, voice commands and a street level, zoomable map display. It's not fool-proof though. Just like everybody else, I'm a fool sometimes. It had me "turn left" off a major highway onto a dirt road when the intent was for me to go left at the fork about 1/2 mile ahead.

Anna Maria Island: Things to do

Do you enjoy a hot, sunny beach with warm, clear water? Anna Maria Island has plenty of that. The bright, white sands and warm, tropical water of the Gulf of Mexico are Anna Maria's biggest attraction.

The weather is great for spending time on the beach all year long on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

If enjoying the beach is not enough for you, there's fishing, sail boating, even airplane rides.

For more recreation ideas visit this page.

The popular Florida beaches near Anna Maria island include: Holmes Beach, Coquina Beach, Bradenton Beach, Cortez Beach, Anna Maria Beach and Manatee Beach. For more information on these Florida beaches visit this page.

There are plenty of restaurants on Anna Maria Island. The only one I can personally recommend is the Rod and Reel, located on the northern end of the island. The Rod and Reel restaurant, pictured at left, is surrounded by water so you'll have a good chance of seeing dolphins or even a manatee swim by, while you eat. Visit the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce page for more dining out information.

Sarasota Jungle Gardens - Sarasota Florida

Sarasota Jungle Gardens is a worthwhile full or half day take, especially if you have children, who enjoy seeing live animals. Sarasota Jungle Garden is only a few miles from Anna Maria Island and the admission price was very reasonable.

The attraction features lots of small animals and tropical birds, situated in a botanical garden carved out of subtropical jungle. A diverse variety of exotic plants and animals make Sarasota Jungle Gardens a "must see" if you stay near Anna Maria Island.

Anna Maria Island Florida Photographs & Florida Bird Photographs

To make most of the images on this page I used a Canon 10D Digital SLR and 3 lenses. A Canon 100-300 USM, a Canon 28-105 USM and a Canon 50MM 1.8. Some of the photographs were made with a Nikon Coolpix 990 digital camera.

Florida's Gulf Coast is a nature photographer's paradise. Anna Maria Island is home to countless thousands of birds, large and small.

Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)

Laughing Gulls seem to be the most common birds on Anna Maria Island. Easily identified by their black heads, they can be found all over the island. Laughing Gulls are comparable to what we call sea gulls here in New England. Like many scavenger sea birds, they'll eat right out of your hand if you hold food up. It seems they got their name because their call sounds like laughter.

Royal Terns (Sterna maxima)

In April, Royal Terns dominate the northern, less populated part of Anna Maria Island. It's possible there's a more plentiful supply of the fish the royal terns prefer.

They dart back and forth overhead, with an irritating squawk. They often fly around to display the fish they've caught, as if to show it off. Royal terns gather by the hundreds on the sand at Anna Maria Island.

Pelicans Brown (Pelecanus occidentalis)

Pelicans, mostly brown pelicans, can be found all over Anna Maria Island. They tend to soar up and down the beach, often in groups, taking advantage of updrafts above the tree line.

While soaring over the surf, pelicans keep an eye out for fish in the shallow water below. When fish are located, pelicans quickly pull under one wing, turn and dive. It's my guess that they don't miss very often.

Pelicans can have a prehistoric look with their 6 - 7 foot wingspans.

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

Snowy Egrets are very common around Anna Maria Island. In most cases they don't fear humans and will allow photographers to get right up close. These Snowy Egrets often return to the same location when they can expect a handout.

A black bill, yellow feet and black legs are a snowy egret's identifying features.

Great Egret - Photographs - White Heron (Ardea alba)

Great egrets, sometimes called white herons, are common birds around Anna Maria Island, although less common it seems than snowy egrets.

Great Egrets are larger than snowy egrets and have yellow bills. The Great Egret pictured at left was resting on a small hill near Coquina Beach. After we approached too close, the bird took to the air.

The great egret shown at right was at Sarasota Jungle Garden. Several other Great Egret photos are available.

Great Blue Heron Photograph (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) are less common at Anna Maria Island than their white cousins. They can be identified by their blue-gray color and yellow on the bottom half of their bills. They seem to hang out in the less populated areas of the island. The one pictured at left did not sit for long after I approached him for a photograph. This bird let out a low-pitched squawk as it flew off.

Great Blue Herons are huge birds, with wingspans to almost 6 feet. Their range includes most of the continental United States.

Florida's Gulf of Mexico Sunsets

Sunsets on the Gulf of Mexico provide great photo opportunities. The west coast of Florida is one of the few places in the US (other than the west coast of US) that offers sunsets over the ocean.

Just about every evening, sunsets over the gulf are colorful displays. The large version of first photograph in this section shows a dolphin's dorsal fin arcing out of the water.

Sunsets also make great backgrounds for portraits.

Links to Jim's other Photography Related Pages

Hampton Beach, New Hampshire Photographs Convert your 35MM Slides to Digital photographs   Saugus Photos Online Massachusetts Photographs   Jim's Photographic portfolio at Photo.net   "Saugus Only" Photographs

Acadia National Park Photographs   Niagara Falls Photographs   Saugus Massachusetts Aerial Photographs   More New England Photographs   B&H Photo - Jim's trusted source for photography equipment. Web Hosting & Design by Saugus.net   35MM & Digital Photography Tips

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Anna Maria Island Florida Links