Anna Maria Island - things to do with kids?

[stepmead]

Can anyone recommend any things to do with children on Anna Maria Island (other than the beach!)?

[Rowlf]

AMI doesn’t have many/ any child specific activities I don’t think (happy to be corrected).

Depending on ages a drive down Longboat Key to the Mote Aquarium might be worth doing, especially on Sunday afternoons in the season when the skiarees do their free water skiing shows. They’re amateur skiers literally of all ages who are just great. They’ve been going for about 60 years I think!

Always a highspot of our trips to LBK!

[Rowlf]

Just to add a bit more info about the Mote Aquarium - although it's the serious research place, apparently it's a good visit for kids: Reviews here.

The Skiarees are just next door and have a nice mini-stadium on the bay. They don't charge but pass a donations bucket round at the end of the show. Website here. They don't have shows in the summer months unfortunately as it's off-season for the Gulf coast areas then.

[LauraE]

Not sure how old your kids are, but mine (4 and 2) loved just riding the free trolley bus up and down. Other than that we generally stayed by the pool or on the beach. There’s a nice playground at Bradenton beach and some nice ice cream parlours too. But not too many kid specific activities. After two weeks in orlando a chilled out week was what we all needed!

[Hank]

We like to see the Manatees near AMI take Cortez Road from Holmes beach and Palma Sola Bvld is on your left. Turn left and travel for a couple of miles or so the Bay is on your left hand side but you cannot see it. You are driving along quiet country road
and eventually you cross a small bridge ( you can now see the Bay) and you can see a small marina on your right and a park area . Turn right and you can see plenty of parking, whenever we have been few local people come to see the Manatees, it was lunchtime when we went in June and one woman said she came in her lunch break every day. We saw 7 including 2 babies

We went for lunch and found a nice place, go back the way we came to Cortez Road and turned right towards the coast after short distance we turned did a u turn before just the causeway at another Bar / Restaurant and headed inland on Cortez rd again for short distance and turned right to the starfishcompany
Star Fish Company Market & Restaurant
Seafood Market and Dockside Restaurant in the Florida fishing village of Cortez

This really is old Florida and very cheap and cheerful Cash only, no cards, we really enjoyed it, it was like going back in time, food come in a box.

Hank