Go off the beaten track in Bradenton Area, Florida

Lying just a nudge south of Tampa, on Florida’s sunny west coast, Bradenton, Anna- Maria Island and Longboat Key are places that move at a different speed. The megamalls and theme parks that scatter the rest of the state seem a world away. Instead, you come here to relax, knowing full well that the city’s coastal setting means plenty of dramatic adventures lie on its doorstep. Here are five reasons why the Bradenton area makes the perfect base for your Florida adventure…

Experience untouched nature

While many make a beeline for the Everglades, the Bradenton area has its own wildernesses – minus the masses. On the coast, encounters with marine life are everywhere. Anna Maria Island’s cotton-white beaches aren’t only for lounging on; there’s options to get out on the water and spot wildlife such as wading birds including herons and spoonbills. Underwater it’s a different story entirely. Grab a snorkel and you can find yourself swimming among any of Bradenton’s 13 natural and artificial reefs. Here, iridescent sponges and gorgonians cling to limestone outcrops as reef sharks, stingrays and tropical fish flit in between the rusting hulls of sunken ships such as the Regina, a Belfast-built tanker sunk in 1940.

If you prefer paddling to swimming, kayaking the marshy waterways of the Robinson Preserve wetlands offer plenty of wild encounters too. Its 120km of water trails navigate through mangrove tunnels and marshes, with the chance to see the West Indian manatee. Further out in the Gulf of Mexico, regular organised boat tours also serve up ethical ways to meet the coast’s many bottlenose dolphins.

Discover more authentic culture

Nearly 500 years ago, conquistador Hernando de Soto sailed up Manatee River in search of fame and gold. These days, however, people come to Bradenton more for its cultural treasures, and a visit to the De Soto National Memorial unravels the story of Florida’s earliest pioneer in wild detail.

Not far away, the Cortez Historic Fishing Village, founded in the 1880s by North Carolina settlers, is a living museum and remains one of few surviving fishing communities on the Gulf Coast. There’s also plenty to discover at the Manatee Village Historical Park, another 19th-century time capsule worth its weight in gold where you can browse exhibits and walk past replica buildings under the shade of 400-year-old oak trees.

In the here and now, the eco-conscious downtown boutiques of Pine Avenue and Anna Maria offer a warm welcome. The Village of the Arts is another friendly, eclectic community of colourful cottages housing galleries and studios, and is a joy to explore on foot. But to really channel the Bradenton area lifestyle, rent a palm-shaded beach cottage on Anna Maria Island and kick back and relax on your own Adirondack chair.

It's full of Flavour

Eating local in the Bradenton area is easy when you consider the bounty of seafood on its doorstep. You’re spoilt for choice on Anna Maria Island, where SandBar Restaurant dishes up boat-fresh clams, smoked fish and prawns. The Anna Maria Oyster Bar, in particular, pairs its excellent shellfish with views of the sun-dappled Gulf from the Historic Bridge Street Pier. You can even fish for your own dinner (stone crab is a local staple) in the Gulf, take it to a local restaurant and watch them cook your catch up for you.

The Bradenton area isn’t just known for its Gulf-to-plate cuisine, either. The area boasts a sustainable network of organic ranches, markets and working farms that fuel – among other delights – the exciting number of Floribbean (Caribbean meets Florida) eateries that have emerged here in recent years.

On the doorstep of adventure

The Bradenton area’s laid-back vibes may make it seem far removed from the thrills that Florida possesses, but plenty of adventures bristle on its doorstep. For water babies, the Gulf of Mexico is a wild playground, whether you opt for stand-up paddleboarding off the flour-white beaches of Anna Maria Island or work your way up to something a little more adventurous. Indeed, Florida’s coastline is lined with nearly 2,500km of paddling trails, known as Blueways. These make the perfect introduction to its marshlands and mangrove tunnels, whether drifting the Manatee River or kayaking from Anna Maria to Long Boat Key.

On land, the woodlands flanking the Manatee River are also veined with myriad trails to explore, with hiking and biking paths weaving both the Robinson and Neal wetland preserves. The Bradenton area is also well placed to venture into wider Florida, with the wilds of the Everglades National Park, canoeing in Wekiwa Springs State Park or diving the coral-encrusted shipwrecks of Biscayne National Park all within easy reach.

Or you can simply sit back and relax

Bradenton, Anna-Maria Island and Longboat Key is a place that moves half a step slower than the rest of Florida, and is all the better for it. There are no glitzy neon-lit megamalls, five-lane freeways or cloud-baiting skyscrapers; instead, orange groves stitch together a landscape of rolling farmland, cattle ranches and palm-pocked fringes.

There are plenty of ways to slow your pulse here, not least among the secluded sands of Bean Point at the northern tip of Anna Maria Island – one of the finest spots in the Bradenton area to catch the sunset. The island’s upper reaches are also great places for yoga, a massage on the beach (courtesy of Sea-renity Beach Spa & Eco Boutique) or a leisurely pedal along the seafront. These are experiences that sum up the Bradenton area perfectly – Floridian living at its most laid-back.

Feeling inspired?

For more information, head over to the official Bradenton Area website. 

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