Going to Anna Maria Island for Fourth of July? Here’s where you can — and can’t — park

Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, “Never follow the crowd. Go where it’s empty.”

The terminator offers some sound advice but it doesn’t apply for the Fourth of July weekend if you are heading to Anna Maria Island. Avoiding the crowds and associated traffic and parking woes will be improbable, but perhaps not impossible.

However, add the return of the Anna Maria Island Privateers Fourth of July parade on Saturday after the COVID pandemic canceled last year’s event, and there is a lot you’ll need to know ahead of time before you drive to the island and try to find a place to park.

Manatee Avenue West, Cortez Road West and northbound Gulf Drive from Longboat Key are the only three ways onto the island.

On the first day of the Memorial Day weekend, traffic onto the island was manageable up until around 9 a.m. and it only became more congested throughout the day. Again, island and tourism officials routinely stress that if you want to avoid heavy traffic, get to the island as early as possible.

Another easy way onto the island, if you are not packing a heavy load of beach equipment, is to take advantage of the county’s free Beach ConneXion Shuttle from the mainland at Manatee Avenue and 75th Street West.

The free shuttle runs throughout the day, “In an effort to help drivers avoid heavy beach crowds over the Fourth of July weekend,” the county’s website states.

The free rides are from Friday through Sunday and will take passengers directly to the Manatee Public Beach in Holmes Beach. Visitors can then catch the free island trolleys that traverse the island to visit other areas.

Additional law enforcement will be added throughout the holiday weekend on the island. The county will add additional port-o-lets near the public beaches, which will be serviced daily, and the county will add additional trash pick-up times.

Where to park on Anna Maria Island?

Parking is always a challenge on the island and the early bird historically gets the proverbial worm when it comes to finding a space.

Bradenton Beach offers ample parking beginning just south of Bridge Street, along Cortez Beach and the large parking area at Coquina Beach.

If Memorial Day weekend was any indicator for this coming weekend, Cortez Beach parking will fill up first. By 9 a.m. on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, open parking spaces along Cortez Beach became scarce, but Coquina Beach parking was still very much available. That changed by the hour beginning after 9 a.m.

Coquina Beach also offers multiple picnic areas, but they were all spoken for before 8 a.m. on the first day of Memorial Day weekend. Send your least favorite relative by sunrise if want to hold a spot.

There is no on-street parking in Bradenton Beach but the city does have a handful of small parking lots and blue parking signs can be spotted along Gulf Driver if you want to roll the dice.

The city of Anna Maria is the most challenging of the island’s three cities for motorists trying to find a place to park. Other than the parking lot at Bayside Park, 316 N. Bay Blvd., the city has no large public parking lots.

To offset the lack of parking lots, the city does allow on-street parking in some areas, but vehicles must be pulled completely off the roadway to avoid a ticket. The city also has a unique policy of switching sides of the road for parking so pay attention to signs.

Holmes Beach and Manatee County remain in talks after the city took controversial action amid the pandemic to restrict side street beach access parking. Manatee County took retaliatory action after the city refused to budge from its new parking policies by withholding tourism tax dollars.

A June 7 meeting between city officials and a county commissioner turned heated but ended with a promise to work out the parking challenges, but those issues remain unresolved.

On Thursday, Manatee County government and the school district struck a deal to allow beach-goers to park at Anna Maria Elementary School, 4700 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach, from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Under the agreement, which is similar to one in place during Memorial Day weekend, the county will be responsible for the removal of any trash left behind on campus. No overnight parking will be allowed, and beach-goers are not allowed to possess guns or alcohol while on school grounds.

Parking also was allowed at the Island Branch Library in Holmes Beach for Memorial Day weekend but not for the Fourth of July. The county owns the library but the city owns the land, and Tokajer said according to the agreements of the land lease, no parking is allowed at the library except for library use.

Manatee Public Beach in Holmes Beach includes a public parking lot that fills quickly on the weekends.

Above all else, pay attention to signs in Holmes Beach to avoid a ticket. If it’s been awhile since you’ve visited the city, things have changed when it comes to parking.

“If you parked somewhere last year and think you will park there this year, pay attention,” Tokajer recently told the Bradenton Herald. “We will be issuing $75 parking citations. We have new signs up that says no parking on certain roads or permit parking only. Saying you didn’t see the sign won’t save you from a ticket.”

Tokajer said the rules of the city will be strictly enforced to include no alcohol on the beach, no grills other than in the designated grilling areas and no pets allowed on the beaches. Illegal fireworks also will not be tolerated and there are no sanctioned fireworks events anywhere on the island.

Tokajer said there were no issues on Memorial Day weekend and that most guests were responsible families looking to enjoy the sun and water. He said he expects it will be the same for the Fourth of July weekend.

Fourth of July parade

The parade that will run north on Gulf Drive will begin at 10 a.m. on July 3 and last until around noon. The parade route, as well as some side streets will be closed to traffic during the parade.

The parade begins from Coquina Beach and will run just about the entire length of the 7-mile island through Holmes Beach and to Anna Maria City Pier Park.

If attending the parade, you are asked to be considerate of others around you and follow social distance guidelines when placing your chairs or blankets.

What else you need to know for the Fourth of July?

According to the National Weather Service’s five-day forecast, it appears beach goers will get a break from the afternoon storms that accompany a Florida summer day. But never say never because if you do, you must be new to Florida.

However, the Weather Service keeps rain chances down to 30% on Saturday with a high of 90. It is expected to be a breezy day with wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

Rain chances drop on the Fourth of July to 20% and it will be a mostly sunny day with a high of 92. Rain chances return to 50% for the final day of the long weekend on Monday.

While red tide is persisting to the north and south of Anna Maria Island, Gulf waters surrounding the island remains relatively clear of the K. Brevis organism, with only one sample detecting a “low” presence as of the last update from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 12:04 PM.