Coquina Beach

This is the most beautiful beach I have ever went too. I took my husband, one of my daughter’s, and a friend a few days ago and I throughly enjoyed the swimming and environment.
Parents, this is the go to spot for finding sand dollars and great shells plus being able to lounge on the beach or enjoy a fresh swim.

Great beach! We took our 4 year old daughter and with all the shells she could hunt for, I don’t know if we could have found a better spot. There are lots of shopping and restraunts near by, but it wasn’t so crowded that we couldn’t enjoy ourselves while we were there. (We traveled early March). I wouldn’t mind coming back again to enjoy this beach.

Great place to chill out… shaded areas abound and lots of birds along the shore. I like to sit on the bridge side of the beach in shade and read and watch the ships go in and out of the channel. It has some wonder sunsets as well. Great Picnic area and grilling areas too.

My wife and I took a picnic out here on a Friday. Amazing!
The gulf was perfect and the picnic tables were splendid for my double decker black bean burger with chunky fish spread in between the patties with a Natural Ice to wash it down.
Yummy and a wonderful spot for a picnic!

Sometimes when I read reviews, I can’t believe we’ve all gone to the same place.
Coquina Beach is at the southern end of Santa Maria Island. I like the old charm of dirt parking lots and pine trees lining your way to the beach. No city or touristy feel to this beach. We arrived at 10:30AM on a Sunday and the place was nearly deserted. Easy to park! Yeah! A short walk and you are out on the white sand beach. Coquina has lifeguards and restrooms too!
A few more people rambled in as the day wore on but it never got crowded. A great beach for kids, not too rocky or shelly near the water so they can run back and forth without hurting their tootsies!
I really enjoy this beach. If you are like me and hate the crowds, then Coquina is the place for you.

How do you review a place you really like and don’t want to see it overrun. I’m probably overstating the importance of my reviews but what the heck. Coquina Beach is a several mile strip of beach on Anna Marie Island. I usually like going to the beach on late Saturday afternoons and watch the sun go down but today we headed out at 9AM and hoped we would not be overwhelmed by beach goers. When we got to Coquina we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Yes a few more people showed up but was never crowded. The sand here is not to shelly and it has a large parking lot and full services. This is a really nice beach for families, unlike Clearwater Beach which IMO not a family friendly place. Check out Coquina… but don’t tell anyone.

I like to call Coquina Beach the «ethnic, local, non-​tourist» beach… ha! For real though… we went to Siesta Key & the crowd is night & day. I, personally, was thrilled when I walked up & heard Spanish spoken & reggaeton music playing… I’m from San Antonio! Anyway, if culture scares you, avoid this beach…
The parking is easy & plentiful. There’s a fantastic paved walking path that runs the length of the beach. Free restrooms. Lots of tree shaded areas & picnic tables to set up a BBQ.
The sand on the beach is a bit ‘shell-​y’ so wear flip flops or have tough feet. The sand in the surf can be gritty, but it exfoliated my feet! Walk far enough down to see the cool, beat up pier… notice the signs not to walk on it tho (further down is a newer one you can walk on but doesn’t look as good in your pics).
Great beach to watch the sunset!!!

Nice Beach
This is a very nice facility. It has a decent parking lot that is free. It has showers so Precious can wash off the sand before getting in the car. Not too far away are restaurants and shops and ice cream joints. The atmosphere is family friendly. There aren’t a lot of bars and night clubs. It’s relatively quiet in the evenings but there is enough going on that it’s not totally boring.
The beach itself is superb. There aren’t any rentals for umbrellas or kayaks so you have to bring your own everything although you can rent kayaks and jet skis nearby. The water is usually very calm although it can get choppy on a windy day. In the handful of times we’ve visited we’ve seen manatees and dolphins moseying along.
The only thing I don’t like is that it’s a pain in the [gratuitous profanity deleted by moderator] to get there unless you live in the area. It’s located ten miles from the nearest interstate, and you have to go through the town of Bradenton to get there.

I wouldn’t normally review a beach or public park, but I walked away from this beach feeling let down. Can the city not afford to pave the parking lots? Don’t wash your car before heading out here because the traffic driving thru the dirt parking lot will leave your ride with a 2 inch layer of white, chalky dirt. What’s up with the pine trees? Most of the beach is an odd mixture of sand and sharp pine needles until you get right up to the water. Pinecones all over the damn place too. They do have public restrooms, but several toilets weren’t working, resulting in long lines. Lastly, meth teeth. What is the deal with all the meth-​head looking folks out here? I never seen so many folks with missing teeth at the beach before. Are there no damn dentists in Bradenton?
I will stick to the 20 minute drive from Tampa to St. Pete Beach going forward. The 1 hour and 30 minute drive to this sad beach left me feeling… Well, sad, I suppose.

A hidden treasure! Even during the weekend there is adequate parking. They have a nice concession with a large variety. I really think this beach is superior to Siesta Key.

Coquina beach is a hidden gem. Beautiful blue water, white sand, clean public bathrooms, and peaceful… even when other beaches are packed. Sundays is a market day with vendors. I love this place. I often go here over siesta key just to avoid the crowd.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a free public beach with such impressive amenities — free bathrooms, pretty ample parking, water fountains, benches, playgrounds, life guards, etc.
There’s a walking/​running path with signs every few hundred yards talking about the wildlife. There are some guys on a go-​cart sized truck that just go up and down the trail clearing the pine needles.
The beach itself isn’t bad, though as others have mentioned, it’s pretty shell-​y, so you’ll probably want to keep your flip flops on.

A very nice beach towards the south end of Anna Maria Island. The beach can get busy on the weekends and parking becomes an issue, so get there early if you plan on going on the weekends. There is some decent shelling on the beach.
In addition, this beach has bathrooms located at two different spots, and is adding in a beach-​front restaurant.
A great beach to catch some sun!

THE best beach to find awesome shells!!! The water is always crystal blue and never really THAT crowded. Still, come early if you want your good spot for parking and good spot on the beach. I like it here… bathrooms are close by and when my kids have enough of the sand, they can go play at the little park.

My favorite beach. You can’t go wrong with AMI’s old Florida charm.

The word ‘Coquina’ comes from the Spanish word for «cockle», an incompletely consolidated sedimentary rock and is a variety of «coral rag».
In short, a bunch of little shells. It sort of reminded me of walking on hot pavement. The sensation that makes you want to hop around. The shells didn’t hurt or cut my feet but I got the jeebs walking on it and hearing crunching sounds.
The water is like bath water and was hotter than the air temperature which again was simply strange to my Northern sensory system. I am use to the numbness of my toes and legs as I watch my skin turn bright red whenever I’ve enter the Atlantic on a hot summery day. Ahh but not here at a mere 98 degrees.
The beach was empty because Floridians don’t go to the beach in the summer since it is too hot so the snack bar and bath house was closed. But the foot sprayer had running water so I got to rinse the shells off of my feet while the girls played on the mini structure.