Siesta Key
Siesta Key Beach is central Sarasota's gateway to the sparkling waters of the Gulf of Mexico, an island that combines luxurious amenities with a relaxed vibe that appeals to both visitors and locals.
Hotel reservations are recommended during the peak season, from February through Easter.
Areas of Interest:
Casey Key, Englewood, Lido Key, Longboat Key, Manasota Key, Nokomis, North Port, Osprey, Siesta Key, St. Armands Key, Venice, Sarasota.
Population:
| City of Sarasota: | 51,917 residents |
| City of Venice: | 20,748 residents |
| City of North Port: | 57,357 residents |
| Town of Longboat Key: | 6,888 residents |
| Sarasota County Total: | 379,448 residents |
Peak Season:
The area's peak season begins in February and continues until Easter, when accommodation reservations are necessary. The value season is June through September.
Accommodations:
A wide variety of accommodations is available, from campgrounds to luxury resort hotels. Rentals of privately owned condominiums and cottages are popular with tourists. Meeting space and facilities are available for groups at hotels and other locations around the community.
Arts & Cultural Community:
Sarasota is recognized as Florida's Cultural Coast and is home to a professional symphony, ballet and opera. In addition, more than 10 theaters and 30 art galleries are located in Sarasota. The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art is Florida's State Museum, and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, known for its architecture and great acoustics, seats 1,700 people and features a dazzling season of music, shows and programs for all ages.
Attractions:
From circus museums to a year-round spring with 87-degree water, Sarasota County has a variety of attractions appropriate for family enjoyment. Visitors to the area can visit Mote Marine Laboratory, Historic Spanish Point, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota Jungle Gardens, Warm Mineral Springs, Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary and more.
State Parks:
Myakka River State Park, covering 28,875 acres, and Oscar Scherer State Park are Sarasota's destinations for bird-watching, biking, walking, camping or just communing with Florida's natural setting of swamps, palmetto brush and towering pine trees. Myakka State Park offers guided boat and train tours that include informative narration of the area's wildlife and history.
Golf:
Known as Florida's"Cradle of Golf," Sarasota was home to the first course in the state and one of America's first golf courses, built in 1905 by Sir John Hamilton Gillespie, a Scottish colonist. The nine-hole course was located in the heart of today's downtown near today's Golf Street and Links and Gillespie avenues.
The community's early ties to golf still can be found today at Bobby Jones Golf Complex. Designed by famed architect Donald Ross, the course opened on Sunday, Feb. 13, 1927, and was dedicated by Robert Tyre Jones Jr. In 1930. Bobby Jones won the "Grand Slam of Golf" by sweeping the British Amateur, British Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open, the only golfer ever to accomplish this feat. Today, Sarasota offers more than 1,000 holes at public, semi-private and private courses.
Piers, Marinas & Boat Ramps:
Fishing piers include the Englewood Public Fishing Pier, Ken Thompson Park Pier, New Pass Pier, Osprey Fishing Pier, Tony Saprito Pier, Turtle Beach Pier and Venice Fishing Pier. Choose from 15 area marinas and 12 public boat ramps.
Consumer Phone Numbers:
Official Sarasota County Visitor Information Center
(941) 957-1877
(800) 800-3906
Media Contact:
Erin Thomas Duggan CDME, Communications Director
Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau
1777 Main St., Suite 302
(In the SunTrust building)
Phone: (941) 955-0991, Ext. 108
Fax: (941) 955-1929
E-mail: eduggan@visitsarasota.org
Information sources include:
Sarasota County Planning Department, Sarasota County Parks & Recreation, Sarasota County Department of Natural Resources, Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau, and WWSB News 40 Weather Center. "Sarasota Over My Shoulder" by Janet Snyder Matthews, Bobby Jones Golf Complex, ABC Channel 7.
