Manasota Beach

My kids love this beach! We just moved to the area and it’s great that it’s only 5 minutes away. We have only been on weekdays but have found it to not be overcrowded and parking was easy. Very clean and lots of shark teeth to find. The sand here is not the powdered sugar soft sand and it does get quite hot. Otherwise I would rate a 5.

Not the place to feel the sand between your toes. A great place to go to collect fossilized shark teeth. So great in fact the the sand is dark from the ground black fossils. The shells here are somewhat crushed, so they are really only good for cutting your feet on. For better shells head to Ft Meyers. I personally love the sport of hunting for shark teeth but the problem with dark colored sand is that it absorbs the heat and burns your feet.
The parking here is horrible. There are a couple covered picnic areas which you can pay in advance to reserve, however pay or not, if you are here on a Sunday a huge crowd of AA members will come fight with you and tell you that you that 200 Alcoholics are about to crash your birthday party and they don’t care that you reserved the picnic area.
Probably not a beach I will come back to with all the better options in Florida.

Very nice beach. Quiet, nice location.

Very nice beach! It’s never crowded, kept up well and if you fish, this makes for a great fishing spot.
I’m also a fan of rinsing off with fresh water after the beach, they have showers :)

My grandparents have been living in the Englewood/​Venice area for over 25 years. And I have been going to visit them since I was an infant, at least once every two years. Since I have been old enough to appreciate a beach, I’ve been going to the Manasota Beach. This place is incredibly special to me, and is the location of many, many memories.
It is clean, never overcrowded, and beautiful. Surrounded by tall grasses and trees, the beautiful houses blend in well with nature — no huge towering condo complexes here. This is also the perfect area to hunt for shells and sharks teeth. Being rather shallow for several yards also makes this a great beach for us non-​swimmers. Plus there is typically a life guard on duty. There is also a bathroom area that is kept very clean and is great for changing. Additionally there are spray towers near the parking lot to get all that sand off instead of tracking it all inside your car.
If you go, slather on the sun screen, bring a bag to put shells in, and one to put trash in — and keep the beach beautiful for years to come.