There are four boat ramps available to the public on Anna Maria Island:
Holmes Beach City
Kingfish
Coquina North
Coquina south
Holmes Beach Memorial Park Boat Ramp
63rd Street East
1 lane, 9 trailer spaces
Kingfish Boat Ramp
752 Manatee Ave
46 parking spaces, 3 lanes
Coquina North
2652 Gulf Drive S
28 trailer, 12 parking spaces, 2 lanes
Coquina South
Gulf Drive S
50 trailer spaces, 2 lanes
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1l3IqJv5UojggHUqVCAjZC_Lj6ITQAdtH&usp=sharing
Anna Maria Island Tour of Homes is an annual fund raiser for “The Center of AMI”, which provides recreational facilities, educational, and entertainment programs for young and old.
This year’s home tour is on Saturday March 16, 2019, 10am to 3pm. Homes are at the following locations:
Tickets are $25 and are available at all the above locations on the day of the home tour, plus these local businesses prior to the event:
AMI General Store……………………….503 Pine Ave., Anna Maria
AMI Sun Newspaper……………………202 Palm Ave., Anna Maria
Duncan Real Estate……………………..310 Pine Avenue, Anna Maria
Egret’s Nest……………………………..10010 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria
Ginny’s & Jane E’s………………………9807 Gulf Dr., Anna Maria
The White Egret ………………………10006 Gulf Dr., Anna Maria
AMI Chamber of Commerce………5313 Gulf Dr., Holmes Beach
Holmes Beach Ace Hardware…….3352 East Bay Drive, Holmes Beach
LaPensee Plumbing……………………..401 Manatee Ave., Holmes Beach
The Egret’s Landing……………………5602 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach
Crowder Bros. Ace Hardware……..5409 Manatee Ave., Bradenton
Due to limited on-street parking, visitors are advised to park at one of the larger lots marked on the map and take a courtesy minibus or shuttle cart to and between home locations. Carts will run frequently by volunteers.
Free parking is available at Crosspointe Fellowship Church located at 8605 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach.
“The Center of AMI” at 407 Magnolia Ave, Anna Maria hosts the raffle, auction, bazaar, and food vendors.
Real-time traffic conditions on island bridges and roads are available at:
http://www.localconditions.com/weather-bradenton-florida/34215/traffic.php
Weather conditions can be found at:
https://www.wunderground.com/weather/us/fl/anna-maria/KFLANNAM2
Does “daylight savings time” save energy? Does it save money? Does it save lives? Does getting up when the sun is lower in the morning sky mean you have more time before you go to bed at night?
“One hundred years ago when they first proposed this, they said it was about saving energy,” said Michael Downing, author of “Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time. This has never been realized no matter how many times they say it.” 
A University of California study has shown that DST doesn’t save anyone any money at all. In fact, it’s costing consumers extra, to the tune of $3.19 in extra utility bills per year. The study was made possible because of the peculiarities of the state of Indiana, which was only partially on DST until 2006. When the whole state finally went DST (to sync with the national business day), some comparisons vs. the prior method were made apparent. The study calculated that the shift costs Indiana residents an extra $8.6 million in electricity bills in total.
If the justification for DST has always been energy savings, why isn’t ‘saving daylight’ burning fewer light bulbs and saving energy?
Anna Maria Island residents in Holmes Beach, Bradenton Beach, and Anna Maria City can dispose of household hazardous waste at a collection station to be set up January 26, 2019, by Manatee County. Hours will be 9am – 3pm on the Gulf side parking lot of Coquina Beach Park.
Coquina Beach, Manatee County E-Scrap Hazardous Waste Collection
Accepted items include:
Unacceptable items include:
For more information see mymanatee.org/hhw or mymanatee.org/escrap or call Manatee County Utilities Operations Department at 941-798-6761
Red tide algae bloom was detected on Anna Maria Island shores August 3, 2018, and affected air and sealife soon after. While the municipalities and county services cleaned up dead fish on the beaches, the irritating smell sent people to seek indoor relief and, as word spread, visitors cancelled their trips.
(Update September 5, 2018 below at end of article.)
The current bloom is from microscopic Karenia Brevis, an alga native to Gulf of Mexico, spreading north from Naples to Tampa Bay.
Dead fish started turning up in the bay-side waters and canals a few days ago, but not as prevalent as the last red tide fish kill in December, 2015, which lasted several weeks.
Since August 20, 103 manatee have died of which 29 tested positive for K. Brevis, and suspected in the 74 others. The manatee death toll so far this year from all causes has reached 554, compared to 527 for all of 2017.
Red tide also affects turtles and seabirds. “This year so far, we have rescued or recovered a total of 137 sea turtles,” said Hayley Rutger, spokesperson for Mote Marine Laboratory. “A lot of those were already deceased. Some of them were affected by humans, like boat strikes or entanglements in fishing gear, but some of them are suspected to have been affected by the ongoing red tide bloom.”
“Cormorants will dive through the water, and they’re basically diving right through the blooms so they’re getting it in their eyes and their faces and their mouths,” explained Avian Hospital Administrator Dana Leworthy. “They don’t necessarily need to ingest the fish to get the red tide.”
Although the Florida red tide is a naturally occurring phenomenon, agricultural and urban runoff can prolong red tide blooms inshore.