Beach Guide: Coquina Beach -- Bradenton Beach's Family-Friendly Oasis

A. At 2650 Gulf Drive in Bradenton Beach, Florida 34217, on the southern end of Anna Maria Island. It's a Manatee County park facing the Gulf, and it runs the long stretch down to the south tip of the island. The county's Coquina Beach page has the current details, or you can reach the park at 941-748-4501.

A. The county lists the beach as open sunrise to sunset unless it posts otherwise. The three rental pavilions run later, until 10 p.m.

A. Yes, every day of the year. Coverage is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round.

Coquina has the most coverage of any beach in the county. Of the 11 lifeguard towers Manatee County staffs, seven of them, towers No. 5 through No. 11, are here. Cortez Beach just to the north has towers No. 2 through No. 4, and Manatee Public Beach has tower No. 1. Those three are the only lifeguarded beaches in Manatee County. Every other beach on this coast is unguarded.

A. Read the beach warning flags at the lifeguard towers. Manatee County Beach Patrol flies five: two red flags mean the water is closed, one red means high hazard with high surf or strong currents, yellow means medium hazard, green means low hazard, and purple means dangerous marine life is around. Green is low hazard, not a promise that the water is safe.

Before you go, you can check out visitbeaches.org; they post updates at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily, and the county keeps a beach conditions page. The county is blunt about the order of authority, though: conditions shift fast, and the flags at the towers override whatever a website says.

A. Yes. Coquina has a large free lot running most of the length of the beach, with no meters and no beach fee. Because it's long and narrow, you can often find a space toward the south end after the middle has filled.

A. The Anna Maria Island Trolley is free and Coquina Beach is its southern end of the line. It runs 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily, every 20 minutes throughout the day. You can ride it the whole length of the island to the Anna Maria City Pier without paying anything or parking twice.

A. A lifeguard station, playground, sand volleyball courts, picnic areas with tables and grills, changing cabanas, shower stations, restrooms, benches, bike racks, a walking trail, a gift shop, concessions, a trolley stop and parking.

Three pavilions can be reserved: Coquina Gulfside North, Coquina Gulfside South and Coquina Beach Trailside. All three are accessible. You can book one on the county's park pavilion reservation page, which carries the current rates, or by calling 941-742-5923. When they aren't booked, they're first come, first served.

A. The Coquina Beach Café sits right by the beach and serves breakfast through the afternoon, with a tiki bar attached. There's also a gift shop, and chair and umbrella rentals at the concession. Bradenton Beach has more restaurants a short way north on Gulf Drive, and the trolley reaches all of them.

A. Yes, and it's better equipped than most. The county keeps three beach wheelchairs and one walker at the concession stand. They cost nothing, they go first come and first served, and you'll need to leave an identification card while you have one out. All three pavilions are accessible, and there are accessible parking spaces along the lot. Coquina Beach also has a beach-access mat running from the entrance toward the shoreline.

A. No. Pets are prohibited at Coquina Beach, both on the beach and the park grounds. Service animals as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act are permitted.

A. Alcohol, glass containers and littering are all prohibited, and so are drones. During sea turtle nesting season there are no lights on the beach after sunset. Vehicles aren’t allowed on the beach.

A. On the bay side, across Gulf Drive. Manatee County runs two ramps there, Coquina Bayside North, also called the Capt. Scott Moore ramp, and Coquina Bayside South.

A. It's a strong choice, mostly because of how much coverage there is. Seven staffed towers, restrooms, a playground, food and shade all sit within the same park. The Gulf here tends to be calmer than Florida's Atlantic side, and the sand slopes gently into the water.

Tends to, though. Wind, tides and passing storms can roughen it up, so check the beach warning flag when you arrive and again if the sky changes. Rip currents can form even when the surface looks flat. If one pulls you out, swim parallel to shore until you're free of it rather than fighting straight back in. In an emergency, call 911. The county's lifeguards are dispatched by 911 operators to calls all over the island.

A. Spring and fall are the easy answers, with warm water and air that isn't punishing. Summer brings the warmest water along with heat, humidity and afternoon thunderstorms that tend to blow through and clear.

Winter is the trade-off. Days can be beautiful, but the Gulf falls into the low to mid-60s through January and February. That's too cold for most people to stay in for long. If swimming is the point of the trip, come between late spring and early fall.

A. Nesting season runs May 1 through Oct. 31, and Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch has walked this shoreline since 1983. Loggerheads do most of the nesting here.

What's asked of you is small. Leave nests alone, along with the stakes and tape marking them. Fill in holes and flatten sandcastles before you go, since both can trap a hatchling headed for the water. Clear your chairs and umbrellas off the sand at the end of the day. And keep lights off the beach after dark, which the county enforces here. Artificial light pulls hatchlings inland instead of toward the Gulf, and most of those don't make it.