Tropical Sun Beach Resort

Sands of Siesta
Florida's 'hidden jewel' with perfect beaches isn't hidden anymore.
by Zack Dunkin - zach.dunkin@indystar.com

SIESTA KEY, Fla. -- Many travel destinations boast the "world's best" this or the "top-rated" that. Most of that is simply tourism hype.

Siesta Key entices its visitors with the promise of "the world's finest, whitest sand." And it delivers. Consider:

A recent study by the geology department of Harvard University determined the sand on the key's Crescent Beach to be 99 percent pure quartz crystals. The grains are angular in shape, giving it a fine, powdery texture that is cool on the feet.

In 2004, for the second consecutive year, cable's Travel Channel named Siesta Key Beach as the Best Sand Beach in America, based on cleanliness and sand quality.

Crescent Beach is certified by the Clean Beaches Council as a Blue Wave Beach for its cleanliness and safety (lots of shallow water depth close to shore).

In a USA Today readership poll, Siesta Key was named one of the top three U.S. beaches.
The sugary sand -- and the fact that most of the beach area along this barrier island is as wide and uncrowded as anywhere you'll find in Florida -- is the reason Hoosier families flock here annually for the Christmas and Easter holidays. With more than 350,000 tourists visiting annually, Siesta Key is becoming less and less "the hidden jewel of Florida's West Coast," as it once was marketed.

Gary and Tina Yarbrough of Indianapolis have made the trip every year since 1990 with their two children, Eric and Allison, first in a pop-up camper and later a motor home before joining the condo crowd. They've watched their children grow from building castles in the sand to building new friendships and hanging out in Siesta Village.

"The beaches are perfect," says Tina Yarbrough, a teacher at Fox Hill Elementary. "And I'm not a beach person, so that says a lot. I just love sitting on the beach. It's so clean and safe here."
It's that kind of place. Family-friendly. Quiet. No clubs or bars on the entire stretch of shoreline. No rowdy college kids cruising up and down the beach clutching bottles of brew. There's enough space for both kids and parents to peacefully coexist and have a good time.

If you don't feel comfortable sending your teens off to Lauderdale or the Bahamas on a senior trip, bring them here. At least, that's the word that has spread throughout some Indy school systems, according to Yarbrough.

"We've counted 40 different families from Cathedral," says Yarbrough, whose daughter, Allison, is a senior at the Indianapolis high school. "And I know there are big groups from North Central, Pike and Hamilton Southeastern here.

"A lot of families just feel a whole lot better about having their kids here instead of them getting in trouble in Cancun or on a cruise."

Siesta Key, which sustained no major damage from Hurricane Wilma's recent attack on the southwest coast of Florida, is amid a strand of barrier islands that includes Longboat, Lido, St. Armand's and Casey keys, separating the Gulf of Mexico from mainland Sarasota.

Sixty-five years ago, its population was only 300, mostly fishermen and farmers. Now, 12,000 full-time residents live here on the 2.3 square miles of paradise, overflowing with lush foliage and flowering shrubs. The count doubles when the winter residents settle in.

Access from Sarasota is by two drawbridges west of U.S. 41 at the north end and midpoint of the key. Although the island is only eight miles long, there are nearly 50 miles of canals and waterways inside the key.

There are basically two main roads on the island. Midnight Pass Road runs north and south through the middle of the key. Ocean Boulevard splits from Midnight Pass Road at the northern "bulge" of the key and runs through the Siesta Village business district.

Traffic on the two-lane roads is conjested during peak times, especially near the popular Siesta Beach during the day hours and at Siesta Village at night.

There are a half-dozen beach accesses for visitors, plus the Siesta Beach and less-crowded Turtle Beach at the south end of the key. Based on the median high tide, several feet of shoreline in front of the private beaches also is public, but there are no restroom facilities or lifeguards like at the public beaches.
Siesta Key Beach has a concession stand, swim shop, playground, tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, a softball field and a picnic area. With 20,000 visitors a day, its parking lot is overflowing by 11 a.m. (Each year on Easter Sunday, the Pine Shores Presbyterian Church presents a sunrise service on Siesta Beach).

There are no chain hotels on the key -- a well-worn Best Western this summer was converted and renovated to what is now the Siesta Beach Resort and Suites -- which is probably why the area is not as well-known to tourists as Lido and Longboat, which have numerous luxury hotels. When travelers come here, they tend to stay for a week or longer, which means they are paying the weekly rates offered by nearly 150 condominium complexes.

Condo rates vary

While a few of the condos and resorts can be rented for a day at a time, about 75 percent of them require a one-week or longer minimum stay. Rates are generally lowest May through mid-December.

On a typical morning, visitors ma terialize from their high-rise or ground- level units like spellbound sun zombies for a day of body-baking on their private beaches. They look skyward to see an occasional pelican flyby, colorful kites flourishing on the gulf winds, or scavenger seagulls hovering for a snack. Or they might squint across the blinding white sand to view rolling waves, kids on surf skimboards or a harmless bottle-nosed dolphin wandering close to shore.

They disappear later for lunch and to get out of the sun, but they'll be back out again until it's time to make the most important decision of the day -- where to eat dinner. And they'll dine only after they watch a spectacular sunset of purples, pinks and oranges from their balconies or from the beach. Although I've never seen it, locals talk about a "flash of green" at sunset, when the sun finally drops into the ocean and a brilliant band of emerald light appears.

Great dining is available up and down the coast, but a visitor could spend a week here and never leave the key for a good meal. With the exception of a Subway shop, there are no fast-food chains here, but the grub is still affordable. Most of the restaurants are clustered in Siesta Village, although others are strung out along the southern end of the key.

Recommendations?

Although sports yacker Dick Vitale has given the Broken Egg national exposure with frequent mentions on the Indy-based "Bob and Tom Show," we prefer breakfast at the Cafe Continental Patisserie (5221 Ocean Blvd., 941-346-3171) with its fresh scones, stuffed apricot and cream cheese French toast and English fare of bubble and squeak (mashed potatoes, peas and grilled onions) and bangers. Clive and Zoe Burnett moved to Siesta Key in 2001 from England, where they had established the Patisserie in 1965.

For family fare, try the pizzas at Pizza Works (5263 Ocean Blvd., free delivery, 941-349-9494) and the $5 Kids Meal Deals at Turtles (8875 Midnight Pass Road, 941-346-2207). Seafood? The lobster bisque and macadamia nut encrusted grouper are tops at the Lobster Pot (5157 Ocean Blvd., 941-349-2323). And save room for ice cream at Big Olaf Creamery in the village, where the lines are always long but the wait is worth it.

Busy shopping area.

Siesta Village has the customary array of resort shops and boutiques for clothing, beach attire, jewelry and souvenirs. The Beach Bazaar is the village's busiest location, with a huge selection of jewelry, sportswear, swimwear, souvenirs and novelties. No matter what beach toys you may have brought for the kids, they will find something else needed for building sand castles or playing in the surf. Teens spend hours here, too, or venture across the street to Rocket Man for an edgier selection of T-shirts and posters.

Although there are a few bars in the village, nightlife on the key is closer to a siesta than a fiesta. The Daiquiri Deck is an old favorite with its 20 daiquiri flavors (two-for-one during happy hour) and live, Buffett-esque entertainment, and the slicker Beach Club caters to a younger rock crowd.

Watersport opportunities include fishing, sailing, sailboarding, jetskiing, parasailing and kayaking (especially through the Neville Marine Preserve). There are charter boats for fishing and private parties.

Another bonus for Siesta Key is its close proximity to the attractions in Sarasota or 18 miles downcoast in Venice, where shark teeth are easily found and collected along its beaches. And Disney World is just a two-hour drive to the east.

"You don't have to travel very far to do neat things or to find new restaurants," said Yarbrough, who favors Phillippi Creek Village Restaurant and Oyster Bar in Sarasota and Sharky's on the Pier in Venice for quality seafood and and sunsets.

Springtime offers cheap major league baseball exhibition games at Ed Smith Stadium, the spring-training headquarters of the Cincinnati Reds. Attractions like Ringling Museum of the Arts, the Mote Marine Science Aquarium and Sarasota Jungle Gardens, plus the shopping at St. Armand's Circle, are there for those willing to sacrifice some beach time.

St. Armand's was purchased in 1917 and developed by circus magnate John Ringling and is now home to more than 130 fashion shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants, including the big three: the Columbia, Hemingway's and the Tommy Bahama Tropical Cafe & Emporium.

"We know there are other places to go to in Florida, but we don't want to go," said Yarbrough. "We have everything we need right here."

Call Star travel editor Zach Dunkin at (317) 444-6079.

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Tropical Shores Beach Resort
6717 SaraSea Circle
Siesta Key, Sarasota, Florida 34242
Telephone: 941-349-3330
Reservations: 1-800-235-3493
Fax: 941-346-0025
E-mail: info@tropicalsunresort.com