Sarasota Beach Weddings Famous
Visitors come from all over the world to walk on Sarasota beaches. They're famous for crystalline sands, blue-green Gulf waters, and gorgeous sunsets. It's not unusual to see weddings taking place on Siesta Public Beach. And on Sunday nights, the legendary drum circle attracts a big crowd that watches, dances, and sways to the beat as the sun goes down on Siesta Public Beach. Lido Beach, closer to downtown Sarasota, offers another kind of sand, and a different experience.
Sarasota Beach Weddings Offeres
There are actually six beaches in Sarasota, three on Siesta Key, and three on Lido Key.
SIESTA KEY BEACHES:
Siesta Public Beach, easy to enter from 10 free beach access points along Beach Road, and from the main free entrance and parking lot, is world-famous for its 99% pure quartz white sand, soft and fluffy like powdered sugar, and cool on the feet. It's actually won awards for being "the whitest and finest sand in the world." The water along Siesta Beach is rather shallow, so you'll see people standing up far out into the usually-calm surf. On choppy water days, surfers in wet suits try their skills on the breakers. There are four colorful lifeguard stands on the beach in front of the pavilion at Siesta Public Beach.
Sarasota Beach Weddings
On the deck, you can buy beach supplies and food, borrow beach wheelchairs, and use the rest room facilities. Nearby, there are tennis and volleyball courts and a shaded playground and picnic area. Depending on where you park, it's a 5 to 15 minute walk into Siesta Key Village, where you'll find lots of fun and funky beach restaurants and bars, laundry facilities, beachwear shops, and grocery and hardware stores. On Sunday afternoons, drummers arrive with various types of percussion instruments and set up for the weekly Drum Circle. Inside the circle, adults and kids dance, twirl hula hoops, and sway to the hypnotic beat. Lots of people gather around the circle to watch and smile. The drumming continues until shortly after sunset.
Crescent Beach sands are soft and white, and it's basically an extension south of Siesta Public Beach. It's quieter and more peaceful, since you can only access it from one point along Beach Road. The southern demarkation of Crescent Beach is Point of Rocks, where visitors enjoy snorkeling and diving to see the coral rock formations and sea life underwater there..
Turtle Beach is located at the southern tip of Siesta Key. It's narrow, with a steeper drop towards the water's edge. The sand here carries more shells, and you'll see petrified sharks' teeth, which show up in more quantity after a storm. Turtle Beach also features picnic areas, a playground, volleyball court, and horseshoe pit. You can fish in the adjacent Blind Pass Lagoon, and there's a boat launch. Restaurants, a few nightspots and shops are located north of Turtle Beach before you get to the Stickney Point.
LIDO KEY BEACHES:
Lido Beach is accessible from several points. You can drive around St Armands Circle and bear right into the Lido Beach parking area. From there, it's a short stroll to a wood deck, foot washing stand, and ramp onto the beach. Or you can drive through the parking area, take a left onto Ben Franklin Boulevard, driving south along the beach until you get to Lido Beach Pavilion, which contains concessions, a fenced-in community pool (small fee to use it), a nearby picnic and playground area, showers and rest room facilities. The sand on Lido Key is coarser and darker than the sand on Siesta Key. The texture is similar to that found on New Jersey and Long Island beaches. Lido Beach is peaceful and less lively than Siesta Public Beach. It's also closer to downtown Sarasota, via a short ride over the John Ringling Bridge.
South Lido Beach offers picnic tables, a playground, showers and restrooms, but no lifeguards. You can fish in the Pass or play volleyball, grill picnic food, and relax under the shade trees. There are also two walking trails and a self-guided canoe trail in this 100 acre park at the southern end of Lido Beach. The parking lot is large, and the park is accessible by boat.
North Lido Beach is located north of the lifeguard stands on Lido Beach. Years ago it was known for its topless bathing, no longer permitted, of course. It's beautiful and quiet, with dramatic views of the Gulf. Just enter Lido Beach from the access near St Armands Circle. One walking variation is to immediately turn right after you enter the beach. You'll see a walking trail with beach grasses along the left side and a forested area along the left side. If you walk north on this trail, it eventually meets up with the beach close to the water's edge, so you can return via the beach.
Parking is free at all these Sarasota beaches. In addition to providing memorable locations for beach weddings, the beautiful sands make wonderful backdrops for family beach portraits. Whenever you see groups of people clad in matching jeans and white shirts, or some similar variation, you can be sure there's a beach photographer corraling them into appealing poses so they can take home photographic souvenirs of their vacation Sarasota Beach Weddings.