Siesta Key Area Attractions & Theme Parks

The “Florida Wild and Scenic” Myakka River flows through 57 square miles of wetlands, prairies, hammocks and pinelands producing one of Florida’s largest and most diverse natural areas. The river and its two shallow lakes attract a myriad of wetland creatures making birding, canoeing, fishing, camping and wildlife observation popular activities. A 7-mile scenic drive winds through shady oak-palm hammocks and along the shore of the Upper Lake. Over 39 miles of hiking trails and many miles of dirt roads provide access to the remote interior that includes large expanses of globally-imperiled Florida dry prairie. Myakka River State Park is located 9 miles east of Sarasota on S.R. 72.

Birding

Myakka is renowned for birding opportunities, especially in winter in early spring. Eagles and ospreys fish the lakes, wading birds stalk the river shore and migrating birds pass their winters in the park diverse habitats.

Bicycling

There are seven miles of paved road and more than twenty miles of dirt roads for cyclists to explore. Park visitors can rent bicycles at the park concession. Yvette (park concessionaire) will provide bicycles to peddle along the park’s scenic North Drive. Plan at least 30 minutes to video this activity.

Gator Gal

The Gator Gal is billed as the world’s largest airboat. It transports up to 75 visitors on a tour of Upper Myakka Lake. Alligators and wading birds are a common sight when the weather cooperates. The first tour is at 10:00 a.m. and lasts an hour.

Birdwalk

A boardwalk protrudes out on the Upper Myakka Lake to give visitors a closer look at the lake’s wildlife. Wading birds, waterfowl, shorebirds, eagles, ospreys, and alligators are commonly seen when the temperature is at least 65 degrees and the water levels are low.

Canoes & Kayaks

The park concession rents kayaks and canoes to explore the “Florida Wild and Scenic” Myakka River and the Upper and Lower Myakka Lakes. Alligators are more abundant on the shores of the river close to the South picnic area. I would suggest filming canoes in the river instead of the upper lake. Canoes could be launched at the south picnic area.

Canopy Walkway and Tower

A walkway through the treetops and 74-foot high tower provides an unusual perspective of a floodplain hammock. This attraction has been very popular since it first opened in June of 2000.

Historic Log Cabins

Log cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s are extremely popular with overnight visitors. Check out is 11:00 a.m.

Hiking Trails

Forty miles of hiking trails help hikers explore wetlands, hammock, prairies and pinewoods. The trail is easily accessible and is a great way to explore the back woods.

Fishing

Anglers fish for bass, bluegill, catfish or just to relax with a fishing pole in their hands. The river bridge, Clay Gully bridge, and Log picnic areas are great places to take photos.

Gator Stew

If it isn’t your lucky day with a fishing pole, you don’t have to go hungry. Stop by Myakka Outpost for a bowl of their famous gator stew. Ok, that’s enough choices for a day or two. Choose your favorite and schedule enough time for each scene and you’ll have all the variety of things to do in the park you have time for.

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art was established in 1927 as the legacy of John Ringling and his wife, Mable. The Museum of Art has 21 galleries and boasts a world-renowned collection of baroque art including masterpieces by Rubens, Van Dyck and Velazquez.

The estate also features Cà d’Zan (“House of John”), John and Mable Ringling’s waterfront mansion. The Venetian-style waterfront mansion was built between 1924 and 1925, and was restored in 2002. Cà d’Zan sits on Sarasota Bay, and is adorned with furnishings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The Circus Museum, including the Tibbals Learning Center, display the world’s largest miniature circus, costumes, performance equipment, handbills, posters and beautifully hand carved parade wagons. Also included on the grounds are Mable Ringling’s Rose Garden, banyan trees, palm trees, two restaurants and two gift shops.

Hours:

Open 7 days a week 10am-5pm, Estate grounds open until 6pm
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s days

Ticket prices:

$25 Adults, $20 Seniors 65+, $10 Students, $10 Fl Teachers w/ID, $10 Active US Military,
Under 6 free

Experience nature where fun is in full bloom!

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a not-for- profit institution fostering understanding and appreciation of tropical plants, especially epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants), through programs of research, conservation, education and display. Selby Gardens is perhaps best known for its living collection of more than 6,000 orchids.

The 9.5-acre bayfront property is an open-air and under-glass museum of more than 20,000 colorful plants, many collected in the wild on more than 150 scientific expeditions to tropical rain forests by Selby Gardens research staff. The stunning Tropical Display House with its lush rain forest atmosphere displays unusual flora that can be seen all year around. It is one of eight greenhouses that house collections used for scientific research and plant identification.

Throughout the grounds of the historic Selby estate you will find many distinct gardens; towering Bamboo and Banyan Groves, Cactus and Succulent Garden, and Cycad Collection Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Experience nature where fun is in full bloom! as well as trees filled with orchids, bromeliads, and other epiphytic plants. Also on the grounds example of eclectic Southern Colonial architecture. The Mansion, on the National Register of Historic Places, is home to ever-changing botanical art and photography exhibits.

Children will delight in our brilliant dart frog collection, the koi pond, and our gardens abundant with tropical flora and fauna.

Selby Gardens’ Center for Tropical Plant for The Bromeliad Identification Center, the Orchid Identification Center and the Selby Gardens’ Herbarium.

Hours:

10am-5pm daily (Closed Christmas day - Gardens close at 3pm on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Years Day).

Ticket prices:

$17 Adults, $6 ages 6-11, 5 and Under free

Discover the cool side of science at G.WIZ with a variety of interactive exhibits for the whole family to explore. If you want to have fun while learning, this interactive museum is a great place to start. G.WIZ has over 85 attractions that everyone will love. Visitors can build bridges with magnets, float a beach-ball in mid-air, play a laser harp and more. The museum also feature special touring exhibitions throughout the year.

G.WIZ, the Gulfcoast Wonder & Imagination Zone, is a 33,000 sq. ft. science and technology center located on Sarasota’s bayfront. G.WIZ houses touring exhibits, a living habitat, and other permanent interactive exhibits covering a wide range of topics, from physics to sound, electricity to human perception. “G.WIZ makes science relevant, technology understandable, and learning an interactive adventure.”

Hours:

Tues.-Sat. 10am-5pm, Sun. 12pm-5pm
Closed on Monday, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and the 4th of July.

Ticket prices:

General Admission.
Adults (16+) $10; Children (3-15) $7; Seniors (65+), Students, and Military $9;
Under 3 and Members free; Florida Residents $1 off per person

Explore 5,000 years of history through prehistoric Indian mounds, pioneer era buildings and the colorful gardens of Mrs. Potter Palmer located on the shores of Little Sarasota Bay. A Butterfly Garden, nature trails, exhibits, picnic facilities and a Museum Store are also part of your experience.

As part of the history of Spanish Point, prehistoric people occupied the site as early as 3,000 BC and lived along the shoreline for nearly 4,000 years. Shell middens and burial mounds left by them make up one of the largest intact prehistoric sites along Florida’s west coast. Another part of the history at Spanish Point includes that of the John Webb family, who moved here from New York in 1867 to establish a homestead. A trader the family met in Key West told them of the elevated point of land in Sarasota. The family named it Spanish Point to honor him. Along with crops and a packing house, the Webbs encouraged winter boarders to come stay with them. These boarders enjoyed the climate, beaches, fishing and other leisure activites of the day. Thus the first tourist resort in the area was established.

In 1910, Chicago socialite Mrs. Potter Palmer came to Sarasota to establish a winter estate. She purchased thousands of acres for cattle ranching, citrus groves, and real estate development. The Webb homestead was part of the land she chose for her 350-acre estate which she named “Osprey Point”. She preserved the pioneer buildings and connected them with lavish formal gardens and lawns.

Hours:

Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 12pm-5pm

Ticket prices:

$10 Adults, $9 Seniors (65+), $5 ages 5-12, Under 5 free

A must-do for any Sarasota visitor, and a local favorite, is Mote Aquarium, located on City Island just north of St. Armands Circle.

Focusing on the estuarine and marine animals of Southwest Florida, at Mote you can explore the secrets of the sea with touch pools, shark, dolphin, manatee and sea turtle exhibits and over 100 other species of marine life. This unique attraction offers viewable working labs and high-tech interactive exhibits showcasing the world-renowned research of Mote Marine Laboratory.

Aquarium visitors can learn about the ocean’s top predators and shark research at Mote’s Shark Zone with a 135,000 gallon shark habitat, Shark Attack sensory theater and the interactive SharkTracker exhibit. At SharkTracker, visitors take on the role of scientists and learn how sharks are tracked in the wild.

Highlights of the tour at Mote are two touch pools with horseshoe crabs, conch, sea stars and rays. Mote’s Immersion Cinema, a computerinteractive movie experience, invites you to work your way through the marine food web with “Predator or Prey” or immerse yourself in the underwater life of Sarasota dolphins with “The Dolphin Bay Project.”

Be sure to visit manatees Hugh and Buffett, explore sea turtle exhibits and meet resident dolphins, Harley and Moonshine. Learn what you can do to help protect threatened and endangered wildlife.

Hours:

10am-5pm (Including all holidays)

Ticket prices:

$17 for Adults (over 12), $16 for Seniors over 65, $12 for Children 4-12 and free to Children 4 and younger.

South Florida Museum, Bishop Planetarium and Parker Manatee Aquarium

Southwest Florida’s largest natural and cultural history museum, interpreting this region from the Pleistocene to the present.

Dramatic dioramas, exciting exhibits, fossil evidence of Florida’s earliest marine and mammal inhabitants and the world renowned Montague Tallant collection of prehistoric and early postcontact archaeological artifacts.

Local maritime traditions, turn-of-the-century medical facilities and early Spanish exploration in the New World are areas of popular interest, and the Spanish influence on this part of Florida can be seen in the museum’s Spanish Plaza, with its full-scale replicas of a 16thcentury manor house, chapel and conquistador Hernando DeSoto’s birthplace.

The Bishop Planetarium is a state-of-thescience, all digital full dome theater, featuring a wide variety of astronomy-related presentations, thrilling sound and light shows and specialized wide screen, large format programs. Find living history at the museum’s Parker Manatee Aquarium, home of Snooty™, the oldest living manatee born and nurtured in a man-made, protected environment. The South Florida Museum is a unique and dynamic family learning experience!

Hours:

Tues.-Sat. 10am-5pm, Sun. 12pm-5pm.
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year’s Day

Ticket prices:

$15.95 Adults, $13.95 ages 65 and over, $11.95 ages 4-12, Under 4 free