BRADENTON, Fla. — Lisa Heidema and her husband love going out to the beach on Anna Maria. Former Bradenton residents now living in Sun City, the couple are forced to sit in traffic there and back.
But soon, there will be an alternate way to get to the beach – a ferry.
“This is gonna be great for traffic,” Heidema said. “It’ll be wonderful being able to take the boat instead of having to worry about the traffic.”
With only two bridges that take you from Bradenton to Anna Maria, parking has also long been an issue.
The new “Gulf Islands Ferry Service” will take riders from the Bradenton Riverwalk day dock just east of the Green Bridge to either the City Pier in Anna Maria or the Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach.
“Any time you can get people to buy into mass transportation, mass transit, it’s a good thing because it’s going to take cars off the road and it’s going to limit everybody’s impact,” said Kevin Van Ostenbridge, Manatee County Commission Chair.
The two custom-made pontoon boats – named the Downtown Duchess and Miss Anna Maria – each hold 48 passengers. Ferry service will run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Fares will be $8 each way, but the county is also working on a perks pass that will provide riders with discounts to local attractions. The county is hoping to launch on December 8, pending final certification.
Local media, officials, and special guests were invited to a preview ride on Monday following the blessing of the boats.
“The first way to get to Anna Maria Island was, of course, by ferry. So, this kind of brings us full circle,” Van Ostenbridge said.
The county’s vision is to add an enclosed fast ferry to go from downtown out to the island. The two pontoons would then run people up and down Anna Maria Island and south to Longboat Key.
“We'll quickly work on adding Coquina Beach to the runs because we really think that'll put more residents on the ferry for residents that just want to go out to the beach for the day,” Elliott Falcione said.
Falcione, the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director, said it was important to start with a simple structure and build ridership while taking feedback on ways to improve to enable them to expand.
The hope is also to eventually connect with any future water taxi in Sarasota and to launch another fast ferry to take Parrish residents from Fort Hammer out straight to the island.
Gulf Coast Water Taxi, which has been operating the Clearwater Ferry service since 2016, will be operated by the Gulf Islands Ferry Service. The ferries will be staffed by local residents, according to owner Trish Rodriguez.
