Just south of Tampa, Anna Maria is a Gulf Coast beach town that has managed to avoid the sort of overdevelopment that plagues similar areas nearby – so it retains a certain small-town coastal Florida charm. With a high proportion of residences being second homes or vacation homes, Anna Maria tends to be much quieter as well. The entire city is a protected bird sanctuary, and don’t be surprised if you happen to meet a manatee during your morning swim. “It’s an important sea turtle hatching ground, and for much of the year, there just aren’t that many people on it,” says Jason Cochran, editor in chief of Frommer’s.com. “What’s funny is that even though it’s at the bottom lip of Tampa Bay, nine people out of ten in Florida don’t even know where it is. European tourists have discovered it, but it seems like Floridians have been the last to find out.”
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Source: Forbes.com, January 22, 2014
