Beachgoers, anglers return to Longboat Key

Mark Veazey was surprised when he found out Longboat Key’s public parking was open on Friday.

Veazey lives in Sarasota and headed to Overlook Park on the south end of the island, thinking he was going to have to come up with some kind of alternative parking arrangement. Turned out, it was the second day since June 30 that the town had opened its public beach access parking and parking at the popular spot overlooking New Pass.

“This is my family’s favorite fishing spot,'' he said. "[We’ve] kind of enjoyed having it to ourselves the past few months.”

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Veazey said he and his family would park near Chart House and walk over to Overlook Park with their fishing gear.

“It’s going to be easier for me lugging my stuff back and forth, but now I just gotta deal with more people all the time,” Veazey said.

Longboat Key’s beach never closed, but public beach parking was closed from March 21-May 31 and again from June 30-Sept. 30. Thursday’s reopening of public beach parking includes Quick Point and Overlook Park parking access.

“To be honest, I was hoping it would be closed another month or so,” Veazey said of Longboat Key’s public beach parking. “I didn’t think they were going to open until they got a vaccine. This was the longest closed area than all the other places around it.”

For months, beaches to the north in Manatee County have been open, along with beaches to the south — Lido Key and Siesta Key.

Beachgoer Mark Holt and his wife have vacationed for the past three weeks in Longboat Key. He said he thought it was a good idea to reopen the beach parking.

“People have been playing tennis and walking around back here. The doggie park has been open,” Holt said. “People are social distancing. They’re being smart.”

However, Holt said his wife got a parking ticket at Coquina Beach after walking over the Longboat Pass bridge to meet him at the beach in Longboat Key.

“We haven’t had any real problems,” Holt said. “We did get a ticket because she was there a little bit long. That’s a whole other dispute. We were in the wrong, so it’s all good.”

On Friday morning, Antionette King and her family walked around Bayfront Park, which had much more parking available. She said she was “fine” with the decision to reopen public beach parking.

“At this point, I mean as far as people on the beaches, they stay far enough away from each other that it really doesn’t matter one way or another,” King said.

King, who lives in Longboat Key, said she was happy with the decision to keep public beach parking closed for this summer for three months.

“People were trying to find places to go and it kept out little area here a little more quiet, so I was OK with that,” King said.

King mentioned how many of the beaches nearby are bigger and more public, whereas Longboat Key has more private property near the beach. 


“Hopefully, everything stays better and this doesn’t make a big difference,” King said of the decision to reopen parking.