Best Bets: The top attractions for season

March is peak season on Longboat Key — the time of year when spring breakers, snowbirds and Sunshine State residents all savor the sunshine and beaches at the same time. The island is famous for its beaches, but there’s more to Longboat Key than white sand and turquoise waters.

Here are our top suggestions for activities on Longboat and its surrounding keys this March.

1. Browse the offerings at the Longboat Library.
555 Bay Isles Road The private, nonprofit library offers membership for as little as $25 annually. The library has a wide selection of recreational reading materials plus a new collection of 500 DVDs. Hardback and paperback books are always for sale at bargain prices. For information, call 383-2011.

2. Be a beach bum.
While snow blanketed much of the country last month, Longboat Key had average high temperatures of 74 degrees and lows of 53 degrees, making its 10.8-mile stretch of white sand beaches an ideal escape. The Key’s public beach accesses are small and somewhat hard to find in comparison to Siesta Key’s and Anna Maria Island’s beach accesses — but that makes the beach less crowded.

3. Explore the Longboat Key Center for the Arts and the surrounding Longbeach Village.
6860 Longboat Drive S.
The fifth annual Community Juried Exhibition is currently on display through March 27 at the Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a Division of Ringling College of Art and Design, featuring the work of local artists. Then, from April 4 through April 25, the Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society Juried Exhibition will be on display. After checking out the latest exhibits, take a stroll through the historic Longbeach Village neighborhood, where the Arts Center is located, and view the many historic homes.

4. Learn something new at the Longboat Key Education Center.
5370 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite 212
The nonprofit, not-for-credit Education Center’s busy winter semester is over, but a handful of classes begin in March, including yoga, “Express Yourself Through Writing” and “Teaworld.” The Education Center also continues its lecture series from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and one-time programs at 3 p.m. Fridays. Four Saturday workshops are also on the schedule. For the complete schedule, visit lbkeducationcenter.org.

5. Get moving at the Public Tennis Center.
590 Bay Isles Road
Even if you’re visiting, you don’t have to take a vacation from exercise. The Longboat Key Public Tennis Center offers one-and-a-half-hour walk-on sessions for $12 per person. The facility has 10 soft clay courts, a teaching court, teaching professionals, daily organized events and a match-making service. For 24-hour advanced reservations, call 316-8367.

6. Shop till you drop on St. Armands Circle.
The renowned shopping district features approximately 130 businesses, including boutiques, restaurants, specialty shops and more. It’s also a frequent venue for car shows and arts and craft shows, along with one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in town.

7. Make a new friend at Save Our Seabirds.
1708 Ken Thompson Parkway
Save Our Seabirds is home to approximately 250 birds and 30 species. Meet birds such as Gabby, an umbrella cockatoo who frequently sings “Happy Birthday,” and Ghanji, a blue-and-gold macaw. Admission is $6 for adults; $4 for children 4 to 12; and free for ages 3 and under. Call 388-3010.

8. Visit Mote Marine aquarium.
1600 Ken Thompson Parkway
Mote Marine Aquarium’s limited-time “Survivors: Beautiful and Extreme Adaptations” exhibit features the peacock mantis shrimp, with appendages as powerful as a .22-caliber bullet; the blue-ringed octopus, which has some of the strongest venom on Earth; the Vietnamese mossy frog, which is a master of camouflage; and many other species that go to extremes to survive. The exhibit will run through Sept. 14. Admission is free with paid admission to Mote. For information, call 388-4441.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected]