A holiday lights tour on Longboat Key

By Petra Rivera
| 5:00 a.m. December 17, 2023

Longboat Key
Neighbors

Driving down Gulf of Mexico Drive is no boring trip, especially around the holidays. Longboat Key condominiums, neighborhoods and residents string the twinkle lights to get into the spirit.

Here are some spots to add your list of must-see holiday lights on Longboat.

Bay Isles Parkway

You can’t have a Florida Christmas without some palm trees festooned with lights. Right next to Publix, Bays Isles Parkway is sparkling with holiday joy as you exit back to Gulf of Mexico Drive.

These trees are decorated with the classic white twinkle lights leading up to some color with green lights under the palm leaves.

These simple decorations make driving around Longboat more festive.

Seaplace Condominiums

You can’t miss Seaplace Condominiums with the mix of color coming from the entrance.

It's decorated with a fun array of different multi-colored and white lights. For a holiday touch, Seaplace also added light-up candy canes along the edges of the entrance.

It is a fun and festive twist to brighten up the way back home.

Country Club Shores

The houses at Country Club Shores love to add festivity to the island. The colorful lights are hard to miss as you drive by. Then for the holiday touch, there are fun, festive wreaths that add that extra cheer.

Make sure to add them as a spot on your holiday lights tour of Longboat.

Diplomat Beach Resort

This beach resort is a fun place to spot on Gulf of Mexico Drive. The palm trees and greenery are decked out with fun multi-colored lights.

Sand Cay Condominiums and Beach Resort

Sand Cay added a different spin to the holiday lights. Near the entrance, they Sand Cay put out light-up Christmas ornaments to go with the lit-up palm trees.

These add the right amount of sparkle to this spot on Longboat.

The Village

The historic Village of Longboat is full of cheer when it comes to holiday lights, showing that you have to take advantage of what you have, even if it isn’t traditionally decorated for the holidays.

Along with the palm trees decorated in green, red and white, this house added big ornaments to its center tree. The Village also had light-up decorations that were different symbols of the holidays such as stars, wreaths and a life-size ornament. They kept it simple with only white and Christmas colored lights.

It is a perfect example of a classic but underrated style for the holidays.

author

Petra Rivera

Petra Rivera is the Longboat community reporter. She holds a bachelor’s degree of journalism with an emphasis on reporting and writing from the University of Missouri. Previously, she was a food and drink writer for Vox magazine as well as a reporter for the Columbia Missourian.