Prime shark tooth hunting south of Venice.
Manasota Key Beach is in Sarasota County, Florida, on the Gulf coast.
Parking at Manasota Key Beach means a handful of small free lots, so an early start beats searching for a spot later in the day. The Sarasota County beach has a seasonal lifeguard and restrooms on site. Brohard Paw Park sits about four miles north and Caspersen Beach nearly five, both popular with the same fossil and shell hunters working this stretch of coast.
Today's flag, water temperature, surf, wind, UV and tide times for Manasota Key Beach load on this page automatically. Conditions change through the day, so nothing on this page is a substitute for the flag flying when you arrive.
Amenity details are Coasti's own notes and can go out of date. Fees, lifeguard seasons and dog rules are set locally.
Flags run from green for low hazard to double red for water closed — see what each flag color means.
Tide predictions come from NOAA station Venice (Roberts Bay) (8725889).
Weather and marine forecasts come from the National Weather Service at Venice Municipal Airport (KVNC).
Red tide readings come from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission monitoring map.
Red tide is a bloom of Karenia brevis, an alga that lives naturally in the Gulf, and FWC tracks it statewide from samples on a rolling eight-day basis. These blooms typically build through the late summer months, with the heaviest activity usually landing between September and November. Manasota Key Beach sits in Sarasota County, and a bloom here doesn't always match what's happening four miles away at Caspersen Beach. See today's statewide red tide status.
That depends on the flag and the surf, and both change through the day. Coasti shows the posted lifeguard flag when a current one exists, and estimates from surf, wind and rip-current risk when it does not. Today's answer for Manasota Key Beach loads at the top of this page.
Manasota Key Beach has lifeguards in season. Outside those months no flag is posted, and no flag flying does not mean the water is safe.
Parking at Manasota Key Beach is free. Limited free lots. Fees and lot hours change, so check locally before you go.
Dogs are not allowed on the beach at Manasota Key Beach. Nearby rules vary, so check locally before you go.
Yes. Manasota Key Beach is one of the fossil-hunting beaches on this stretch of coast. Low tide after a windy night is the usual advice, because overnight churn turns over fresh shell beds.
More Sarasota County beaches · All beaches Coasti covers · Red tide status · What the flags mean