It is a favorite among people from all over the world. The beach facilities include picnic areas, restrooms, concession stands, playground, trails, and tennis and volleyball courts.

 

Travel Channel named Siesta Key Beach as the "Best Sand Beach in America" for 2003.  Siesta Beach was chosen to the "Elite" list by a panel of beach experts using various criteria including cleanliness, sand quality and surrounding areas.  The panel experts praised the sand's color, powder-soft touch and cool temperature. 

In 2009, Siesta Key's sand was determined by "Dr. Beach" to be the best in the world! The beach overall was designated the second-best in the nation.  This year Stephen Leatherman, known as Dr. Beach and director of the university’s Laboratory for Coastal Research, named Siesta Key’s beach as the second-best in the nation. (Hanalei Bay on Kauai, Hawaii, was first.)  “I use 50 criteria to rate every beach, and in terms of sand alone Siesta Key is definitely the best in the world,” Dr. Leatherman said. Science backs up the hyperbole: Siesta Key’s beach is 99 percent limestone quartz, which stays consistently cool and silky. Why the other archipelagic islands nearby didn’t get the same sacred sand is harder to explain. Hop over to Lido Key to the north, or Casey Key to the south, and you’ll find the more typical crushed-shell beaches that are beautiful but make barefooting a painful proposition when the sun is searing. “Why is it like this on Siesta Key and nowhere else?” asked Mark Smith, president of the Siesta Key Village Association. “Because God loves us? Who knows?”  (Click here to see the entire article)

Turtle Beach on Siesta Key If you enjoy collecting shells and sharks teeth, try Turtle Beach, at the south end of the island.  A good place for taking children, swimming is permitted in the lagoon.  Fishing in the lagoon & docks is also permitted. While not as powdery as Siesta Beach, it is less crowded and has restroom facilities, picnic shelters and a boat ramp.   A major beach re-nourishment project was completed on southern Siesta Key in 2007.  This project put hundreds of feet of beach onto Turtle Beach and directly in front of Fisherman's Cove.  It also provided miles and miles of uninterrupted beach - making it the longest on the Key.