Situated Between Tampa And Ft. Myers Is A Laid-Back Community With Fun Festivals And Mingling Manatees

The Sunshine State's Tampa Bay draws crowds, but most to the glamor and ritz of the bay's western shoreline. But, on the east side sits a lesser-known community near the pristine and secluded waters of the Little Manatee River. It's a community of friendly locals with an attitude as laid-back as the docile manatees that float there. Welcome to Ruskin, Florida.

Ruskin is around 1 hour and 45 minutes north of Fort Myers by car and just over 30 minutes south of Tampa. Nearby are many popular, tourist-magnet Floridian beaches, but Ruskin offers a more small-town atmosphere adjacent to beautiful Tampa Bay with natural shorelines, multiple marinas, and boat rentals for exploring the bay and beyond.

Ruskin is roughly a 45-minute drive from Tampa International Airport, which will take you through the city and around the bay. Once there, you'll find plenty of comfortable budget hotels inland, or you can opt for a nautical-inspired stay at Pirates Pointe Fishing Resort, which celebrates the area's fishing opportunities with boat charters available right from the hotel. It's incredibly well-rated with a 4.5-star rating on Tripadvisor. If you'd rather be closer to nature, pitch a tent at the E.G. Simmons Park & Campground, 3 miles north of central Ruskin. The campsite is surrounded by mangroves that teem with wildlife, and visitors say manatees can swim right up to your campsite to say hello. One visitor to the area told Fox 13 Tampa Bay, "This enchanting spot is truly manatee paradise, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have experienced countless encounters with these gentle giants."

While not a beach town itself, Ruskin is an ideal base from which to explore the famed beaches of the Florida Gulf Coast, including Siesta Key, Longboat Key, and St. Pete Beach. Plus, it's situated only a 50-minute drive from one of the best vacation islands in the Sunshine State: Anna Maria Island. Despite so many seaside destinations being accessible from Ruskin, you needn't travel far to experience sun and fun, since the year-round pleasant weather makes this an excellent setting for festivals and events.

If you love to spot wildlife, the Florida Birding & Nature Festival occurs annually in Apollo Beach, just a few minutes north of Ruskin. It usually takes place in October during the fall migration, but not always, so pay attention to their schedule if you want to attend bird shows, seminars, and field trips to learn about our feathered friends. 

The main event is Ruskin's annual Seafood & Arts Festival, which typically happens in November at E.G. Simmons Park. There, you'll find an arts and crafts market, live music, a car show, and of course, plenty of delicious, fresh seafood. Every second Saturday, the Little Harbor neighborhood hosts a farmers market, featuring local produce plus arts and crafts.

Festivals are usually annual events, but you could encounter a manatee any day in Ruskin. The slow-moving sea cows are most likely to be seen in the area between April and October. If seeing one in the wild is on your Florida bucket list, your best chance will be during these months on a mangrove tour, kayaking experience, or stand-up paddleboard excursion. There are only around 8,000 manatees left in Florida, making them a threatened species. So if you're heading out to see them, there's no touching, chasing, or upsetting them with loud noises or splashing. Give them the peace and quiet they need.

E.G. Simmons Park is a wonderful location for manatee sightings. You can camp here and rent kayaks to roam the mangroves. One reviewer said they saw "manatees, crabs, and dolphins, and no one else!" Several others mention the bugs can be unrelenting there, so pack insect repellent if you go.

For guaranteed manatee gazing, you're in luck — Ruskin is just a 14-minute drive to Tampa Electric's Manatee Viewing Center at Apollo Beach. This is one of the best and most unique manatee viewing spots you'll find, but it's only open to visitors from November 1 to April 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It offers a warm, safe place for these calm creatures to rest over winter when the surrounding waters are too chilly for them. Visitors can take to the sanctuary's boardwalks for a bird's-eye view of the manatees, then head to the education center to learn more about these gentle giants. Just as manatees return to Ruskin each year for a tranquil escape from the cold, so too do folks seeking a small-town feel under the Florida sun.