Sarasota's Centennial Park
Centennial Park is a City of Sarasota park located bay-side in the heart of Sarasota at 1059 N Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, FL 34236.
The park includes 6 lanes of boat ramps, plentiful parking, and wide-open access to Sarasota Bay and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico.
It is a pretty amazing resource and definitely worth checking out if you’re looking to launch a boat in the area. The ramp can handle everything from flats and bay boats up to large offshore center consoles.
The Ramp
The parking lot is wide, accessible, and easy to maneuver through. There are approximately 70 trailer spots and about a dozen single-car spots. There are 6 lanes, each with their own dock. There are also additional docks for boats that are waiting to come in or out. Unfortunately, when we were there, most of those docks had sustained damage from a recent hurricane and were roped off. Hopefully, the city will repair those in time.
There is also a lane for vehicles staging to launch which is helpful and helps with the traffic flow.
Facilities
Restrooms are available from 8am-5:30pm, although when we were there, they were a little shady feeling. There was a sizeable homeless population in the park and the restrooms seemed to be a hub of activity.
Despite that, it is nice to have restrooms. So many of the ramps we visit don’t have facilities of any kind.
Conclusion
Overall, Centennial Park in Sarasota is an amazing resource. We used it to launch our Atlas Boatworks 23F bay boat. The direct access to Sarasota Bay is priceless. Add in an easy to use ramp, restrooms, and good docking space and it is a great choice for adventures in that part of Southwest Florida.