Despite repeated delays, Manatee County’s Gulf Island Ferry program might finally be set to launch.
“It’s safe. It’s ready. If the weather’s good, we’re launching Jan. 12,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Elliott Falcione told The Islander Jan. 5 about the ferry service.
The Gulf Islands Ferry service is managed by the BACVB and operated by Clearwater-based Gulf Coast Water Taxi.
It will involve the use of two 50-foot catamarans, each able to carry 49 passengers, which will loop from the Riverwalk day dock in downtown Bradenton to locations on the island 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Sunday.
One-way adult fares will be $6.
The service was scheduled to launch Dec. 8, 2023, but, lacking certification from the U.S. Coast Guard, its launch date was delayed to January.
Falcione said they had since received certification and had been completing sea trials with the USCG for about two weeks.
However, the ferry launch will look a little different from initial expectations.
The service will launch without a stop at the Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach, where Falcione said improvements to gain compliance with the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act were still underway as of Jan. 5.
He added that he hopes that work will be finished shortly, so the stop can be added as originally proposed.
At launch, the lone island stop for the ferry will be the Anna Maria City Pier in Anna Maria, but things also will look different than planned there.
The county initially proposed the installation of two pilings along the pier’s dock that were supposed to allow the ferries to moor there, but Falcione said they found it would not be necessary — at least at first.
“It may even be long-term, we don’t know yet,” Falcione said. “But we know it’s safe. It’s ready.”
Nevertheless, he added that adjustments might follow launch.
“When you start anything new, you put in your infrastructure, you get the training done, and as you go through the operation, you learn from it,” Falcione said. “So as we learn, if we need to continue to enhance certain areas of the operation, then we’ll work with the cities to do that.”
For now, Falcione is just excited to get going.
“It’s time to get this operation going,” Falcione said. “It’s time to show the county and tourist development council that we’re at the finish line.”
People can learn more about the service from the BACVB by calling 941-729-9177 or going online to bradentongulfisland.com/gulf-islands-ferry.