Anna Maria Island Rental - Mintfish a Waterside Paradise

Mintfish truly does sit on the dock of the bay. Bimini Bay in fact, an amazing, beautiful expanse of water that speaks to your soul!

Five friends and I stayed at Mintfish in March 2014 and we found it the perfect house for a week’s getaway.

The single level house looked fabulous as we pulled up, a beautiful fresh peppermint green, with a slightly grand entrance gave us the sense immediately that we had chosen the right house for our vacation and we couldn't wait to get inside!

Mintfish Villa

Having travelled from a few different places, we were delighted to find that there was plenty of off road parking space for the three cars we had between us. And, there were also two garages, which were really useful to use to keep the cars cool for when we wanted to use them again (although this was very little as we biked around the island for the majority of the week!)

The thing that worked perfectly for us was the layout of the house. As you come in the front door there are two bedrooms either side of the open plan living space, and each of the bedrooms is truly fantastic in its own right. It really doesn't feel like anyone ‘gets the short straw’ with a box room! The house has four huge bedrooms each with their own bathroom. There are three double bedrooms, and one room with two double bunks, which is ideal for children to share.

Luckily with six of us, we didn’t need to use the bunk beds! But we had a bit of fun choosing our bedrooms based on our personalities. Pink and elaborate with its chandelier and ornate, free-standing mirror were perfect for the glamorous Kath and Terry. The blue and lemon room with its cool laid back feel was perfect for Jennifer and John and the flavor of the Caribbean was the perfect choice for Matt and I!

The open plan space was wonderful for us all to come together. Windows that ran along the length of the house gave us a picture postcard view. The kitchen was great and had everything we needed and it was lovely to cook whilst friends sat at the breakfast bar. The lounge area had a great flat screen TV, but to be honest, I think we very rarely used the TV at all, choosing to sit and chat; play cards maybe or mostly sit outside on the deck and just enjoy the view!

The outside area of Mintfish is just stunning. With the spectacular views we could just wile away the hours and watch the happenings on the water ways.

Views across Bimini Bay

The natural swimming pool was lovely, and there was a great BBQ that we used plenty. There was just so much space, whether for sunbathing next to the pool, eating outside (which we did everyday), or just sitting close to the waters edge with a glass of wine or beer - it doesn’t get much better than that!

One of the other great things about being at Mintfish, is that you really can just step off the deck onto the Bay. However, given that the currents are quite strong, it’s probably worth thinking about a boat to step onto. You can either hire your own boat for the duration of your stay, or organize a day trip either sailing or fishing. Although we didn’t manage a day out, we did think about it and took a look at a couple of local companies.

Anna Maria Island Water Activities

For great fishing, we were told that you won’t get a better and more experienced guide than Captain Chip Peabody of the Fishwater Charter Company. With over 25 years fishing experience In the Tampa Bay region he is an inshore specialist focusing on Redfish, Trout, Snook, Tarpon and Cobia. But he can also help you find an appropriate Captain whether you are looking to fly-fish for Tarpon in Boca Grande or bottom fish for Grouper in the Gulf!

Bimini Bay Sailing is a fab company for sailing. They have sailboats and programs for beginners who can enjoy the safety of the Bimini Bay waters to more experienced sailors who can sail the bigger waters of Tampa Bay and the Gulf, while enjoying the view of the Tampa Bay Skyway and the historic Egmont Key.

What we did manage to do on the water however, was have a great couple of hours on jet skis. Wavesplash Watersports is a rental place in Bradenton Beach; they hire out Jet Ski’s for one or two hours at a time and even have guided tours around the island!

We made sure that we did it in the middle of the day, so as not to be too disruptive to the neighbors either early morning or into the evening and tended to go a little further out into the Bay, but being able to have them come to the house and step off onto our deck when we finished was just fantastic!

Take us back to Anna Maria!

They say a day on the water is truly a fantastic must-do on Anna Maria Island and we have to agree! We have already booked up for Mintfish again for our next Easter vacation. It catered to our every need and we really don’t think we could get any better!