Siesta Key Oil Free Guarantee

Siesta Key Oil Free Guarantee

Siesta Key Beach, and all Sarasota County tropical beaches are gorgeous, and completely untouched by the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill.

Many Siesta Key businesses are now offering an "Oil Free Guarantee."
A money-back guarantee if oil washes ashore on Siesta Key beaches. Kevin Cooper from the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce said that funds are "fully refundable if the waters are closed by a local health official while you're staying on Siesta Key." That's right, guests/clients will receive a full refund of their unused prepayments and/or deposits should the guest/client elect to depart prior to their scheduled departure date as a result of any of Siesta Key's beaches being closed for swimming by local health officials as a consequence of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Here are just a few of Siesta Key's hotels, resorts and businesses offering the no-risk reservation:

Tropical Beach Resorts, 800-235-3493
House of the Sun, 800-618-6948
Holiday Inn Express - Siesta, 941-924-4900
Banyan Tree Beach Resort, 800-732-7231
Turtle Beach Resort, 941-349-4554
Gumbo Limbo Resort, 941-349-9886
A to Z Baby, Beach & Bike Rentals, 941-961-3527

Two monitoring vessels currently conducting continous oil slick surveys, and have not detected any oil in our area, and Coast Guard flights along our coast did not observe anything that would pose a threat. Mote Marine Laboratory has also sent out three Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, or AUVs, to patrol Gulf waters for signs of oil and dispersants.

During a recent visit to Mote Marine Labs, Congressman Vern Buchanan was quoted as saying: "We have a lot of great assets in Sarasota and Manatee counties. But our biggest resource is our water quality."

Florida International University Prof. Stephen Leatherman -- also known as Dr. Beach puts out an annual list of the top 10 beaches in the U.S. Once again, Siesta Key Beach won honors as one of the "Best Beaches In The US." This is what Dr. Beach said abour Siesta Key: "some of the finest, whitest sand in the world, this beach attracts sand collectors from all over. Siesta Beach has clear, warm waters that serve for ideal swimming"
Listen to the NPR story from Dr. Stephen Leatherman

NPR asked, if any of Florida's Gulf beaches made his list, in spite of this spill... Prof. Leatherman said "Yes, in fact, Siesta Beach which is in Sarasota, in the area we call southwest Florida, is number two on the list." He goes on to say "as I look at it, and you look where the oil is and you look at the coastal currents, I don't really see any way oil is going to get down that way."

Just to reiterate: Sarasota beaches, including Siesta Key Public Beach, Longboat Key and Lido Key beaches are not experiencing any impact from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and no impact is expected. All of Sarasota's 40 miles of beautiful beaches are open to the public, and waiting for you, so come and enjoy!

Stephen Leatherman is the director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at FIU (Florida International University).

Orlando Area Guide | Sarasota Area Guide | Tampa Area Guide