Where Is Beer Can Island?
Beer Can Island sits out in the middle of Tampa Bay, about 2.7 miles northwest of the Manatee Center. The owners renamed it Pine Key some years back, and if you run in the house music crowd you have probably heard it called High Tide Island, but almost everyone around here still says Beer Can.
How Do You Get to Beer Can Island?
There is no road to it. The only way out there is by water, which is most of the reason it still feels the way it does. We run to it on the 4-hour, 6-hour and 8-hour charters, with a licensed captain running the boat and up to twelve guests aboard. Longer trips give you more time on the sand instead of more time getting there.
Is Beer Can Island Open to the Public?
Yes. It is open and it is free. There is no membership and no ticket. Boats anchor off the beach and everyone walks in from there.
What Is Actually on the Island?
About eight acres of white sand, and the island is man made. It is a spoil island, built out of sand and sediment dredged up when the shipping channels were cut, which is why the beach turns up shark teeth and fossil fragments if you look down while you walk. Over the years there have been beach games, a rope slide and sand volleyball out there.
If you want the longer version, we wrote up how the island was built and where the name came from, and what has been happening out there lately, including the sale and the changes people keep asking us about.