New Boat Tour Between Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota, Spanish Point Campuses To Launch

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens soon will offer visitors a brand-new, “Old Florida” way to experience both of its bayfront campuses, according to a news release.

Starting in January, Selby Gardens will launch Selby Gardens by Boat, a boat tour that includes a narrated, round-trip cruise between its Downtown Sarasota campus and its Historic Spanish Point campus, access to both sites for self-guided touring, and lunch at the Historic Spanish Point campus.

The new, water-centric experience will be offered for a pilot run on four Saturdays in January, with expectations of expanding to Sundays later in the winter season.

“Selby Gardens’ two sanctuaries are so significant and beloved in large part thanks to their bayfront locations,” Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, said. “The water is central to the history and appeal of our two campuses, so it only makes sense to connect them by boat. This tour is going to offer an immersion into native nature, our regional history and the ecology of the area.”

The initial boat tours will embark on Jan. 8, 15, 22 and 29. Tickets cost $125 per person for the general public and $115 for Selby Gardens members (including lunch). Capacity will be capped at 36 passengers per tour. Bookings are now available online at www.selby.org or in person at the Downtown Sarasota campus’ Welcome Center.

The cruise-and-tour excursion will begin at Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus, departing at 10 a.m. for a 90-minute, educationally narrated cruise down the Intracoastal Waterway.

The boat arrives at the Historic Spanish Point campus at 11:30 a.m. for self-touring of the 30-acre site. Guests also can enjoy lunch from the Michael’s on East food truck there with a $20 voucher (included in the price).

After departing the Historic Spanish Point campus at 1:45 p.m., the boat will arrive at approximately 3:15 p.m. back at the Downtown Sarasota campus, where guests have access to the gardens until they close at 5 p.m.

Highlighting the full-day experience is roughly three hours of leisurely cruising with educational narration from Sarasota Bay to Little Sarasota Bay and back.

“It’s 10 miles of beauty — a kind of aquatic garden, if you will,” said John McCarthy, Selby Gardens’ vice president for the Historic Spanish Point campus. “Then you’ll arrive at our Historic Spanish Point campus the way people did 100 years ago — by boat.”

Selby Gardens has partnered with Paradise Boat Tours to offer the excursions. Guides will deliver narration informed and curated by Selby Gardens staff, including McCarthy, a regional history expert

“It’s a full experience where you get to see everything there is about our area — the native flora, the wildlife, our waterways,” Capt. Sherman Baldwin, founder of Tevatan Corp., which operates Paradise Boat Tours in Bradenton Beach and Hart’s Landing in Sarasota, said. “Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota and Historic Spanish Point campuses are steeped in local legacy, and to be a part of that is an honor for us.”

Rominiecki said that Selby Gardens anticipates adding more tours after the pilot month, as well as the option of private bookings on other days based on boat availability.

“This is the Gulf Coast of Florida — who wouldn’t want to experience it by boat?” she said. “These two beautiful, historical sites evolved to what they are today because of our waterways. We see boat connectivity as part of Selby Gardens’ legacy and its future sustainability.”