Posted on September 14, 2026
Longboat Pass is being dredged for the second time in three years.
In late 2024 and early 2025, the pass between Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key was dredged, and the sand excavated from the bottom of the channel was used to build up the beach along Gulfside Road. This time, the sand will be placed on the beach to the north on Anna Maria Island.
The alternating placement of sand is outlined in an agreement between the town of Longboat Key and Manatee County. The town has a similar agreement with Sarasota County concerning sand from the bottom of New Pass, which was dredged earlier this year for the renourishment of Lido Key.
“You know how valuable sand is for Florida beaches,” Longboat Key Public Works Director Charlie Mopps said. “Both New Pass and Longboat Pass shoal at a fairly high rate. To be able to grab some of that sand and renourish those beaches while maintaining the navigation of those inlets is important.”
Mopps said the alternating approach the town follows with both counties and both passes stems from an Inlet Management Plan published by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The study measured how currents distribute sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the passes.
Because the sand is distributed approximately equally to the north and south, taking turns dredging the passes was a natural solution. There is no regular dredging schedule, but operations coincide with beach renourishment projects.
Phillip White, the superintendent who led the dredging of New Pass earlier this year, left Gator Dredging to start a new company, Sea Hawk Maritime.
Ahead of the Longboat Pass project, the company’s equipment was set up at the recently dredged New Pass. White said New Pass is being used only as a staging area and that no dredging will take place there. Some barges and equipment will remain at New Pass because there is not enough room to store the equipment at Longboat Pass without blocking marine navigation.
Although the Manatee County website lists a November completion date, White said the work should be completed in October.
“It’s probably going to take us no more than three weeks to finish the work,” White said. “In certain places, we’re going 15 feet deep.”
The Coquina Beach renourishment project is intended to restore shoreline eroded by Hurricane Idalia in 2023, according to the project website. The total cost is $1.9 million. FEMA is covering 75% of the cost, while Manatee County and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection are splitting the remainder.
Approximately 63,450 cubic yards of sand will be dredged and placed along the Coquina Beach shoreline. Maritime traffic is not expected to be affected.
Updates are available on Manatee County’s project website.
