Town by town
Where you can drive, from Dunedin to Captiva
Each page gives two answers: one for a plain golf cart with no tag, one for an LSV with a tag, title and insurance. Nearly every rental on this coast is an LSV, so if you are visiting, read the second column.
Beach towns
Manatee County
Anna Maria Island
Three cities, three rule sets. Visitors can only drive tagged LSVs; untagged golf carts are legal only in Holmes Beach and only for registered residents.
Plain golf cartLimitedLSV (tagged)YesSarasota County
Siesta Key
Unincorporated Sarasota County. Tagged LSVs are legal on roads posted 35 mph or less; the bridges and the 40 mph stretch of Midnight Pass Road are off-limits. No roads found for untagged carts.
Plain golf cartNot confirmedLSV (tagged)YesManatee and Sarasota Counties
Longboat Key
Gulf of Mexico Drive (SR 789) is a 45 mph state road for most of its length, which shuts out golf carts and most LSV travel. Only the north-end 35 mph stretch is LSV-legal.
Plain golf cartNot confirmedLSV (tagged)LimitedSarasota County
Venice
Venice's 25 mph island grid suits LSVs. Whether the City has designated any street for untagged golf carts could not be confirmed, so treat plain carts as not permitted until it does.
Plain golf cartNot confirmedLSV (tagged)YesSarasota and Charlotte counties
Englewood and Manasota Key
Manasota Key straddles Sarasota and Charlotte counties. We found no golf cart designation on either side, so a tagged LSV on roads posted 35 mph or less is the practical answer.
Plain golf cartNot confirmedLSV (tagged)YesLee and Charlotte counties
Boca Grande
Cart life here runs on the 6.5-mile bike path and the village streets, but the path permission is a community rule, and Lee County posted no-golf-cart signs on some stretches in 2024.
Plain golf cartLimitedLSV (tagged)YesLee County
Sanibel and Captiva
Sanibel allows tagged LSVs on its roads posted 35 mph or less and bans carts from the shared-use path. Captiva has a real Lee County ordinance with designated segments and rental-sticker rules.
Plain golf cartLimitedLSV (tagged)YesPinellas County
St. Pete Beach area
St. Pete Beach has let registered golf carts on most city streets since 2013. Treasure Island and Gulfport could not be verified. LSVs are legal on roads posted 35 mph or less.
Plain golf cartLimitedLSV (tagged)YesPinellas County
Dunedin and Clearwater
Dunedin runs a mapped golf cart zone with signed crossings, a child lap-belt rule and no carts on the Pinellas Trail. Clearwater regulates for-hire LSVs on the beach, not private golf carts.
Plain golf cartLimitedLSV (tagged)Yes
Home base, inland
Sun City Center is 25 miles from the Gulf and not a beach town. It is where this site is written from, and the clearest example of a community built around the golf cart.
How to read the labels. Yes means permitted with conditions. Limited means permitted only in a defined area or for a defined group, such as registered residents. No means not permitted. Not confirmed means we found no ordinance or official page either way; treat it as no until the town says otherwise.