{"id":282560,"date":"2026-05-24T04:51:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T04:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/282560\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T04:51:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T04:51:04","slug":"teco-manatee-viewing-center-and-st-pete-pier-compete-in-usa-todays-best-free-attraction-contest-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/282560\/","title":{"rendered":"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today’s best free attraction contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

The TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier have both been nominated in USA Today\u2019s 10Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards for best free attraction.<\/p>\n

The manatee sanctuary in Apollo Beach welcomed more than 500,000 visitors last season, while the St. Pete Pier attracts 2.3 million visitors each year.<\/p>\n

Online voting for this competition runs until June 15, with people allowed to vote once per day.<\/p>\n

APOLLO BEACH, Fla. – Two Bay Area landmarks are gaining national recognition after being nominated in USA Today\u2019s 10Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards for best free attraction.<\/p>\n

Nationwide competition<\/p>\n

The backstory<\/p>\n

The TECO <\/a>Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete<\/a> Pier are both competing against top tourism destinations across the country. Other nominees include the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach; Niagara Falls in New York; Boston\u2019s Freedom Trail and other attractions nationwide.<\/p>\n

Every winter, many manatees make the Apollo Beach <\/a>sanctuary their temporary home, giving families a front row seat to see these animals up close. Jamie Woodlee has worked at the TECO Manatee Viewing Center for 26 years.<\/p>\n

Manatee Viewing Center’s growth<\/p>\n

What they’re saying<\/p>\n

“It gives the public a way to learn about the manatees,” Woodlee said. “See them up close and then start to care about the manatees.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The nearly 40-year-old attraction welcomed more than 500,000 visitors last season. Warm water flowing from the nearby TECO power plant attracts manatees throughout winter weather months.<\/p>\n

“Everything\u2019s free as far as what you can do here,” Woodlee said. “We have trails, viewing platforms, a raised touch tank and an education building.”<\/p>\n

Woodlee says the attraction has grown significantly since it first opened in 1986.<\/p>\n

“It started out as one little viewing platform, a trailer on the ground,” Woodlee said. “It\u2019s become a lot more popular than they ever imagined.”<\/p>\n

St. Pete Pier joins competition<\/p>\n

Dig deeper<\/p>\n

Over the last two years, the TECO Manatee Viewing Center has finished runner-up in USA Today\u2019s annual competition. This year, however, the St. Pete Pier is also competing for the top title.<\/p>\n

St. Pete resident Arian Cangas described the pier as a popular place for tourists and local families.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s a lot of things you can do here for free,” Cangas said. “It\u2019s a great place.”<\/p>\n

By the numbers<\/p>\n

The St. Pete Pier reopened in 2020 and attracts roughly 2.3 million visitors annually. The waterfront attraction features restaurants, a beach area, playgrounds and opportunities to get a glimpse of marine life.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s a lot of wildlife because a lot of this pier is environmentally friendly,” Cangas said. “You see a lot of sea animals, sharks and dolphins all the time.”<\/p>\n

Online voting continues<\/p>\n

What you can do<\/p>\n

Voting for USA Today\u2019s best free attraction runs up until June 15. People can vote online here<\/a>, once per day.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

Information for this story came from statements from USA Today, TECO and the city of St. Petersburg, interviews with an employee at the Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief The TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier have both been nominated in USA Today\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[22517,1787,120197,120199,20898,120196,202,204,203,199,201,200,22355,120198],"class_list":["post-282560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-apollo-beach","tag-attraction","tag-free-attraction","tag-jamie-woodlee","tag-loggerhead-marinelife-center","tag-manatee-viewing-center","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-teco","tag-teco-manatee-viewing-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}