On certain days, off Siesta Key, Lido Key or Anna Maria Island, a familiar sound drifts across the water. It's the the plucky melody of “Turkey in the Straw,” that ancient Pavlovian siren song of childhood appetite: the ice cream truck.

But here, the truck isn’t rolling down black asphalt. It’s arriving by Gulf.

Tropicool looks, at first, like an ice cream truck that made a wrong turn at the boat ramp and decided to commit to life at sea. The white, boxy vessel cruises over turquoise water with its freezer cases, cheerful graphics and menu of frozen treats, a floating novelty in the usual beach tableau of towels, umbrellas and sunburns. Children run toward the shoreline. Adults squint, then smile. Someone usually says, “This is genius.”

For the family behind the boat, the idea began in a simple way: with a child who wanted ice cream and a family that didn’t want to leave the beach.

“The idea started while we were sitting on the beach with our family,” Joe Prezio, Tropicool's owner, says. “We had packed food and drinks for the day, but our daughter wanted ice cream and no one wanted to leave the beach to go get it. That’s when we realized how nice it would be if ice cream could come directly to people on the beach.”

That was the seed that started the business. Then the Prezios' middle son suggested that the boat should look like an actual ice cream truck, and it became the detail that transformed the plan from clever convenience into full nostalgia with a twist.

“My wife and I both come from creative backgrounds,” Prezio says. “I’ve spent much of my life working in art and graphic design, and owned my own marketing and print company for over 18 years. My wife is also an artist and designer with a strong eye for branding and visuals.”

Prezio was born in Canada, and both of his parents are from Calabria, Italy. His wife Alina and their children Domenico, Julien and Isabella are all originally from Toronto, but Sarasota has been the family's home for many years.

“We fell in love with Sarasota the very first time we visited on vacation,” he says. “The beautiful beaches, the water, the friendly people and the welcoming atmosphere immediately made it feel like home to us.”

The couple later moved into renovations and custom home building, which turned out to be useful training for a business that required not only a freezer and a sense of humor but an entire custom-built marine contraption. The boat is a tritoon, modified with structural upgrades to make it stronger and more durable in changing water conditions. The goal wasn’t just to sell ice cream on the water; it was to make people feel as if the neighborhood ice cream truck had learned to float.

Tropicool opened in late August 2025 and now floats to Sarasota Bay, Siesta Key, Lido Key and the Anna Maria Island area, including Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach. The Prezio family serves beachgoers directly from the water; customers walk into the shallows and meet it just off the shoreline. It's like approaching a snack-inspired mirage.

The menu is wonderfully maximalist: 56 ice cream options, including novelty characters, sundaes, fruit bars, cones, ice cream bars and cups, and candy bars, plus water, soda, iced coffee and chips. The most popular item is Chips Galore, a vanilla ice cream sandwich made with two chocolate chip cookies and rolled in mini chocolate chips—an homage to the classic Chipwich.

“One of our favorite things is seeing people’s reactions when they hear the music in the distance,” Prezio says. “So many customers tell us it brings back childhood memories."

That nostalgia is part of what makes the boat feel like a small, floating, social experiment. Children ask where it came from, and the Prezios sometimes tells them it’s magical and appears out of the ocean. Adults take photos. Tourists wave it down. Locals recognize it. Kayakers, jet skiers, boaters, charter groups and people relaxing on sandbars become customers. So do beachgoers who saw the boat online before they arrived in Sarasota and hoped to encounter it in real life.

 

 

 

 

 

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“Many customers thank us for building the boat and bringing them this experience,” Prezio says. “We often hear people say things like, ‘You made our vacation,’ or tell us how excited they were to finally see the ice cream boat in person.”

Prezio says some visitors have even asked which beachfront hotels and areas Tropicool serves so they can book a room nearby, and others have written from out of state asking whether the boat will serve their beach. He says some visitors from other states and countries have specifically chosen Siesta Key because they wanted to experience the boat during their trip. One of the family’s videos recently went viral and has been shared by news platforms including Fox News, the New York Post, The Daily Mail and ABC Chicago.

In other words, Tropicool has entered that peculiar internet zone where a small family business can become a feel good summer story.

The business is now full time. Each day begins by checking weather, tides and water conditions, followed by restocking, inventory and route planning. At the end of the day, the boat is cleaned and readied to do it all again. (The romance of a floating ice cream truck, it turns out, depends on unromantic concerns like refrigeration, safety, inventory and reading the sky.)

Weather is the biggest challenge. Cold water temperatures, wind, waves and sudden storms can keep the boat off the water. January and February were unusually cold this year, Prezio says, which meant long stretches ashore. 

Still, the rewards are hard to beat. The family regularly sees dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, manta rays, schools of fish, jellyfish and the occasional shark. 

Tropicool is already growing. The family is building a second boat and exploring future opportunities. People from across the country and abroad have reached out to ask about franchising. The Prezios have also filed a design patent for the boat.

For now, Tropicool keeps appearing offshore, cheerful and improbable, part business, part memory machine. It sells packaged ice cream, drinks and snacks, but that seems almost beside the point. The real product is the moment before the purchase, when someone hears the jingle, scans the water and realizes the ice cream truck isn't coming down the street. It’s coming in with the tide.