I was 4 years old when I first stepped onto the cool, soft sand of Lido Beach. I may have noticed the Lido Casino, that gleaming-white Art Deco building that was designed by Ralph Twitchell in 1940 and served as the center of Sarasota beach life until, to our everlasting shame, the city demolished it in 1969. Maybe my mother pointed out the four giant concrete sea horses that looked out from its second-floor terrace at the Gulf of Mexico.

But I have to confess I don’t remember anything about Twitchell’s architectural masterpiece; true to form, I instead remember what I was wearing—a vividly patterned two-piece bathing suit that was the first fashion item I’d ever craved. “I want a bathing suit that’s purple, pink, red and black,” I kept telling my mother; and though she warned me we weren’t likely to find one like that, we did, in a St. Armands shop, and I wore it every single day for the rest of our vacation.

Each morning, I ran to the water’s edge and plopped onto the wet sand, where I’d uncover tiny nations of coquinas, miniature clams with pearly, pastel-colored shells that scrabbled deeper into the sand before the crystal-clear waves rippling ashore could sweep them away. Every now and then, I’d look across the blue-green, shimmering expanse of the Gulf and marvel at the warmth of the January sun on my winter-white shoulders.

That was the beginning of a lifelong love for Sarasota’s beaches, an affection—no, call it a passion—that just about anyone who lives or visits here shares. With 35 miles of some of the most beautiful shoreline on earth, Sarasota attracts beach-lovers from around the globe. Their numbers have swelled since Siesta Key Beach was named the nation’s best beach in 2011. Since then, Siesta and Lido have won more national and even international awards, but those of us who live here know that each beach has a beauty and personality all its own.

To help you discover the best of our beaches, we’ve compiled an insider’s guide to their many attractions. We also report on the science behind our spectacular sunsets. Now isn’t it time you head to the beach?