Tampa Bay Watch
An ideal setting for events ranging from corporate event and parties to weddings, the community center is located on the second floor of the main building. It is 2,500 square feet in size and is surrounded by a 1,900 square foot covered deck overlooking the water. Featuring a clean, neutral palate and golden bamboo floors, the interior is primarily made up of one large, open room with wall-to-wall picture windows overlooking the bay. Also available is a warming kitchen and storage room along the back side of the center.
The crowning glory of the community room is its wraparound deck. Protected from the elements and featuring ceiling fans for air flow, it is open and airy, providing spectacular views of Tampa Bay, Fort De Soto, Shell Key, and the Gulf. A perfect spot to watch a glorious Florida sunset!
The community center is available to the general public for use for meetings and seminars, weddings and receptions, parties, fishing tournaments, corporate functions, and other gatherings. The room and deck combined can hold up to 150 people. Rates vary according to day, time and event.
What Visitors Love
Did some volunteer work here building oyster balls that help encourage oyster populations and also to aide in erosion control. Their lead volunteers explained everything clearly and we had a great time as a team!
I’ve worked with Shanna at Tampa Bay Watch for weddings many times, she and the staff do an amazing job. The venue is beautiful, well run and a gorgeous place for a wedding!
The most amazing choice for our wedding venue! Huge open spaces, chairs and tables provided, and the money spent to rent the space goes 100% to wildlife conservation ❤️ Shanna was so knowledgeable, professional, had recommendations on vendors, and was ready to make our day the greatest day of our lives. The view was everything, and our wedding was PERFECT thanks to this gorgeous site! THANK YOU for everything!
This wedding venue was everything we’d hoped for. We loved that everything goes to ocean conservation which is very important to us, and that they have a rule of no single-use plastics at the venue. We wanted waterfront sunset views without sand, and this was absolutely perfect. What really impressed me was they didn’t change their price at all when I first was looking at a 2021 wedding, and when we finally got to have a wedding in 2024. The location was so gorgeous that we didn’t need any florals to beautify the venue. We didn’t add a wedding arch or ceremony florals - just let the bay speak for itself. Jon was great to work with and explained everything, and the best part was they let us choose our own vendors and bring our own alcohol which helped keep costs down immensely. (Taco Bus catering and Costco alcohol return policy guys!) We opted to not get ready in the science classroom, but it provided so much staging space for the bridal party to change once we arrived. We opted to have our reception on the main lawn, which meant we had to rent tables, a dance floor and lights - but it was so worth it. We had our wedding on May 18th and were worried about bugs - but they weren’t even an issue! The patio is a perfect place to have a cocktail hour, and we had tables setup in their indoor reception space so people could get some AC if they wanted. We were so happy with the venue, and they were very easy to work with. Thank you Jon and Tampa Bay Watch!
This place does great things for the bay. They have kids educational classes. They do volunteer work to creat homes for scallops whicb clean the water. They also gather boaters and go out and find old abandoned crab traps and also count the scallop population. All benefitional to the tampa bay. Lastly they have a banquet hall for weddings beautiful location. Check it out, volunteer, help us make this a better place
Standard Amenities
Number of Rooms: 1
| Room | Square Feet | Theater | Classroom | Banquet | Reception |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay View Community Room | 150 | 150 | 120 |
General Information
- Family-friendly
- Free parking on-site
- LGBTQ+ Friendly
- Pets on leash allowed
- Reservations suggested
- Street or off-site parking
- WiFi available
Accessible Features
- Wheelchair Accessible Entrance
- Wheelchair Accessible Parking
- Wheelchair Accessible Restroom