Guide to Meeting & Event Planning in

Amelia Island

Meetings & Events Venues on Amelia Island

• The Courtyard Amelia Island, with 105 guest rooms, and Springhill Suites Amelia Island by Marriott, with 134 guest rooms, has opened near Fort Clinch and Main Beach. The properties share a spacious pool and outdoor area, along with state-of-the-art meeting space that includes a 4,455-square-foot conference room, plus breakout capabilities for small and medium events. 

• The iconic 446-room The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, is debuting the results of a renovation that includes upgraded rooms and suites, refreshed meeting and event spaces and more. The property offers more than 48,000 square feet of conference space.

• At the 404-room Omni Amelia Island Resort, Verandah restaurant has been reinvigorated. The eatery offers casual, yet elevated dining focusing on coastal Mediterranean-inspired seafood and house made pasta. The resort has 80,00 square feet of meeting space.

• For a relaxed lunch or dinner, The Boat House, in Fernandina Beach's historic downtown, features seafood, steak and cocktails in a relaxing atmosphere (including live music). The restaurant, including two outdoor patios, can be bought out for groups of up to 200. The BBQ salmon is a favorite here, and diners can select from an extensive wine and beer list.

• In the heart of Fernandina Beach, there’s something bubbling. The growing craft beer scene has percolated up to the delight of many serving delicious brews on tap. Mocama Beer Company, named for the dialect that the Timucua spoke in the very narrow region of the area, combines precision and art for a reliable local taste.  Locals and visitors alike will enjoy First Love Brewing, serving pizzas and shared plates alongside their beers.

• Downtown Fernandina Beach will welcome a new duckpin bowling alley on North 3rd Street later this year. The venue will be managed by local entertainment purveyors the Poynter Family.

• The 133-suite Residence Inn Amelia Island offers studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom accommodations, all with fully equipped kitchens. The property has 1,177 square feet of event space able to accommodate up to 117 people. 

• In Fernandina Beach, the 122-room Hampton Inn & Suites Amelia Island – Historic Harbor Front, has 1,752 square feet of event space in four meeting rooms, an outdoor pool and a fitness center.

• The Villas of Amelia Island, part of the Omni Amelia Island Resort, feature 350 rental units, ranging in size from one to three bedrooms.

• The 89-room, family-owned Amelia Hotel at the Beach has 840 square feet of meeting space plus outdoor gathering spots that can accommodate up to 45 attendees.  

• Inside a charming historic building in downtown Fernandina Beach, an eclectic palette of colors and furnishings add to the relaxed ambiance at Cafe Karibo, with its large garden patio shaded by huge oak trees. Signature dishes include the Big Bella (fresh marinated portobello mushrooms, artichoke hearts and red onions baked on ciabatta with spinach, tomato, cheese and garlic-basil mayo) and the Coquille St. Jaques (pan-seared jumbo sea scallops with shiitake mushroom cream in a corn tortilla bowl over smashed red-jacket potatoes and sautéed seasonal vegetables).

• For more information on meeting and event venues, please visit ameliaisland.com.

Getting Active & Outdoors

• History buffs will enjoy walking around the Fernandina Beach historic district. This well-preserved Victorian seaport village was once a stomping ground for pirates, Gilded Age millionaires, bootleggers, shrimpers and other colorful characters. The Amelia Island Museum of History runs several tours, including along Centre Street, the district's main shopping thoroughfare, or the riveting Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Tour.

• For those interested in maritime and military history, pirates and Spanish treasure fleets, a visit to the Maritime Museum is a must. View artifacts rich in local maritime history, as well as U.S. Navy memorabilia, weapons from multiple time periods, a Soviet era KGB diving suit, an artifact from an expedition to the Titanic and of course, Spanish treasure.

• Amelia Island Trails can recommend places to rent bikes and obtain trail maps that delineate leisure and advanced routes through the island's state parks, marshes, maritime forests and beaches. Most outfits offer GPS-guided tours that lead groups along paved as well as beach paths, with choices of where to stop, explore and eat along the way. Attendees also can enjoy nature on the back of a Segway on the trails via Amelia's Wheels at the Omni Amelia Island Resort.

• Visitors can paddle their way around the island with one of the local kayaking and stand-up paddleboard companies, such as Amelia Island Paddle Surf Co. Expert tour guides will help navigate the waters while sharing the history of the island as your group heads inland to the salty marsh of Talbot Island State Park, Timucan Preserve or Egan's Creek. For those who prefer a little more wind in their hair, Riptide Watersports has two-seat catamarans that let riders take the helm on a river run of the backwaters and marshlands of the area.

• Explore the scenic creeks and rivers of Amelia via On the Water Adventures or Amelia Adventures. Experience wild horses grazing on marsh grasses, and closely observe dolphins, alligators, egrets, herons and other local fauna in their natural element.  

• Deep-sea anglers or first-time dock visitors can cast their reels in Amelia's waters and lure in a multitude of fish from trout to flounder. FishingBooker.com can hook you up with everything from shore fishing to a private charter, party-boat or kayak fishing adventure.

No visit to Amelia Island is complete without a horseback ride on the beach. Your attendees have several options:

• Located on a 200-acre preserve where you can observe dolphins, shorebirds and other wildlife, Kelly Seahorse Ranch is one of only a handful of beach horseback riding opportunities in the nation. The gentle, well-trained horses and professional guides give visitors a fun and novel way to enjoy Amelia's white-sand beaches and the beauty of the ocean.

• Happy Trails Walking Horses and Amelia Island Horseback Riding offer private horseback riding along the beach from Peter's Point Park, located just north of The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

Amelia Island truly is a golfer's paradise.

• Named a "Silver Medal Golf Resort" by Golf magazine, the Omni Amelia Island Resort has 36 championship holes, each course recognized as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. The property's Oak Marsh, designed by Pete Dye, offers 14 holes that meander along serpentine salt-marsh creeks and through the moss-draped heritage oaks for which the island is famous. Long Point, home of the Omni Amelia Island Resort Golf Academy, incorporates primal marshlands and the towering sand dunes of the Atlantic.

• The Golf Club of Amelia Island features an 18-hole championship course located next to Ocean Place. Designed by Mark McCumber and Gene Littler, the course takes full advantage of the natural terrain, offering spectacular views.

• The 27-hole Fernandina Beach Golf Club is considered one of the finest public courses in the Southeast.

• Amelia River is an 18-hole, 6,823-yard Tom Jackson design, where ball control and accuracy are key to a great round.

• If true thrills are what some attendees crave, Skydive Amelia Island affords a view from 10,000 feet in the air during a one-hour tandem skydive experience. The outfit uses only highly experienced United States Parachute Association-qualified instructors with thousands of tandem jumps between the team.

Attendees could spend hours exploring the colorful shops and galleries of Fernandina Beach's quaint Centre Street and bustling Sadler Road, while The Shops at Omni Amelia Island Resort offer trendy boutiques, home décor and more, along with dining at Marché Burette, a gourmet food market and deli. 

• The Amelia Island Culinary Academy in downtown Fernandina Beach offers workshops on gluten-free cooking, Tuscan cuisine, French Provencal and more, conducted by former Ritz-Carlton chef Bill Thompson.

• Resort chefs at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Salt Cooking School lead participants through classes such as Norwegian cooking, street foods of. Southeast Asia and traditions of Indian cuisine.

• At the Omni Amelia Island Resort, attendees can tour the Sprouting Project, a unique on-site take on sustainability that includes an aquaponics greenhouse, an organic garden, and apiary and a barrel room. 

• For the yoga practitioners in the group, Kayak Amelia offers an offbeat spin on the practice: stand-up paddleboard yoga. Participants are led in sessions of balanced positions while standing atop the water-borne boards.

• Treatments at Amelia Island’s luxurious spas are the perfect way to pamper attendees. Among them are the Spa & Salon at the Omni Amelia Island Resort, which offers 20 treatment rooms, and the Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, with 26 treatment rooms.

• For more information on activities and attractions, please visit ameliaisland.com.

Top Restaurants on Amelia Island

1. Salt - American
2. Boat House - Seafood
3. Burlingame Restaurant - American
4. Salt Life Food Shack - Eclectic
5. Pogo's Kitchen - Southern
6. España Restaurant & Tapas - Portuguese/Spanish