##### 



Exhibit 31.1 - Certification pursuant
to Section  302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002

I, Lewis S. Albert, certify that:



|1. |  | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-QSB of Tarpon
Coast Bancorp, Inc.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
|-- |  | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  
|2. |  | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
the period covered by this report;
|  
|3. |  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this report, fairly present
in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations
and cash flows of the small business issuer as of, and for, the periods presented
in this report;        
|  
|4. |  | The small business
issuers other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible
for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
defined in the Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the small business issuer and have:                                                  



| | (a) |  | Designed such disclosure
controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the small business issuer,
including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
others within those entities, particularly during the period in
which this report is being prepared;
| | --- |  | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



| | (b) |  | Evaluated the effectiveness of
the small business issuers
disclosure controls and procedures and presented  in this report our
conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based
on such evaluation; and                                                                                                                                    
| | --- |  | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| | (c) |  | Disclosed in this report any
change in the small business issuers internal control over
financial reporting that occurred during the small business
issuers most recent fiscal quarter (the small business
issuers fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report)
that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
affect, the small business issuers internal control over
financial reporting; and



|5. |  | The small business
issuers other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the small business issuers auditors and
the audit committee of the small business issuers board of directors (or persons
performing the equivalent function):
|-- |  | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



| | (a) |  | All significant deficiencies
and material weaknesses in the design or
operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
reasonably likely to adversely affect the
small business issuers ability to record, process, summarize and report
financial information; and
| | --- |  | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| | (b) |  | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
management or other employees who have a significant role in the
small business issuers internal control over financial
reporting.                                                                                               

|                     |  |                                                           
|-------------------- |  | ----------------------------------------------------------
|Date: August 5, 2003 |  | /s/ Lewis S. AlbertLewis S. Albert
Chief Executive Officer