26. Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field (Matanzas Harbor Mooring Field)
26. Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field (Ft Myers Beach Ft. Myers Beach) 
Lat/Lon: near 26 27.360 North/081 57.021 West
Location: lies east of the 65-foot Fort Myers Beach high-rise bridge
Minimum Depth: 3.5 feet (see /?p=91251)
Website: https://www.fortmyersbeachfl.gov/109/Matanzas-Harbor-Mooring-Field
See marina listing for additional information:
/marina/fort-myers-beach-mooring-field-matanzas-harbor-mooring-field
Special Comment: call the Matanzas Inn dock at 239-463-9258 to request a mooring; shoreside showers and laundromats available for those in the mooring field
Swing Room: sufficient swinging room for vessels as large as 50 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: very good, slightly open to strong northwestern and southeastern winds
Waste Pump-out Availability: this mooring field offers free mobile pump-out service. Call Matanzas Inn, 239-463-9258 or 239-463-7776, or VHF Channel 16.
Anchorage Guide: https://www.canva.com/design/DAEL6xDLpiw/view
For more information go to: http://www.fortmyersbeachfl.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=68
Rating: 
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Comments from Cruisers (9)
We left the Ft. Myers beach mooring field a week ago, and have nothing but great things to say about the moorings and the people at Matanzas Inn who administer the mooring fields. Always professional, pleasant and helpful, these people mad our stay there very pleasant. The pumpout boat is run by a good guy, working for the ft. Myers public works department, and is very helpful with information about the area. Now one of our top five places to stay a while.
Rick Cass
The Ft. Myers Beach mooring field was a pleasant stay with decent facilities provided. The dinghy dock is just a couple blocks from downtown attractions. A bargain for $13/night compared to $2.50/ft transient slips. It’s the way to go to pack many boats into a small area.
Archie Faulkner
Best mooring field is at Ft. Myers Beach, and there is a fun, funky beachy tourist strip along the whole island. Not specifically seafood, though they do have a lot of it on the menu, but I always eat at the Plaka Greek restaurant right on Times Square.
John Kettlewell
We have been staying at the Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field for several years. Cruiser Nicole made some good points but I would like to expand and refute some of her points. It’s my understanding that the City of Ft. Myers Beach owns the mooring field, the pump out boat and the dinghy dock. Matanzas Inn manages the mooring rental and provides laundry and bath facilities.
– It is true that the mooring balls need attention as far as cleaning and numbers are concerned. Right before we left, at the end of March, the Harbor Master was taking new mooring balls out to the maintenance pontoon boat so hopefully the problem of the missing 18 balls, the cleaning and fresh numbers will be addressed.
– The “nuisanced indifference” comment about the staff was a bit harsh. There are a lot of new employees this year and they are trying to learn their job. Jerry, the manager has been very accommodating, helpful and friendly to us as have the other members of the staff. The boater’s were allowed to have meet & greets whenever we asked as long as there wasn’t a space conflict. We had them on the grassed area where the picnic tables are behind the office. This was a great way to meet other boaters and enjoy time together.
– Several places that we’ve been have no VHF access and you need to phone in. Our cruising guide informed us of this.
– They do keep a list in the office for pump out. You can either be put on the list or you can contact the Fort Myers Beach Harbormaster for pump out. He does work Monday through Friday and we have been pumped out many mornings. He works mornings and afternoons. We understand that if you need more than one pump out in a week, there’s no extra charge as there is in other mooring fields.
– Trash cans are extremely close to the dinghy dock for small bags and there is a dumpster for larger bags near the shower and laundry rooms. There aren’t any signs directing you but I’ve never seen such signs anywhere.
– The dinghy dock is crowded but we have always been able to find a place to park. The comment about a dinghy being under the dock, inflated, had nothing to do with the dinghy dock. We are the ones who tied up his motor but his dinghy had a slow leak in it, which had nothing to do with the current or dock.
– The sign about the Hotel Guests BBQ was probably amended when boaters asked about it.
– On March 26th there was a Boater’s Appreciation Day Party with hot dogs, hamburger, pizza, beer, wine, and soft drinks provided just for the boaters. They also had raffles for many very nice prizes. We’ve been present for at least three of these boater appreciation events. This year as in other years City Officials were present, along with folks from the Anchorage Advisory Committee asking for suggestions for improving the mooring field. In years past they have listened to and heeded our advice.
– It is my understanding that Salty Sam’s was the first manager of the mooring field and that job was taken from them and given to Matanzas. There must have been a reason.
– The bathroom sign saying “your mother doesn’t work here” came about when people were being inconsiderate and leaving the bathrooms a mess. They are busy bathrooms and we felt that was a way to remind people to clean up after themselves because housekeeping can’t clean between showers.
The people of FMB are friendly and they are very welcoming to boaters. It is a great place to stay with many activities and a beautiful beach, a variety of restaurants and close access to grocery, PO, Hardware and West Marine. We would hate for one person’s gripes to dampen or give a negative impression of the FMB Mooring Field.
Sincerely,
Gary & Mickey Wiggins
M/V Little Mick
My wife and I visited FMB last march 3/10. We had cruised there 22 years ago and we GLAD to see town moorings, and less derelicts , although it seems they still had a couple of leftovers? We enjoyed the town and the beach and many of the local restaurants and stores. The Harbormaster “bubba” runs the pump out boat and was a great help and a great source for information. However the LARGE HARD encrusted mooring balls did a number on my new alwgrip hull paint job!$#!$#!!?. If you are not able to pull the entire ball out of the water, BEWARE.!!
Stephen Arkwright
We have stayed in the mooring field at Ft Myers Beach just across from the shrimp fleet and Ballard’s Fuel: $13.00 per night included is a dingy dock on the Ft Myers Beach side with good resturants. The Mooring Ball office is located just under the bridg adjacent to the Matanza Inn and resturaunt, recomended.
Bevferg
Hi:
Regarding item #17 (Fort Meyers Beach), on 10/21/08 approximately 15 boats from the Punta Gorda Sailing Club spent the night at the mooring ball field in Fort Myers Beach. There were plenty of vacancies and all of us were able to contact Mantanzas Inn–the folks who operate the mooring ball field– by cell phone or VHF to announce our arrival. The young lady at the desk who signed us up and took our money (around $13.50) was very pleasant. There were no complaints from our group about any problems with the mooring balls.
I have no information for you regarding the shower facilities (We are fortunate to have a sailboat–a Catalina 350– with a great shower so we rarely use dockside facilities of that type.) And, I failed to ask others in our group about that amenity.
Our group all convened for cocktails at the second story outdoor patio of the Mantanzas Inn and had a blast. You get your drinks on your own from the bar and bring them over to the patio area (which saves $ on tips, etc.) Several of us went downstairs later for dinner and found the food and service to be good. Entree prices were in the $20 range–a bit higher than we had expected. None of our group made it to the beachside restaurants on this trip, although, as you know, there are a number of fun ones.
We had to abandon our plans to head South to Marco and Naples because of the front that blew in that week, but the trip to Fort Myers Beach — preceded by a couple of nights in Pelican Bay– was pretty cool.
Bill Welsch
S/V “Escapade
Message: The Ft. Myers Beach Mooring Field is a great place to visit. We live in the area and frequent it several times a year. There is a public dinghy dock under the Matanzas Bridge and you are in walking distance to the beach and a host of restaurants and shopping (although not too close for a major grocery for provisioning – there is a trolley that will take you to a local Public Supermarket). The Mooring Field is managed by Matanzas Inn and boater patrons are able to utilize all of their facilities, including showers, laundry and the pool. They do have a pump-out boat that makes its rounds but we haven’t used it. Steve and Regina Smith, M/V Island Time.
Regina Smith
We stayed at the Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field a couple of weeks ago. The overall quality of this facility is still very good. The only gripe we had is that the pennants for some of the mooring balls are really, really nasty with marine growth. The mooring we picked up was the worst I have ever seen. I highly recommend that anyone planning to use this facility should have a pair of sturdy work gloves available.
Best regards,
Gene and Sue Fuller
Punta Gorda, Florida
Yorkshire Rose
(Catalina 42 sailboat, 5 foot draft)
I am chair of the Anchorage Advisory Committee for the Town of Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field and I keep my boat year round in the mooring field. We have a new floating dinghy dock under the bridge on the island side to make it easier to enjoy the island. Restaurants and shops are with a couple of blocks of the dock, and there is a trolley that can take you to grocery stores, drug stores, and all the other places cruisers need to visit. Matanzas Inn under the bridge is where you check in and has the land facilities for the mooring field. There are two beautiful shower suites with large dressing areas and a community room with four washer/dryer pairs. Water is available at Matanzas for jerry jug use. The rate is $13.00 a night plus tax and there is a monthly rate available. Pump-out (by boat) is included in the price and can be scheduled through Matanzas Inn.
One of the complaints about our field is that the tethers are coated with slime and barnacles. They are cleaned regularly but unfortunately, the water in the bay is very fertile and stuff grows quickly. When we take our boat off the ball and are away for a few nights, slime has already grown back. We are exploring ways to alleviate this problem.
There is much more information on the town’s website: fortmyersbeachfl.gov. Just click on the mooring field link. There is a map of the field, phone numbers for Matanzas Inn, and much more. We will be redoing the website in the coming months.
I hope a lot of cruisers will come to our mooring field and enjoy the great town of Fort Myers Beach!!
Katherine Light, S/V Alborada
Subject: Ft. Myers Beach
Cruising News: It’s been a long time since we’ve been into Fort Myers Beach. The old anchorage area was scary and the stories about [the] . . . administration of the mooring field were enough to keep us away.
We have just returned from spending almost two weeks there meeting up with friends and making repairs. The Matanzas Inn staff who now run the mooring field and pumpout boat were great to deal with. The beach shuttle made provisioning very easy. We also stayed at Moss Marine and Blaine was also a pleasure to deal with. Kudos to the City of Fort Myers Beach for becoming so cruiser-friendly. We’ll be back.
Paul Carroll
S/V Puffin