Looks like Captain Scott really liked Sanibel Island Marina!

Sanibel Island Marina – After spending a couple days on the hook we ducked into a marina to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I cannot say enough about this marina as it has to be the one of the most well kept I have ever been to. Maybe it was just the fact that it was Christmas or it was just because it was Sanibel Island but, this is a great marina and certainly should be on your list of places to stop.
Scott Dimon
M/V Know Agenda

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Sanibel Island Marina

I bet if I were to count, there have been more postings about the Pelican Bay Anchorage (immediately east of Cayo Costa) here on the Net’s “Western Florida” section, than any other haven on the WF coastline. That’s not be accident. This is a wonderful place to spend a night, or even a few day. Just watch out for the thin water at the bay’s entrance.

Pelican Bay – Park Service Docks Anchorage – After hearing so much about Cayo Costa and the beauty of this area we had to stop on the way back north. After spending the better part of a day there, I can totally understand the attraction. We were anchored with about 10 other boats in the area and were never cramped. Although I will have to agree that this would not be a great area in the summer months as the protection from wind is so good, the bugs would be a real problem. With that in mind, we certainly plan on spending more time there on another trip as we could easily spend several days there exploring the two islands and surrounding waters.
Scott Dimon
M/V Know Agenda

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Anchorage Directory Listing For Pelican Bay Outer Anchorage

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Pelican Bay Park Service Dock Anchorage

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Pelican Bay – Punta Blanca Island Anchroage

The anchorage detailed by Captain Scott below lies just off Gasparilla Island’s westerly shores. Note that while this is a good anchorage, the village of Boca Grande is not easily accessible from this haven.

Jack Point – Gasparilla Island Anchorage – We used this anchorage on the way south to spend the night out of the North East winds. We found this anchorage to be as stated and a superb spot. The water depths were about 6′ all the way in and very well protected. There are several markers that lead up to the small bunch of boat slips which provided a nice way up into the cove. The holding was excellent and offered great protection from the wind. I highly recommend this anchorage!!
Scott Dimon
M/V Know Agenda

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Anchorage Directory Listing For Jack Point – Gasparilla Island Anchorage

Pelican Bay is one of the most popular anchorages in anchorage rich Pine Island Sound. Protected Pelican Bay sits just behind Cayo Costa, an undeveloped barrier island that is also a Florida State Park.
The only problem with anchoring in Pelican Bay is the somewhat thin depths on the bay’s entrance, particuarly at MLW. The wonderful Isles Yacht Club in Punta Gorda, has made it their particular mission to detail the best passage into Pelican Bay.
We have had many postings here on the Net’s “Western Florida” section about entering Pelican Bay, but Captain Lee’s message below gives some truly detailed data. So, I thought it best to put it up as a fresh posting that would be more readily noticed.

We got directions from the Cabbage Key ferry guy and true, coming in from the RENUMBERED ICW marker 74, and passing close to the sign..I think it’s a mantee warning, you have to be just about 1/2 a boat length for our 42-footer from the beach and you can look down and see the darkness of the deep water current. Then you turn and head for the fixed wooden dock. South of it and even with a manatee pocket, is a 9-foot hole about 150 feet from the shore. You cannot exit via the south unless you have a zero-draft boat.That chartlet was sure to guarantee a grounding and I am so glad you removed it for liability reasons. A call to Lynda at Isles Yacht Club in Punta Gorda the other day reveals if you send them a $3 check they will send a laminated bearings chart mentioned in the 3/1/08 posting.
That YC sends members there with assigned bearings stations every once in awhile to update the chart. Boaters should go in DEAD SLOW as they skirt both the sign and the beach. Don’t side tie to the long outside dock because it’s the ferry’s.
We found it and waited a year before we were brave enough to go in, and only after we hailed the ferry and he told us to follow him exactly, on the way in. He exits all the way south to Cabbage Key because he knows which houses on Useppa to sight off of, but we’ve gotten hung up in our dinghy on our way south out of there to the Tunnel of Love because we couldn’t follow the ferry closely enough to see what he was doing. But for any fearful boaters standing off in the ICW, if you find his schedule and hail him, he will let you follow him in.
Best regards…your fan,
Lee Stapella

Subject: Detailed info on entering Pelican Bay
Cruising News: As a follow up to Lee Stapella’s posting: the ferry is the Tropic Star, and if you follow closely, you can carry about 3 ft or so all the way to Cabbage Key (that’s about the draft for Tropic Star, and even in the extreme low tides, there\’s room). The best representation of the good water is found in the West Coast Chart Kit, and it’s a very meandering path to follow. As a former captain on Tropic Star, I’ve been through there about 8 or 9 hundred times, and I was taught the pathway by a native of Cayo Costa. If you’re following in your dinghy, stay real close behind – but then you have to get back, don’t you?
Capt Mike Smith
Bokeelia

I had the opportunity to discover Pelican Bay after limping across Charlotte Harbor in a bad squal several months ago. A nice place to lick your wounds and relax. Plan on some trips back there in the near future.
Donn Brown
Namaste – Watkins 27

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Anchorage Directory Listing For Pelican Bay Outer Anchorage

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Pelican Bay Park Service Dock Anchorage

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Pelican Bay – Punta Blanca Island Anchroage

The “Tunnel of Love” described by Captain Douglas below, lies off popular Pelican Bay and Cayo Costa Florida State Park. I had heard that this once popular attraction was badly mauled during the 2005 hurricane season. Looks like that’s still the case!

Subject: Western Florida Tunnel of Love
Cruising News: I have an update on the “Tunnel of Love” near Pelican Bay. On Tuesday 25 November we were anchored in Pelican Bay and attempted to explore the Tunnel of Love by inflatable dinghy. The water at the entrance to the tunnel was very shallow when the tide 0.9 feet above MLLW. I had to drag the dinghy across the shallows. Then, we only went down the tunnel about 50 feet. Dead mangroves were everywhere. We stopped in fear that a mangrove stick would puncture a tube in the dinghy and leave us stranded far from our boat. The exploration would best be done at high tide with a hard-sided, shallow draft craft.
Douglas Kendrick

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Anchorage Directory Listing For Pelican Bay Outer Anchorage

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Pelican Bay Park Service Dock Anchorage

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Pelican Bay – Punta Blanca Island Anchroage

Back on 11/6/08, as part of a “Western Florida Wish List,” I posed the following question:

25. The village of Boca Grande is the principal port of call on Gasparilla Island. We LOVE this place!!! The primary marina facility is now known as Boca Grande Marina (formerly Millers Marina). Since this facility changed ownership, I’ve heard very good things about it. The only problem has been depths on the entrance channel. The new owner wants to dredge, but has had trouble with necessary permits. Who has visited Boca Grand Marina in 2008? Please comment on the marina and its entrance depths.

Responses follow:

This is a great marina, wonderful facility, food, and service. The golf carts for rent and plentiful. 5 foot low tide at least in channel.
Warm regards,
Richard

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Boca Grande Marina