On 11/6/08, as part of a "Western Florida Wish List," I posed the following question:

6. Those not familiar with the WF coastline often do not appreciate that there is no official Intracoastal Waterway serving the southwestern Florida coastline. However, there is an unofficial waterway that flows through Coon Key Pass, behind Marco Island, and eventually north to Gordon Pass and Naples. Who has run the Cook Key Pass end of this channel lately? Did you find some MLW depths of as little as 4 ½ feet?

Responses follow:

Coon Key Pass is shallow.  I’ve been through east and west of Coon Key several times and I’m still not sure which is the best route.  If you go through at low tide, you’ll see a lot of 4.5’ of water until you get past Coon Key.  There are a few other shallow areas along the pass, but I was told by a Fish & Wildlife Ranger to follow the center line of the pass (about 20’ off the markers) and that seems to always work.
Jake Dye