Don’t Anchor Overnight in Tarpon Bay (Sanibel Island, near Statute Mile 5.5)
Tarpon Bay lies off the northeastern shores of Sanibel Island, north of Dixie Beach. I’ve never recommended anchoring here, or even that cruising size craft should attempt to explore these waters, dues to the iffy depths and less than stellar channel markings. Now, below, we hear from Captain John that it’s actually illegal to spend the night here, and you could receive a ticket.
Fortunately, there are plenty of other places nearby to drop the hook. Follow the link below for full info on the “Ding Darling Anchorage”
We received a $75 ticket (in Nov 2009) for trespassing when we anchored OVERNIGHT inside Tarpon Bay in the Ding Darling Nat’l Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. Tarpon Bay’s waters are closed to all boats from sunset to sunrise we were informed. This is NOT posted, but we paid the ticket. No desire to get in a tussle with the Feds. And [the] Officer couldn’t have been nicer about it. He really didn’t want to write us the ticket.
Apparently the refuge “owns” (long-term leases from the State of FL) the Refuge which includes the bottom of the Bay within the Refuge which is all the enclosed water inside the sandbar at the inner mouth. The Refuge Boundary extends beyond the Bay mouth and I believe includes “Horseshoe Bay” anchorage area. But Jim was very clear that the Refuge didn’t claim to “own” the bottom of any waters outside of Tarpon Bay itself. NO TICKETS WOULD BE WRITTEN TO ANYONE OUTSIDE TARPON BAY. Jim told us that we could anchor just beyond the sand spit “point” in front of the houses and the Refuge would have no problem. Apparently a rental company of “Party Boats” had been suggesting the Bay as a weekend late night party spot to patrons. Neighbors complained. Tickets were issued and the company was warned but I guess it was a real problem for some time. Well a neighbor saw us enter the Bay (on a Fri. evening) and called the Refuge Director.
So the word should be spread just to be aware not to enter Tarpon Bay after dark. Apparently one fisherman has a permit to do so. Everyone else is technically trespassing, they maintain…
We should have passed this info along at the time. Better late than never?
John McLaughlin
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