Trip to North Captiva in February

Todd320

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2016
1,508
St. Petersburg, FL
Boat Info
2007 Sea Ray 320DA
Engines
Twin V-drive 5.7L 350 Horizon
okay, my daughters and nieces have convinced me to take the boat down to north Captiva for a bachelorette party they are having. North Captiva is only accessible by boat. I explained that if the weather is not good, I cannot get down there. I explained if an engine dies, I cannot get down there, but they are willing to take that risk. They are staying in a vrbo and want me to “be there captain for the weekend”. I explained this will probably cost me quite a bit in gas, (90 miles away, so 800$ in gas just to get there and back), they are willing to pay my expenses.
So, question one: what are the good day spots for in or near north Captiva? My boat has a <3’ draft, so I can get into some pretty skinny water.
Second, good marinas close by, for gas, possibly staying the night?
Third, if I decide to stay on the hook, where are the good anchorages? Waterway guide is telling me the southern tip of Caya Costa has some protected anchorages, but my gps is telling me the depths there are not enough. There is a nice harbor on NC, see pic, can you anchor in there safely, depths look great on gps.
Finally, here is a pic. The circled spot is approximately where they are staying, the arrow points to what looks like a state park dock, but neither google or Apple identified it. Any idea what that dock is?

25CC5492-AEAA-4C5B-8F6A-07B98CB223BE.jpeg
 
It's good that your boat can get into skinny water because you will be in exactly that going into that basin. If you can get in, stay along the shore in the channel as the middle of the basin is very shallow. I suggest trying to call Barnacles which is the larger dock north of dock you are indicating. Barnacles is a restaurant, gift shop and ice cream shop. People mostly dock there during the day for the restaurant but maybe they would let you stay the night. The dock you are pointing to I believe is a yacht club or a private dock for the condominiums, I can't remember.
Your other options are to go to South Seas or Tween Waters, both on Captiva a few miles south. Both have a fuel dock.
A good anchorage is in front of Tween Waters Marina. Another is Pelican Bay on Cayo Costa but is a little further away
 
We're not from the area so can't comment on most of your questions, but as for your question on an anchorage, we stayed at one that we really liked near the area you're talking about. It's called Punta Blanca South on Active Captain and is part of Cayo Costa State Park. We are currently in the Ft Myers area and when we leave here in a few weeks to go further south, we are planning to go back for a night or two to see if the wildlife is still as good as it was when we were there last time. You can read a few lines about it in our blog from 2016 here:
http://ourcaptainschoice.blogspot.com/2016/12/jeopardy-and-other-loop-knowledge.html
You're a lucky guy to have the young ladies in your family want to include you in their plans, have fun
 
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Cod is spot on. South Seas Resort would be the closest marina followed by Tween waters. The anchorage at the north end of Cayo Costa in Pelican Bay is one of the best in that area. Take a look at the Active Captain map for good info.

Mike
 
This is great information! I have located both Pelican Bay and Punta Blanca South (I have highlighted below, the active captain icons when expanded explain the anchorages in great detail).
The trip to south seas looks pretty straight forward, only 6-7 miles. I have been close to south seas before, but I was on my 23’ deck boat (11” draft with outboard up!) back in 2004 or so, but I definitely recall now going through Redfish pass just above South Seas.

Thanks! I’ll try to provide updates or additional questions, but no pics of the actual trip, cause you know, what happens in North Captiva, stays in North Captiva (okay maybe a few, assuming my boat and captain skills can get me there...)

2F097053-B4BE-475B-B004-E29F4DAFB1D0.jpeg
 
cod knows that area very well, really good advice. We went in that area on our dinghy. Pretty shallow.

You are close to Cabbage Key - an interesting place to visit for lunch.

We are huge South Seas fans.
 
As far as day spots on north Captiva, our go to spot is north of red fish pass maybe a 1/4 mile or so on the outside. Nice beach and good chance you will have it all to yourself. I was in South Seas Marina a couple weeks ago and the water looked terrible. Also, don't forget Burnt Store Marina, its in that neck of the woods.
 
As I look at the gps, there seems to no way into that harbor. Lots of 0-1 ft, so maybe I can get in there at high tide, but then I’m stuck. All the boats from the satellite images are smaller boats with outboards where you can raise the props up and get through 1-2 ft depths. There is a ferry supposedly going back and forth, but I don’t see where it is dropping off cars, maybe it is just a passenger ferry, but they must have someway to get cars/trucks/construction vehicles over.
 
As far as day spots on north Captiva, our go to spot is north of red fish pass maybe a 1/4 mile or so on the outside. Nice beach and good chance you will have it all to yourself. I was in South Seas Marina a couple weeks ago and the water looked terrible. Also, don't forget Burnt Store Marina, its in that neck of the woods.
Thanks, I am hoping the cool-ish weather an cool-ish water help tamp down the red tide and the tide flushes it out of there (maybe some south and east winds would help, not sure.). I noticed the boats running on the outside near shore, so I was hoping that would be a good day spot, thanks for th confirmation.
 

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