Trip to Cape Coral in March

[diveman]

Hello fellow CSR boaters. I am bringing my family down to Cape Coral in mid March. The house that we are renting is right on the canal at the junction with the river and the owners of the home have included their 22' deck boat (non-Sea Ray). We are looking for recommendations of things to do with my family (Me, wife, 9 year old daughter and 6 year old son). We do a lot of fresh water boating up here (Toronto - Muskoka) but this will be my first time in the salt/tidal areas.

I would love to spend most of my day on the water. Would Sanibel/Captiva be a good day? Do people drop the hook in Fort Myers Beach area?

Any and all recommendations would be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Creekwood]

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/70534-Cape-Coral-Vacation-Advice
http://www.thehulltruth.com/florida-georgia/641120-cape-coral-vacation-advice.html
Ditto MIke.
I posted earlier about this same issue, both here and on THT. See the links above.
Frank

 

[Blueone]

There are a lot of places to go... We have done the same trip a number of times. Here are a few:

Rumrunners - is a good water front restaurant to tie up at for lunch or dinner
Tarpon Point - is another nice marina and restaurant close by
The Mucky Duck - on Captiva is a nice ride.. Transient slips are available on the east side of the island at various marinas and is a nice walk around town to the restaurant
South side of Sanibel just around corner of lighthouse point - good place to anchor off the beach on a calm day and look for shells on shore.
Ft Myers beach - definitely anchor off the beach. You can rent beach chairs and umbrellas on the beach. We always go just east of the pier
Nervous Nellies on the inland side is a nice place to pull up into a transient slip for lunch and walk around
Big shell island thru the slow part on you way out or back to Cape Coral is a great place to see Dolphins

 

[diveman]

Thanks for the replies Frank and Dan. I will definitely look into the places that you suggest. The last time we were in Sanibel we did a charter out of Captiva that was fantastic and the kids saw Dolphins. It would be so much better if we were to see them on our own boat!

I understand that the river has speed limits. Are they 5mph for the whole run or just as the river narrows approaches the Shell Islands?

 

[J.Wilt]

Just returned from a 10 day trip to Cape Coral. The house we used had a 22ft Hurricane deck boat, they are nice little runabouts for the day, very popular in the area. It can get a little rough if the winds kick up by Fort Meyers Beach but if it's calm you can drop anchor south of the pier. A lot faster than driving over the bridge to the beach area. Make sure you have a GPS or chart plotter and watch your depth gauge closely, or get paper charts and stay on the marked waterway and you should be fine. Lots of great boating on the ICW behind Sanibel, Captiva and Estero Islands kids loved looking for dolphins. Watch out for cruisers that are up on plane, they don't slow down for the small boats and they throw some monster wakes. Lots of reseraunts you can pull the boat up to, Grandma Dots on south end of Sanibel, Rumrunners near Tarpen Point, Pariot Key near Fort Meyers Beach. Good restraunt to drive to in Cape Coal is Ford's Garage.
Enjoy

 

[RollerCoastr]

It can get a little rough if the winds kick up by Fort Meyers Beach but if it's calm you can drop anchor south of the pier. A lot faster than driving over the bridge to the beach area.

Yeah, that's a very popular anchorage, but it also attracts some hard-core boaters. I've found that judging conditions by how many people are willing to drop the hook there is a mistake - I've bounced around at anchor in 2 footers amongst a hundred boats and finally decided it wasn't worth it...

Here's a shot from Ugly's / Nervous Nellies. It's one of my favorite stops (in the center is the 27PC that I "adopt" while on the W. Side) On far side of that causeway is Doc Ford's, which is on the way to the previously-mentioned Parrot Key. Just on the other side of the causeway (at the bow of the tallship) is Matanza's Inn.

This is The Boat House in Cape Coral (SE corner). Last wkd was the first time I had even cruised by and we didn't stop, but I hear good things and it looks to be an easy place to get fuel:

ActiveCaptain is a great resource for this area. Curiously, the FMB anchorage isn't noted. I guess I could remedy that... At any rate, the satellite view shows 6-7 boats anchored south of the pier, so you can go online for a preview of where it is.

 

[h_gerry]

We spend a week or two on Captiva every year in November. We always rent a small boat for a few days while there. My suggestions would be Cabbage Key and Barnacle Phil's on North Captiva. Both of them are good food and a nice ride. There is very good shelling on the south end of Cayo Costa. You can beach the boat on the inside of Cayo and walk around. All of these are on our "must do" list every trip.

These shot was from our last trip to Cayo in November.

This is Cabbage Key's docks:

Cabbage Key's Egret named Floyd:

It is also worth a drive to Tween-Waters on Captiva for the Crab Races on Monday and Thursday. Lots of fun for the family at the early show and the adults at the late show. Great sunsets too:

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[Carver370]

The Boat House in Cape Coral is one of my favorite places. I was there last weekend. I love captiva as well. I'd make a trip to tween waters as well. Tons of boating to do!

Seth, I actually was at the boat house that Saturday afternoon on my 17 Pioneer!

 

[diveman]

Thanks for all the pictures and tips. Now I just have to bide my time until March.


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[RollerCoastr]

Seth, I actually was at the boat house that Saturday afternoon on my 17 Pioneer!

That's crazy! The time-stamp on that pic is 2:53 pm. Too bad you weren't in Nightingale - she would've stood out a little... :grin:

 

[diveman]

Well the time has flown by and in 5 days we are going to be in Cape Coral. Does anyone have a "guaranteed" location for finding either Dolphins or manatees? We are based right on the river leading out to Sanibel.


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[Creekwood]

Diveman, we are also looking forward to getting down there. Especially after the cold winter we have had. Our flight out is 9:30PM or something Friday night on Air Canada. Arrives at some ungodly hour. Our rental house is on the canal near one of the bridges. More North than I would have liked but close to the river. Note to self: book earlier next year.

I have a fishing charter booked for Saturday afternoon which will help me get a sense for the area and I will likely rent a boat later in the week if the weather is good for it. I would like to tour around Captiva.

 

[diveman]

Hi Creekwood. I so hear you about our winter! I am in Toronto and it feels like it has been cold from November until today. Good riddance. The long range forecast looks good good but I am not going to celebrate until I get down there. We arrive on Saturday at 4:00pm. The house we rented is right at the intersection of the canal and the river just S/W of the last bridge. I will attach a chart. The blue pin is our house. The house came with a 23' deck boat (not SeaRay) so I expect to spend the better part of the holiday hopping around Sanibel, Captiva and Fort Myers beach.

See you down there! If you see a family of 4 (me, my wife, my 9yr old daughter and 6 yr old son, flag us down and join us for a beer!

Mike

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[Ebsteffner]

You're gonna love it. Manatees will find you, you don't have to find them. By the way, so will the Fl game and fish boys. Go slow!!


Ed

 

[almostenuff]

I just left my house in the Cape for St John. Dolphin are everywhere. However, I have pretty good luck 1000' south of Sanibel 7-10' water. Just plow around 10mph paralleling the shoreline and you'll have some friends join you.

 

[Creekwood]

Hi Creekwood. I so hear you about our winter! I am in Toronto and it feels like it has been cold from November until today. Good riddance. The long range forecast looks good good but I am not going to celebrate until I get down there. We arrive on Saturday at 4:00pm. The house we rented is right at the intersection of the canal and the river just S/W of the last bridge. I will attach a chart. The blue pin is our house. The house came with a 23' deck boat (not SeaRay) so I expect to spend the better part of the holiday hopping around Sanibel, Captiva and Fort Myers beach.

See you down there! If you see a family of 4 (me, my wife, my 9yr old daughter and 6 yr old son, flag us down and join us for a beer!

Mike

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We are in Oakville, actually. The boat and our cottage are on Georgian Bay.

I will be on the look out for a foursome of pasty white Canadian's. There can't be too many of us down there this time of year can there? :smt001
I guess maybe there is a chance I will spot you guys if I am out on the water. Have a great vacation!

 

[diveman]

Well the day started great in Cape Coral today. We left the House and headed out into the channel and through the Miserable mile. Once through, we anchored at Sanibel pier and let the kids go for a swim and some beach time.

After a couple of hours of beach/sun/swim time we packed up and prepared to weigh anchor and head back. After bringing up the anchor I proceeded to head NE but realized that I couldn't steer to port. Starboard was very stiff too. As it turned out I ended up needing a tow back to port. Thank goodness for towboat US. They were there in 20 minutes and had us back to home port (Cape Coral) in about an hour and a half.

Damn rental boats. I really miss my Sea Ray!

 

[Creekwood]

Diveman, that sucks. Who did you rent from? I am planning on renting on Tues or Wed.
I did a charter on Satruday afternoon. We limited on Mangrove Snappers and got two nice Sea Trout and a couple undersized snook that went back. Good fun and good eaten too.

 

[diveman]

We didn't rent from a company. The house we rented included their boat in the rental. Next time we rent a house with a boat I am going to ask for service records. :-/