New destination for vacation...
rasbury
Member Posts: 8,395 ✭✭✭✭✭
Well, after a lot of thought and checking around we bailed on going up around St. Augustine and booked a place down around Sebastian Inlet. Before everyone hollers, I know that inlet can be a real problem- have no intention of going out on the ocean...I keep telling my wife that, like where the heck are we going to go, England? Anyway, looks like there are some cool spoil islands in the area, I have our dingy set to go to find a nice one to hang out on and there are a few dinning places on the water in the area but in general, don't know the area. We are staying at a place called Captain Hirams which we have been there several times before by car. We have spent the last 4 years over in Tiks's area at Cayo Costa and other area islands but with the bigger boat wanted to try something different. We will be there for a week...and will have access to our vehicle which previous years we did not....anyone having any local knowlege of the area, will appreciate any information!
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Boat Name: King Kong
"Boat + Water = Fun"
Ironically I'm sitting on the boat at ft myers beach at a cruise with 6 others boats who came down the Kissimmee river across the lake and down the caloosahatchee over 150mi away. Its an idyllic night and we leave tomorrow to head back up through Cayo Costa to pull out in Placida at Palm island Marina.
Here's a pic from where I was today and one of the current view. Cya on the water. Mike
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express
here is one of those crowded beach pictures....
actually, this is upper captiva island....
Here is Cayo Costa....
How does anybody find a place to put a chair on such a crowded beach
Wedging your boat up to the beach with all the boomboxes jet skis and poorly anchored runabouts is a real chore too......
It helps that they caught a world record hammerhead shark a few yrs ago about a mile away...cue the jaws music.... Just sayin' (mostly sayin' to preserve my hermit like tropical boat paradise for myself)
....Come to Boca Grande, Cayo Costa and relax on the bow.....
Next time I get to Sarasota ( my favorite Florida spot ) you'll have to show me how to get to those spots looks great
you sail south along the coast and when the condo's start to fade, your there! It is stunning!
We rent one of the few homes on the island that rent (maybe 10 houses total on the island), it is erie in the evening as the total isolation is overwhelming. We usually go in July so the few other homes that are there, the snowbirds have flown back north and you just about have a private island! Love it!
I've enjoyed the one called picnic island (I believe, or maybe that was another one). We went to one that the dolphins followed us to and had a very nice sandy spot all to ourselves! Man I sure wish my old man had his boat and place in Cape Coral!
Oh, we had saw some dolphins on our last trip coming back into the southern end of the Chesapeake....who says we don't have all that up here as well!
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express
Sounds great admiral might not like it but I would and let's face it some times it's gotta be about us lol
I was surprised my wife adapted to it- she's the type that camping out is the Holiday Inn..the homes are nice, they run on solar with no air but they are built way up in the air and the windows open all around, we were actually looking for covers at night. This is the first home we stayed at, which was a little ruff....if you go to VBO (vacation by owners) web site and put in Cayo Costa you will see the couple of homes that you can rent....the prices seem to be going up from past years but I think we stayed for right around a grand for the week. There is a made made channel on the bay side to dock your boat and the renters have either golf carts or 4 wheelers with a trailer to hall the crap around...we have stayed at Little Gasperialla, Cayo Costa and Upper Captiva and each has their own charm!
Looks and sounds great to me don't have anything like that here in Lake Erie
In Florida you have the panhandle area and SW Florida that have some really undeveloped beaches....not sure how much longer they will last.
Dolphins, sharks, sand flies, no-see-ums, heat/humidity and Alligators are all a real part of the natural experience on Cayo Costa island. Locals understand the "Florida experience" and that (along with the lack of a bridge) keeps the visitors in check, hence the uncrowded beaches
Our pics above from Ft Myers beach at Pink Shell Resort with a quick rental boat ride across to Sanibel lighthouse, 3 huge pools and water toys standing ready on the beach is a more civilized experience. The .50c trolly runs 8mi S along the coast passing hundreds of shops and dinner choices.
The 170' high speed KeyWest shuttle also leaves from near there for a 3hr skip across Fl Bay at 40mph everyday (R/T if you want. 8am dep/11pm rtn). Well worth the experience just to hear the four turbo diesels wind up while they blow huge rooster tails out of their quad jet drives. Grab a comfy seat in the a/c and watch the bay peel by or play slots/blackjack once out past 10mi.
KW is certainly colorful and fun. We'll catch the KW shuttle on Fri and get a B&B and rent a scooter in KW for a fun weekend of snorkeling and rum poisoning, then return on Sun to FM when we've had enough. Sappy tourist shot before aforementioned poisoning....
Cya, Mike
RY, I figured I'd have your attn at "diesels".... lol
yeah, well we were sitting on the beach on Cayo and did have a gator come up behind us, that was a bit unnerving... not sure who was more startled, him or me but he took off first!