#boat-only
4 posts tagged.
Caladesi Island — Florida's Boat-Only #1 Beach No One Talks About
Three miles of empty white sand named #1 USA Beach by Dr. Beach. No bridge, no buildings, no concessions — just a $16 ferry from Honeymoon Island, hourly, or your own boat. The Florida the developers never got their hands on.
Cayo Costa — Nine Miles of Empty Gulf Beach You Can Only Reach by Boat
There's no bridge. There's no parking lot. There's a ferry from Pine Island or Captiva that drops you on a barrier island with nine miles of Gulf-facing beach, primitive cabins, and the best shelling in the United States. Most people who live in Florida have never been here.
Egmont Key — A Spanish-American War Fort and a Tortoise Refuge in the Mouth of Tampa Bay
Stand at the mouth of Tampa Bay and look out — that island is Egmont Key. 1898 fortifications, a working 1858 lighthouse, and a federal wildlife refuge full of gopher tortoises. You get there only by boat. The ruins are the kind of place a movie scout would invent and an Army Corps engineer would call ridiculous.
Lignumvitae Key — The Last Untouched Hardwood Hammock in the Keys
A 280-acre island off Lower Matecumbe accessible only by boat, where ranger-led tours walk you through what the Upper Keys looked like before anyone showed up with a chainsaw. Mahogany, gumbo limbo, and lignum vitae trees that pre-date the state of Florida.