Know Your Florida Beaches

[pranas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pranas]

There are so many nice beaches on the Atlantic side thay have been left out of this guide.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

I remember that Mom and Pop place where the beach club is now and I also remember the owners being very rude and acting as if they were doing you a favor by letting you stay in their white sterile cottages. I for one am glad they sold out and left. Now the Bonita beach resort motel was where we went for years before I discovered timeshares. They were boat and pet friendly so my brother could bring his boat and I could bring my dachshund.

It worked out great for years and they only charged $40 a night for a "1 bedroom", really a motel room with an efficiency kitchen and an open slat wood wall between the living and bedroom. We did that place for more than 10 years with our whole family in the summer and they let you dock the boat for free. Then one year they sold off half the resort to the city for beach parking. He is still there renting pontoon boats which obviously was more profitable than running the motel but after that we ventured out into the wild wild world of timeshares and am glad I did although they don't let you bring your dog.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Got my little niche in SW FL and probably won't give it up after 30 years . . . Yes, I was 10 when I first went there.

So can you share your niche? I'd love to stay there. Don't worry I won't take a winter week I promise.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

There are so many nice beaches on the Atlantic side thay have been left out of this guide.

I agree they need to finish the site. I also like Key Biscayne in Miami which I'm sure would never be high on anyones list unless you've stayed there before. Unfortunately now that they've torn down Sonesta I think they only have one small motel and the Ritz Carlton left on the island to stay in.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Now I am having problems modifying the ongoing search. First the region would not change, then finally did. Then the dates would not change. When they did they are wrong.

I had to call a Guide to get the correct dates in.

As he was talking it through he said that area is FSW2. I am going to assume that SW FL is FSW1, and John the Friendly Guide just hit the wrong key this morning.

Anyway, there, Day 1 and I seem to have gotten the Ongoing Search correctly set up now.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I posted the beach site as the best I've seen, not that it is totally comprehensive. Is there a contact link on it where you can make suggestions of ones to add.

My niche is just about all of SW FL, but around Lovers Key m/l is our favorite. Now that I think about it my first year there was our Bicentennial year, February 1976. We went there then to the Daytona 500. Later that year we went to the Indy 500.

I am trying hard to convince myself to like Englewood/Manasota Key, but it's hard.

We seldom have done persnickety resorts, and that option seems to have been eliminated 5/30. We did Club Regency on Marco a few years back and a really nice 1700 sq foot unit at Lighthouse on Sanibel (last year).

Mostly we get lesser, but comfy, places.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

What do you mean 5/30? Is that the upgrade date?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

What do you mean 5/30? Is that the upgrade date?

Yes, that's how others are referring to it. Prior to that date I had been seeing 600 M/L SGC exchanges available in the next 24 months. Since then it has been 230-255.

Let me answer your PM here, cuz some may find it interesting.

The area from Bonita Beach (mainland) to Ft. Myers Beach is a series of islands, or keys, separated by passes. Heading north(west) from Bonita Beach, the main road changes name from Bonita Beach Road to Hickory Blvd to Estero Blvd.

On the north side of the main road is Estero Bay and on the south side is the Gulf and beaches.

I'll need some help remembering the passes, but here's how it goes, starting at Bonita Beach.

Where the road curves north, that is Barefoot Beach, a very busy beach with a trolley stop, lots of parking and a beach bar/restaurant. The road changes from Bonita Beach Road to Hickory Blvd at the curve.

The next little jog is where it goes over the first pass, Big Hickory Pass. On the north side is BR&C and Big Hickory Marina and on the south side is the access park and Beach Club we have been talking about.

Once you cross that bridge you are on Big Hickory Island.

The next pass is New Pass. That is a very busy pass. It is a primary Gulf access for pleasure boths coming across Estero Bay. The Cocoanut Hyatt Beach Club is on the east side of New Pass.

When you cross New Pass you are on Lovers Key. Immediately on the south side is Dog Beach where there is always a bunch of dogs who have taken their owners to Lovers Key for the day. They're fun to watch . . .the dogs not the owners. Well, maybe some of the owners.

You asked where is the nearest timeshare to Lovers Key and the answer is Lovers Key. The Lovers Key Resort is a semi-high rise at the west end of Lovers Key on the north side. It is not fully timeshare but there are (were) weeks available there fairly often, up until, well, you know.

I'm drawing a blank on the name of the next pass, but it is a main one too, with a drawbridge, so it is the one that sailboats would use. Once you cross the bridge at that pass, you are on Estero Island and the road changes to Estero Blvd.

Ft. Myers Beach is on Estero Island and folks refer to areas of it like the South beaches or Times Square or Bowditch Park.

You mentioned Mariners Boathouse, and we stayed there once on an II comp week. That is the area of Estero Island where there is no beach. There's a stinky lagoon intead. Tropical Sands Resort is across the road there. It is near the south end of Estero Island, the 7000-8000 block area of Estero Blvd. Yes, Caribbean Beach Club is there, too.

And Yes, since they are near the south end of Estero Island they are not far from Lovers Key.

When you swing north from Estero Blvd in the busy, resorty, touristy part of the Island, where all the motorcycles and tatooed ladies hang out, it becomes San Carlos Blvd and there is a tall bridge over Matanzas Pass.

From Bonita Beach to the end of Ft. Myers Beach is around 15 miles.

By boat, taking passes and Estero Bay you can get all the way from Ft. Myers Beach to past 41 HWY. You also get to Vanderbilt Beach by boat without going into the Gulf.

The passes and bays are channeled and it is not wise to wander out of them. But it is entertaining when folks do.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Learn something new everyday. I didn't know that Lovers Key resort was part a timeshare. Not that that would be my first choice but I bet the views are awesome up there, especially at night. The views on the beach at night are not so great because you don't see anything but dark.

I am thinking the name of the forgotten pass is San Carlos pass.
Can't find it on a map but it's somewhere in my mind.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

I don't want to step on toes, but when I look at the righthand beaches, say a popular one like Cocoa Beach, and compare it to any os the SW FL beaches, as high up as Anna Maria Island, there is no comparison.

The gulf beaches, maybe because the shallowness of the Gulf, just are sooooo much nicer.

I agree with you in the winter but in the summer Hollywood is just as nice if not nicer because the water turns blue at times and is crystal clear. The west coast never gets blue and is often murky. I've been at Hollywood in the summer sometimes and it looks like the Caribbean sea. Granted it's not like that all the time but when it is in mid July to me it's almost perfect and that's when I own my week.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I am thinking the name of the forgotten pass is San Carlos pass.
Can't find it on a map but it's somewhere in my mind.

I was thinking that too, but figure SC would be the pass with the tall bridge. But I saw that is Matanzas. San Carlos Bay is the body of water west of San Carlos Blvd, in the direction of Sanibel.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I agree with you in the winter but in the summer Hollywood is just as nice if not nicer because the water turns blue at times and is crystal clear. The west coast never gets blue and is often murky. I've been at Hollywood in the summer sometimes and it looks like the Caribbean sea. Granted it's not like that all the time but when it is in mid July to me it's almost perfect and that's when I own my week.

Our first modern-day FL trips, circa '89 and '90, were in the summer and to the righthand coast. We have fam on Merritt Island. We have sampled beaches on both upper and lower right and left hand coasts, the Keys, Texas, Socal and Kauai.

The worst in FL beat the best in Texas.

Are favorites are SW FL.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

The pass between Estero Island and Lovers Key is Big Carlos Pass . . . I knew that . . . The one with the tall bridge at the other end of Estero Island is Matanzas Pass. When you cross it you are on another island, San Carlos Island and that's where the fishing fleet and cruise ships are.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Our first modern-day FL trips, circa '89 and '90, were in the summer and to the righthand coast. We have fam on Merritt Island. We have sampled beaches on both upper and lower right and left hand coasts, the Keys, Texas, Socal and Kauai.

The worst in FL beat the best in Texas.

Are favorites are SW FL.

Merrit island is too far north. Too rough still. Come to Hollywood one year. It's not like you don't have a few weeks to burn. Oh well if I can't make you a believer then more sand for me. Gotta go it's turkey time.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Jim, you have Barefoot Beach mixed up. You turn left at the stoplight called barefoot beach road. You drive quite a way south through a subdivision of high priced condos. You then enter a Collier county Park and pay a fee to enter. There is a nature area and a long beach. If you walk south to the end of it, you will be at Wiggins Pass and you can see Delnor Wiggins State Park on the other side.
I don't know the name of the beach where you begin the turn north on bonita Beach Road, there is a pay parking lot and a restaurant/bar called docs which is Chicago Bear headquarters during the season.
I am currently on Hutchinson's Island, outside of Stuart on the east coast. We are very dissapointed inthe beach. When you try to walk, you sink two to three inches with each step. So i have spent most of the time on the balcony looking over the ocean.
Today our excitement was 5 hours without water and the fire alarm for the entire building going off and everyone evacuating. the noise was so loud, the fire department couldn't turn it off, it is Thanksgiving and the manager had to come as noone was on duty. we went for a ride to get away from the noise.