Dot's Way Cruising Cat: Sarasota to Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa State Park, Florida

At first light we let loose of the mooring ball and headed into Marina Jacks for fuel, water and a pump out and then we were good to go south. We had one swing bridge and one drawbridge we were too tall to go under so we had to request an opening but otherwise we breezed through. The boat traffic picked up considerably after 11 am and we were grateful to enter the anchorage at Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa State Park. This park you can only access by boat and there is a huge ferry that comes into the State Park dock. We are looking forward to walking the beach and hiking the trails and staying through the weekend.

Swing bridge where bridgetender goes out to operate it

Colorful sailing dinghies near Venice

Along the land cut with bike paths on both sides

A recumbent tricycle

Two ferries crossing our course

Swing bridge with two lane boat traffic

Old railroad trestle bridge with trees growing

Happy sea turtle near the pass

Happy captain that we dodged all the traffic and now with anchors down beer

Ferry to State Park dock

We got an early start to exploring the island as we were the second dinghy at the state park dock. We paid our $2 dollar admission fee per person and followed the signs to the campground and beach across the island. We followed the beach toward the Boca Grande Pass and then found a trail that brought us to the anchorage side of the island and by the Pioneer Cemetery before returning to the closed visitor center. We had our picnic lunch after the ferry landed and all the tourists boarded the tram to the beach. Good timing on our part to depart in the dinghy and circumnavigate the anchorage. We turned into the Manatee Hole which surprisingly had a private dock and house and we spotted two manatees. We turned off the engine and floated towards them and then spooked one as he took a mad dive to the bottom and then out of the pond. We spotted some fishy spots to return to. About half the boats have departed and we imagine they will be replaced as the Friday crowd moves in to this huge anchorage. There's a dozen boats around the point we can't see except on our dinghy ride.

A spectacular island park

Bench overlooking the gulf beach

Miles of shelling

Startled great blue heron

Critter tracks

Hiking trails across the island

Shady and lush vegetation

Prickly pear cactus beware

Flowering vine

View of Boca Grande Pass

Shore birds feeding in the surf

Wildlife preserve

Pioneer cemetery

Peaceful rest stop

Old water tower

Heading towards Manatee Hole

Spotted manatee snouts

Floated up close

Nesting birds with their chicks

Beautiful mangrove bird sanctuary

Barnacles on the mangroves

Roosting pelican trio

Our second day of exploring the trails on the island we had the advantage of the posted trail map. Yesterday we took the Cabin Trail to the Gulf Beach Trail to the Cemetery Trail and back to the dock. This morning we took the Quarantine Trail to the Osprey Trail to the Dolphin Trail to the Padilla Trail to the Gulf Beach Trail and past the cabins and campground. We ate our picnic lunch on one of the cabin picnic tables. The new restrooms were open and on our return we stopped at Camp Store for a Klondike ice cream. We saw no one on our travels except when we came across the tram carting folks from the ferry landing to the beach. This is a little bit of paradise.

Posted trail map

Cabin Trail is the road used by the tram

Caught the scurrying critter by surprise

The Quarantine Trail

Slithering snake rustled into the leaves

Knickernut bush with sea pearls

Near old quarantine dock

Strangler fig

Early blooms on cactus

Another snake scooting across the trail

Cabins with bunkbeds but no water or electricity

Camper chickee pavilion with music advertised Saturday night

Beach stingray warning

Our third day of exploring took us through the campgrounds to find the trail around the lake. Others reported seeing alligators around the lake but we did not see any wildlife today. We walked the distance of the island in the opposite direction of previous days and ended up walking the beach around the point and ending up back at the campground for a picnic lunch. We saw one women fishing on the beach who had just landed a snook. Other than that it was just us out and about.