Cayo Costa State Park Beach
Cayo Costa, FL
Nine miles of undeveloped Gulf coastline on an island with no bridge, reachable only by boat or ferry from Captiva or Pine Island. Locals who make the trip come for shelling and the kind of quiet that has mostly disappeared from the more developed barrier islands nearby.
Nine miles of undeveloped coastline with no bridge in, the ferry keeps this quieter than the more developed barrier islands nearby, bring cash and supplies for the day.
How we score beachesBring cash for the ferry and enough supplies for the day, since the island has no stores of its own.
Dogs are allowed elsewhere in Cayo Costa State Park but are not permitted on the beach.
Southwest Florida's Gulf water warms into the 80s by summer, with hurricane season, June through November, overlapping most of the warm stretch. Winter brings the mildest, driest weather and the best shelling conditions, which is when a lot of regulars actually prefer to visit.
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