Rollers on a windy day facing the gulf. Across this span is Texas and Mexico.

This is your private island beach. The house owns part of this beach which allows you to park your cart at the beach and come and go as you please. The sand here is excellent for sand castles. Surf fishing is good here as well.

At the house, if you turn North on Gulf Lane and go seven houses down you get to Castaway Key beach.

Perfect for evening fishing on the grasses, this is also an ideal swimming area for kids because of the gentle slope. When the gulf is having high waves, it’s usually quiet on this side. When Pine Island Sound breeze is up West Airport Beach is usually nice.

If you have a boat or are up for a walk go south and eventually you arrive at the narrowest part of the island where you have beeches on both East and West. The east side is shallow and a bit mucky but the west side has a long shallow beach with thrilling rollers. Just south of here, at the cut through, a 2001 hurricane washed through and split the island again. After Charlie in 2003 there is now Charlie pass south of narrows or cut through beach.

from West aproximately.

from East of last photo.

Though the slope is steeper here, this is a fine place to play in the water while someone else fishes. The fish house attracts many kinds of fish though you will undoubtedly lose a hook or two in the pilings. The rewards can be great though; one night three of us hauled in Jacks as fast as we could reel them in.

This is the social sunsetter’s beach. At sunset, locals and friends come here to catch the last rays of the day and say hello. The sand is good for swimming here as well. A nice short walk is to go along the beach to the North to see Captiva pass and back.

At the south end of Gulf Lane beach, there is a state parking area. Take the trail to the beach and you will have almost 4 miles of virtually deserted white sand beach. An ideal evening walk is to take this beach as far as you can and then come back. After a storm or high tide there can be spectacular shelling.

When the Australian Pines toppled in the hurricane their woody skeletons rolled in the surf for years until removed. They have a shallow flat root system that helps the tree to grow quickly but can't support the tree in a storm.

Parking at the end of Gulf Lane.

Charlie Beach

These beaches formed in 2004 after hurricane Charlie came through. Keep walking south on the west side until you can walk no further. Do you think this pass, Charlie pass, will fill in?

During low tides some areas show above the water. They make wonderful explorations of our sea neighbors. Treat these areas as your neighbor’s home. You may legally collect one live shell a day but the mollusks would prefer it if you didn’t collect any.

Castaway Key beach is another two houses down.