UPDATE ON COMMERCIAL USE OF "NARROWS" SOUTH END

CAYO COSTA IN PERIL: SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERY WHERE SIGNS

Remember when you could pull up in your boat, anchor off the narrow south beaches of Cayo Costa and enjoy a peaceful time with nature? Not any more. The state park officials are allowing Captive Cruises to negatively impact the resources on this fragile part of Cayo Costa State Park, this has to stop. Now there are signs everywhere and PA systems announcing the boat's arrival like you are some Disney theme park. This has to stop.

Remember this? The photo below is the way the beach used to look like along the now heavily traveled stretch. These photos were taken about 1.2 miles north and show a healthy dune system growing along roots stretching toward the Gulf:

Like clockwork at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM plus other times unannounced you will hear the loudspeakers of the 50' long Captiva Cruises charter boats arriving at the tiny "south dock" with up to 52 passengers at a time. That's up to 104 people per day times 30 days a month times 365 days per year coming the the narrowest part of the island, only 300' wide. They disembark between the only 5 private houses on the south beach end of the island (there are about 2 miles along this stretch) on an illegally permitted dock and walk along a path where mangroves have been sawed back and native leaves and such have been raked away as inconveniences. They have turned this into Disney on Cayo.

The Captiva Cruises customers walk along the sand dune roots and pick up bags of shells. The shorebirds don't come there anymore during the day. The protected nesting snowy plovers don't nest along this stretch of beach anymore. The charter captains sit at the path but can't control where these people go once they leave the vicinity. The only bathroom is the head on the boat but most are way down the beach. Where do you think they go to the bathroom? Many of them trespass on private property.

Here is a photo of the continued destruction of the sea oat systems:

NOTE: These dunes will NEVER grow forward with this much human impact ruining their root systems. Basically they are stunting the growth of a healthy beach and this is wrong.

Above is the beach path with the lone clump of dune left after the people have trampled down the rest of the dune line. I staked this clump off and it is growing. Too bad it is not flanked by other sea oats to complete the chain and protect Pine Island Sound.

This beach only saw about a dozen people per day on weekdays but now there are 100 per day at least. Here is a view looking one way which another large group heads the other way.

Here is a "nest" made by a Captiva Cruises guest who left it on the beach. Now there are many holes and mounds of sand left on the beach, the ghost crabs are not having a good time and are affected by this impact. The seagrass washup is important for the sustainability of the beach and it's critters. Does this look like "wild Florida?" No, a bird did not build this.

Just a few miles further north are the State Park facilities designed for large groups of people. The same Captiva Cruises boats could travel a few more minutes and dock here where it makes more sense. Here there is a tram to take them the mile across five ecosystems of the island to the beach. There are bathrooms and concessions rentals and snacks to buy. This is where large groups should be dropped off for a wonderful Cayo Costa experience.

Here is what the Captiva Cruises staff do when they are on Cayo with their customers (staff member sits under umbrella behind the sand dune line) . They sit and maybe get up a couple of times but they do not and can't monitor what is going on along the beach. There is no control over this.

Meanwhile, below,  here is a Captiva Cruises customer trespassing on private property. They have not been instructed as to what the mean high tide line is. The state put "stay off dune" signs up and down the beach that talk about how important healthy dune systems are to the beach erosion problem. They need to be placed at the mean high tide line so people stay off the private property and stay forward of the advancing root systems.

Funny thing is no one ever used to worry about property lines or dune systems until all these people started coming at the end of January. Now there are signs up everywhere  which is unsightly and unecessary if they move these groups to the designated areas at the Park a bit further up the island.

If you care about what Cayo Costa SP's south beach will look like next year or in 20 years, let me know. Our group is working to seek a solution to stop this destruction. Please stay tuned and join us!