A Boca Grand Florida Question

[Rich18890]

My son and I are taking off in the morning with our kayaks. We thought we’d hit Cayo Costa Park via Boca Grand. I just read that they charge $18.00 per night at the camping area in Cayo Coats Park. We were hoping we could kayak and wilderness camp. There appears to be other smaller islands to the East of Cayo Costa. Does anyone know anything about these islands? Could we camp on them. Are there any other places in Florida we could kayak from island to island and camp?PS I'd love to sail it but my boats up for the winter!!

 

[Ed]

sure there are some good ones

The coast of florida is full of small islands that can be camped on. But cayo costa is a state park with different rules. the islands arround cayo costa are private, or not suitable to put ashore to camp. how bout this do an internet search for canoe trails in florida. one of the best is thru the okifanokee swamp, Spelling is wrong. you can reserve camping spots along the trip and you will see some of south ga. and north florida that few get to see. Another choice is the everglades city area. you can camp on some of the islands but its easy to get lost and lost there is pretty bad! but there are marked canoe trails with camp sites there too. they are even on the coastal charts. The old days when you can just pitch a tent on the river bank are pretty well gone since every retireee iin the coutry have a winter home here!but there are number of canoe outfitters that will provide you with places to see and camping, So as bob barker says Come on Down.

 

[Brian]

Uh oh

As far as I know, Cayo Costa SP is closed indefinitely while it is repaired (clear cut) from Hurricane Charley. I was out there about 6 weeks ago and the campground is destroyed. You might want to look at Koreshan SP (in Estero), where you can kayak out to the Gulf and explore Mound Key and lots of other islands.Anyone planning a trip to this area should call ahead and make sure things are open.

 

[steven f.]

not the "correct" way but....

if it were me I'd simply paddle up to a suitable piece of mangrove island and make camp. There are thousands of small, uninhabited islands in and around Cayo Costa, most can hardly be landed on by a flats boat much less a FWC officer. Just treat the land with due respect, clean up your mess and keep it quite, I'm sure you'll do fine. Just don't take any crap from some Yankee snow-bird land owner.