Sanibel beaches -- open to public?
 

If you were just to visit sanibel island for the day, could you get to all or many of the beaches without being a hotel guest. Trying to figure out the degree of free and public access to some of the great beaches... especially San-Cap beach. Is that a public beach?

I remember the sign at the BW "no public access to the beach." So if you are not staying at BW you cannot park there and walk to the beach. If you are staying at BW you will receive a parking permit that you place on your dashboard.

All the beaches have public access. You have to pay for parking however and it can be difficult to get a space. Some spaces are reserved for residents with passes at San-Cap. The beach is THE BEACH for shelling. I advise getting there early in the morning before the sunbathers arrive.

In the past, you could walk the entire length of Captiva's beach, but I imagine that there is a barrier right now while South Seas is in reconstruction.

I used to park in the San-Cap area and walk up to the Mucky Duck for lunch and then stroll back down for an afternoon siesta at my San-Cap post.

Here is a hint for a great Sanibel beach that is little known: look up Algiers. Lots of parking, and it is a fun area with the sandy bottom full of large sand dollars and star fish. These are not for taking but for finding and looking and returning to the sea.

LMF

LilMsFoodie, thanks for info on Algiers. Have to check out some day. Can you give me more details about location?

There a very few exceptions to this rule but for the most part all beaches in the United States are public up to the mean high tide line.

It is the access sometimes that is hard.

LilMsFoodie: How do you get passes to San-Cap? Is there a hotel located on site?

Again, the MAIN reason we're drawn to Sanibel is for the shells (my girls love 'em!). So if a particular hotel, even humble, offers good/best access to San-Cap beach, that's what I would look into... thanks again, everyone!

I've heard that the biggest problem on Sanibel isn't beaches being private, it is the lack of legal public parking.

Keith