Boat Rental Cape Coral
Picnic Island

Picnic Island is a great first destination for your boat rental Cape Coral. It is in its natural state and has white, sandy beaches with a forest of scrub and small trees beyond. If our family only has time to take our guests to one beach by boat, this is where we go. It is close and convenient and satisfyingly tropical.

I love to take a blanket and lie on the beach in the cove and read a book. I sometimes get distracted by the amazingly beautiful and perfect, itty-bitty seashells mixed in the sand. I can sift through the sand and look for them for hours – they are orange and pink and blue. I keep thinking I’ll save them and make a bracelet or something. But, always end up leaving them to look for again the next visit.

When my two older boys were four and five they went walk-about with a girlfriend of mine and encountered a bog that sucked Max’s shoe off! She retrieved the muddy shoe, but the reputation of the island as a place of danger and adventure has endured in my boy’s heads ever since.

My boys like to swim, hike and explore on this island and it's beaches. They have had all sorts of adventures there. One time they found a lean-to someone else had set up and then pitched their $15 tent inside – hours of fun. Another time we met up with their sailing instructor there and had an impromptu party making s’mores on the beach.

Plan to visit toward mid-week with your boat rental Cape Coral if possible. This is a very popular destination for locals, so it will be less crowded durint the work week.

If you have the island to yourself, you can pretty much hear a yell from anywhere on the island. Note that when we plan to let our children go exploring on their own we take walkie-talkies along for easy communication when there are lots of boaters visiting the island.

There are no services on the island so you need to bring everything with you in your boat rental Cape Coral - water, food, trash bags and toilet paper. That’s right, no bathrooms – you are roughing it in the woods! Whatever you take to the island you need to remove yourself.

As with every outdoor excursion in Florida, wear sunscreen! We always use the Bull Frog Mosquito Coast sunscreen that you can purchase at CVS or Walgreens. This combination sunscreen/bug spray is easy to apply – just spray it on and you are done, no need to rub it in. We use a higher SPF sunblock stick – like Australian Gold, on our faces. While the sea breezes typically keep the bugs away from the beach, there are times when the insect repellant aspect of this product comes in handy.

Even though it is an easy trip from Cape Coral, you will need a chart and/or GPS to navigate the waterways. A tide chart may come in handy, too. From the Miserable Mile, turn toward Picnic Island midway between unlighted can buoy #7 and unlighted day-beacon #8. Stay in the center of the channel as you approach the island on its northeast side. Do not attempt to go around the island, as there are shoals on the south and west sides.

Anchor just off-shore as you may be subject to a ticket and fine for pulling your boat on shore. (While this is pretty strictly enforced on Ft. Myers beach, the Cape Coral Yacht Club beach, Sanibel and Captiva, we have noted that many people do pull their boats on shore at Picnic Island. Just know that if you do this you are putting yourself at risk.)

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