red tide Captiva Island

[ibelieveinmagic]

Hi, can anyone who lives in Florida or has visited this summer tell me the real truth about the red tide?

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Beach hazards statement remains in effect through Monday
evening...

* red tide hazards... possible respiratory irritation in some
coastal areas of Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee counties.

 

[pearlieq]

It's not great. They're doing their best to stay on top of it and clean up, but in all reality an affected beach is going to be covered in dead fish by the water line. It's not that you may not be able to enjoy the beach at all--you can sit farther up the sand and soak up the ambiance, but some people get irritation and sometimes it smells, depending on the wind/weather.

They're not getting hit as badly farther north up by Clearwater/Madeira Beach/St. Pete Beach, so if you've really got your heart set on a beach trip to end your summer you may be able to go there.

 

[ibelieveinmagic]

Thanks, I'm asking out of sheer love for Captiva Island, we do have a reservation for February, I'll keep checking the status of the ocean, but this is absolutely gut wrenching and heart breaking, what is happening there!

 

[monorailsilver]

Thanks, I'm asking out of sheer love for Captiva Island, we do have a reservation for February, I'll keep checking the status of the ocean, but this is absolutely gut wrenching and heart breaking, what is happening there!

We are headed there in April. My sister lives in Ft. Myers. I keep forgetting to ask her but she has not posted any beachy pictures lately, nor has a friend that lives on Sanibel.

It was starting when we were there April 2018. We went to a beach in Bonita that has a smallish parking lot and surprised we got a spot at around 10-11am. Hmm...wonder why?? We plopped down, I didn't let my kids go in the water because the waves were a little rough. My sister and 2 of my kids went for a walk and then at the same time my sister sends me a text of a dead fish, my son told us to look and my dh and mother were in need of tissues for their newly runny noses.

We left after that and went north since it wasn't bad up there. We even went to the beach on Captiva one day (where you just cross over the bridge from Sanibel) and I think we went to Bowmans too one day.

I am hoping it is better when we go in April. We are flying in/out of Ft. Lauderdale since it was $200 cheaper (x5 of us) and Tampa was a teeny bit cheaper but it got in at 5pm on a Friday, no thank you. So instead we are spending 3 nights on Singer Island so dh, ds, my sister and BIL can scuba and if the water is really bad, we can hotel hop that week all the way down to the keys. Really don't want to but that is the only option we have.

I will be so upset if we can't pick sharks teeth...

 

[jerseygal]

Hope for all the west coast residents, vacationers, and businesses that this Red Tide goes away fast!
Very negative effect on tourism!

 

[Jcricket Fan]

In case anyone wants the in-depth current status the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission gives weekly updates

http://myfwc.com/REDTIDESTATUS

 

[ibelieveinmagic]

thanks Jcricket Fan, helpful information! PS. I'm a fan of Jimminy myself!

 

[2Kds2K9]

I’ve been in Fort Myers for the past two and a half months and have gone to Sanibel several times. Very sad to see what’s going on, especially how empty the beaches are. However, it’s not as bad as reported on the news.

Turner Beach on Captive was a bit murky about six weeks ago, but cleaner about 3 weeks ago. My son actually had dolphins come close to him while paddle boarding. Did not notice any smell, and not a lot of dead fish.

We’ve gone kayaking on Tarpon Bay twice and it’s been fine.

Fort Myers beach has been the worst that we’ve seen. Many dead fish on the beach, but Lee County is working hard to clean them up. The problem is they are dumping the dead fish into an enclosed dumpster at Lynn Hall Park. It’s sits and “cooks” all day. Ewww. That smell was bad, but once we got out of the parking lot it was fine. Unfortunately, that is a big turn off to many who don’t get past it.

The sunsets are still gorgeous and the food and entertainment are fantastic at the beach. So sad to see how the local economy is suffering.

 

[ibelieveinmagic]

I really hope some how ,some kind of solution can be found, Florida needs it's beaches and wildlife

 

[Psychodisney]

I’m down in Naples right now. We’ve stayed away from the beach. The Fort Myers’s news last night said that the wind direction is to change over the next few days which might help push it away from the beaches. Friends attempted to go to Fort Myers beach on Friday and said they started coughing, water looked bad.