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Science Serving Florida's Coast
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Anchorages Rated
Most Important Criteria
 
Name Storm Protection Bottom Holding Scenic Beauty Tranquility Overall Rating
Big Pass/Otter Key good poor fair poor medium
Bimini Basin good poor fair poor medium
Boca Grande/Grande Bayou good poor poor poor medium
Bradenton poor fair poor poor low
Cape Haze good poor fair poor medium
Captiva Pass poor good good fair medium
Charlotte Harbor poor fair poor poor low
Chino Island poor fair fair good medium
DeSoto Point/Emerson Point fair good fair poor medium
Ding Darling/Tarpon Bay poor fair fair good medium
Doctor's Pass
Edgewater Lake poor fair poor poor low
Englewood Beach good good fair poor high
Factory Bay fair fair fair poor medium
Glover Bight good poor fair fair medium
Gordon Pass/Green No. 13 good poor fair poor medium
Hooker Point fair good fair fair high
Lemon Bay fair fair poor poor medium
Little Marco Island poor good good fair medium
Live Oak Point/Punta Gorda poor fair poor poor low
Longbeach fair fair fair poor medium
Longboat Pass poor good fair poor medium
Mantanzas Pass/Ft Myers good good poor poor high
Matlacha fair fair poor poor medium
McKay Point fair good fair poor medium
Naples City Harbor good poor fair poor medium
New Pass/Sands Point good poor fair poor medium
Palmetto poor fair poor poor low
Pelican Bay fair fair good good high
Point Blanco No. 1 fair poor fair poor low
Point Blanco No. 2 good fair fair good high
Power Plant Slough good fair fair good high
Punta Rassa poor good fair poor medium
Roberts Bay good fair fair poor high
Roosevelt Channel/Tween Waters fair fair fair poor medium
Safety Harbor good fair fair poor high
Sanibel - West of Bridge poor good fair poor medium
Sanibel/Point Ybel poor good fair poor medium
Sarasota/Bayfront Park fair good fair poor medium
Stump Pass/East fair good fair good high
Stump Pass/West fair good fair poor medium
Terra Ceia fair fair good good high
Useppa Island/Cabbage Key fair good fair poor medium
Venice/Higel Park good poor poor poor medium
Yacht Club Colony good poor fair poor medium
York Island/St James City poor fair fair poor low

This website provides resident and transient boaters with an easy-to-use selection guide to anchorages in southwest Florida. The information is based on local knowledge provided by numerous boating organizations and on a Florida Sea Grant research project involving several hundred volunteer boaters.

All of these anchorages were selected to accommodate vessels with a draft of 5 feet or greater (many can accommodate a draft of 6 feet or more), except for three with an approach channel depth of 4 feet (Yacht Club Colony, Power Plant Slough, and Point Blanco #2). The average distance between anchorages on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is 4.85 miles, but be forewarned: depending on the particular stretch of waterway, weather conditions, and crowding, it may be necessary to travel a much farther distance to reach appropriate and available shelter.

 
 
 
 
 
 
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