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October 2023 by Boon C.
This is shell sand beach in the west coast Florida. You may need to wear protective footwear on the beach. The facility is beautiful and the park has all thing you need such as changing room, restrooms, fresh water wash off, parking, bridge access, playground, and more. The parking is required a fee. They do have canoe launch area for your use. The beach is no dog allowed. The beach contains of a lot of sea shell coarse grain. Footwear is definitely a must. The beach wave is very mild. Great for kid. However, close the shore line has a lot shell that difficult to sit on the edge of water. Overall is a good beach for the sea shell collector. Beach goer wear footwear over bridge is recommended.
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August 2023 by Kathleen M.
My husband and I finally visited Sanibel post Ian. The island is a mess but slowly recovering. Less than half of the businesses are operating and downed trees line the roads. We decided to check out Bowman's Beach then get lunch and do some shopping at the businesses that were open. At Bowman's Beach many areas were marked off with protective orange temporary fencing and yellow police tape as well as signs say "wear shoes - debris may be in the water". We checked out an area of the beach that wasn't fenced off, took a quick dip and headed back to our car. At our car there was a ranger issuing us a parking ticket. The beach was virtually empty and the parking lot was at best 10% full. She laughingly told us "it's too late and this is going to cost you $150! It's all electronic, there's nothing I can do about it." To which my husband replied "why do you need rub it if you can't do anything about it?" After our warm welcome back to Sanibel greeting we got the $150 dollar ticket and got out of there as quickly as we could and do not plan on returning any time soon.
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July 2023 by Craig T.
Beach baby! Let's go! Best shelling happens a lot here. The beach is gorgeous. There are facilities. There is parking.
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June 2023 by Google user
This IS the beach to go to right now post Ian! It’s like it was never touched! Plus there is tons of parking and the beach is huge, so lots of space to find a spot. We went for Mother’s Day and just had the best day! We brought a wagon, totally recommend as it is quite a hike to get to the beach so lugging gear is exhausting. There are zero shady spots on this beach so bring an umbrella too. The bathrooms are about a 5 min hike and located in between the parking and the beach… so be prepared. There are water fountains there too, so we pack a water bottle and refill there. We didn’t use the picnic tables this time but they are there and accessible. One walkway on the beach is closed off but you can get to the area by walking around. However it’s truly not necessary. The water was perfectly clear and fantastic! We had zero issues post beach visit (it’s been a month since we went). Parking is not credit card or cash anymore. It is by ap… or web so bring a phone! It’s pretty easy once you scan the QR code. Just plan on spending 10 min extra in the parking lot the first time. This beach is dog friendly with a leash. We never saw any p*** or issues. Very clean!
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December 2022 by Heather B.
A beautiful beach. Great bathrooms. There is also a changing area located outside. There is an area to dine off outside as well. Getting to the beach itself is not too bad. There is a path, and a small boardwalk/bridge to cross over. If you are looking for seashells, this is a good spot. Most of mine were found when we were swimming in the water. The beach is pretty clean. They try to keep it like that tooZ Parking is easy, and plentiful.
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September 2022 by Lacey M
Parking can be a pain but once you’re all settled, the beach is great. The water is inviting and the sand is soft. It’s also a great beach for shelling, snorkeling, and simply lounging. We saw so many different types of shells, fish, and other creatures just walking along the shoreline. There’s also a sandbar that isn’t too far out and my kids had a blast getting to it. Good times.
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September 2022 by Paul S.
This beach offers the best Sanibel has to offer! Wonderful parking lot, restrooms and picnic facilities. The short walk to the beach is delightful. Once there this beautiful white sand gem stretches for what looks like miles . The shelling is topnotch. The shoreline tapers nicely allowing for wading or swimming on a hard sand beach. When the water is laid down it is kid friendly (with supervision). Dolphins galore. 5 Stars!
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September 2022 by Lauren G.
The best beach! This beach is equal comparison to any beach in Destin! Pictures do absolutely no justice. You cannot tell, but the sand is white and the water is blue and absolutely beautiful. Beautiful waves, a ton of shells, and very needy seagulls so watch your food! The beach is wide and very long so you can spread out and even play frisbee or volleyball! Even for a cloudy day, it's a 1 in a million beach. It's pricey as you have a toll to enter the island and $5.00 per hour parking. If you're like me, you wanna spend all day here! The conservation will check your dashboards so please do the right thing and pay before you stay. There's nice showers and changing areas. You can camp here and there's a play area for kids. The trash cans are located at the front. PLEASE TAKE YOUR TRASH WITH YOU. If you see holes, fill them and if you see trash, pick it up! Do the right thing. :-)
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September 2022 by Awdeetee C.
Parking: Ample room, we got one right near the walking path to the beach. Costs $5/hour. All parking in dirt Surroundings: Even thought we got closest to the walk trail to the beach, the walk to the actually beach was a LONG one - 1,000 steps, yes i tracked it! :( A long dirt trail, bridge and doc to get to beach. On the way, we passed bathrooms, showers and changing areas. There was a soda vending machine too Beach: The sand was nice soft with just sand but more crushed shells making it feel more like gravel. Busy but area is open enough to get spread out and not too close to anyone
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September 2022 by M P.
What used to be a great gem of a beach is now a Hillbilly enclave. Once this was a nice upscale semi secluded and obscure beach now all the riff raff has discovered this place and ruined it for all decent folk. As if all this isn't bad enough the chiggers, no seeums or sand fleas bugs will eat you alive. Make sure you use plenty of repellent and stay away from the Dunes on any SW FL beach! 2 more caveats and this will be a deal killer for a lot of family with kids... the trajectory from the parking lot to the beach is kind of long so if you have a bunch of things and other people to lug bear this in mind Last but not least are the park rangers or workers in the parking lot waiting for you to be one minute over that your time limit to give you a nice $150 fine!!!
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September 2022 by Hannah G.
We came late afternoon during the week to this beach and wow, are we glad we did. The temperature was perfect and the evening so lovely. We did pay $20 for 4 hours of parking, but it was worth the drive and the money. The walking trail to the beach is so peaceful and not too terribly far of a walk. They have restrooms, outdoor showers and changing stations. We will be back!
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August 2022 by Olga H.
It is late August, and the beach on a Friday afternoon was pretty empty. It is about a quarter mile walk to the beach from the parking lot. Parking is $5 per hour. There are restrooms, a changing area, a place to rinse off the sand outside, and picnic tables on the way from the lot to the beach. The water is not clear, so temper those expectations, as this is not Clearwater Beach. Anyway, there are lots of shells and you don't need water socks to walk around, FYI. I read that the best tine to go shelling is at low tide, which is not when we were there. Bring a bucket, a net, and hopefully a partner to help you wade waste deep looking for stuff. I did not find amy big ones, but I did not have a bucket or a net, just a partner to help keep me under water while I tried to fish out what I found. :). I found a few pretty shells, but nothing very large. I would definitely return to this pretty beach.
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July 2022 by Jeanine P.
Water was not clear at all. Lots of seaweed and murky water. Shells were not great. I had high hopes for Sanibel Island views, shelling, clear water, and this beach but left disappointed. The few beaches I've been to elsewhere in Florida before were much better.
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July 2022 by Joy Kurtz
Beautiful beach! Plenty of paid parking. Bathrooms & changing areas available. Be prepared for a bit of a walk to reach the beach. Clear turquoise water, white sand & sooo many awesome shells!
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June 2022 by Synel PT
Beautiful beach, if you want to go shelling this is the place. However, the waves are very strong and I could not let my 7 years there alone, I could not go in with my 2 y.o because the waves were just too bad. You need a beach cart as there is a good walk if you carry a lot of things and if you don't bring an umbrella you will be baked in the sun.
