Barefoot Beach Rentals & Cafe

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Barefoot Beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 *"Great trip for kids"We had an absolutely lovely time paddling through the estuary following the nature trail. One could feel you were thousands of miles away from civilization as you watched the wealth of birdlife. The  highlight for us was an osprey catching a fish then bringing it to a low branch and feeding while we watched from less than 20 feet away.  Great trip for kids as well!

*“Great Place for Relaxation and Recreation”We spent a day and a half at the Barefoot Beach Preserve, and it was awesome! We had an absolutely lovely time paddling through the estuary following the nature trail. One could feel you were thousands of miles away from civilization as you watched the wealth of birdlife. The  highlight for us was an osprey catching a fish then bringing it to a low branch and feeding while we watched from less than 20 feet away.  Great trip for kids as well!xcellent time. The parking was $8, an entirely reasonable price. The beach was clean, there were lots of shells (even in the middle of the day) and no crowds. The staff was excellent, extremely polite and generous. The canoe trip was great, with beautiful birds (we saw: Ospreys, Green Herons, Blue Herons, White Ibises, Snowy Egrets and a Bald Eagle), mangrove swamps and lots of fish. The Cafe was standard as far as concession stand prices, but the food was excellent. The Gopher Tortoises were also super-cool.

*“Nice, clean & This turned out to be a great find. We enjoyed our ride along Ft. Myers Beach to Bonita Springs.

We used Mapquest to find the location of the beach. You first enter through a security area that leads down a long winding road that passes by expensive homes & condominiums. As a side note:
The homes along the road leading to the beach are certainly
very nice and on the up and up BUT they are not the style of
home/condo I would choose, even if I had that type of money.

The Beach was very nice. Not too busy or congested when compared with the Fort Myers Beach area. It cost $2.00 to get into the Preserve. We parked in the first parking lot (there are 3 or 4 of them total)used the very clean bathrooms, got a drink from the concession stand and headed onto the beach. The sand is a bit grittier here but not gravel-like. There are plenty of shells and you may want to consider a pair of water shoes if have soft feet, diabetic, etc.
It didn't bother me too much but if you hit the right shell it can smart! We arrived late around 1:30 and stayed until 4:30 p.m. We never made it onto the board walk but wish we had arrive sooner to do so.

This is a nice place and it is removed from the very busy Fort Myers Beach area. But easy and convienent to get to.away from the hub-bub of FMB”

*“Spend a wonderful day at Barefoot Beach & Cafe”This beach is wonderful and the Beach Cafe is now being run by a terrific young couple that knows how to cook. GREAT pulled BBQ pork, Terriyaki Chicken & pot roast sandwiches. All homemade wonderful goodness. Great fresh fruit smoothies, homemade ice tea and homemade lemonade. Support these nice people and enjoy a wonderful day at the beach. They also have a terrific nature trail!

*“Better than Sanibel beaches and cheaper”I went to FL for my vacation. I was supposed to be mainly going to Sanibel Island for a great shelling experience. I ended up going here also one day and it was great!!! The water was beautiful. No red algea. Tons of shells. Three dolphins were swimming offshore. It was fun to watch them. And according to the board where you can write down the days wildlife viewed, there were manatees offshore also. I did not see them because I was bent over looking at shells. The water was clear enough the first few feet to watch some fish swimming.

Other main selling points.
1. Parking only cost $8.00 dollars for the whole day. Sanibel cost 2 dollars an hour.

2. The bathrooms are nice and there are concessions on the beach.

3. The regulars are very nice. One lady who must come almost everyday gave me some sea shells when she found out we were collecting extra for a nursing home to make frames.

This place was very peaceful and relaxing!!! Wish I had gone there sooner so I could have spent more days there!

*“A great beach to spend time on” We visited this preserve twice on a recent visit to cape coral.
the entrance is via a road with gorgeous houses and condo's along its path
it has good parking only yards from the beach with additional toilet and snack facilities
the $8.00 dollar parking costs is well worth the money and hepls maintain a clean tidy area
tortoises can be observed in many places on the preserve including the walkways and car parks
the shore to sea area has shells however, the sea once entered has predominantly sand underfoot

THIS IS A MUST VISIT IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA

*Sweet Steve and Even Sweeter

(As seen in the St. Petersburg Times 03/09/2009)

After a rough night's paddle and bout with hypothermia, we stopped for a few hours on Barefoot Beach Preserve in Bonita Springs. Steve Banks, who runs the concession there, came out to check on us.

"Just making sure you guys are OK," Steve asked in the friendliest possible way. "You know if you are hungry, my wife is cooking up breakfast."

We have been pretty much living off freeze-dried food and energy bars since we left Cabbage Key the day before, so it was good to get a nice hot meal. Kieu Banks pumped us full of hot coffee and pot roast sandwiches. We decided that set a new high water mark for hospitality, so we nicknamed her Even Sweeter.

Our bellies full and our spirits buoyed, we climbed back in the canoe and headed to Naples, where we planned to scavenge for more food. Since we were burning so many calories paddling for 20 hours a day, we need to eat as much as possible.

Even though I had bundled up the night before, lack of sleep, fatigue and low calorie intake had led to my hypothermia.

"Your body will let you know when you have had enough," said Aaron Freedman, a.k.a., Air Doc, a member of our crew. Freedman is an accomplished adventure racer who once paddled, ran and biked for three days on only five hours sleep. "Your body will shut down. It says you are done for the day."

Hopefully, we carry on a little longer. Only time will tell.

-- TERRY TOMALIN,  St. Petersburg Times Staff Writer