By: Mike Hammond
One of my favorite places to paddle is a spot loaded with Southwest Florida history and packed with great angling opportunities and is now much more accessible to the public.
For years, the waters surrounding the northern portion of bayside Captiva Island were challenging for paddlers to reach. If you wanted to launch your own kayak and fish Chadwick Bayou, you had to launch at Blind Pass and paddle 3 miles. Another option was launching at the eastern end of Andy Rosse Lane. While launching there is legal, it isn’t ideal: Shoreline rocks placed for erosion control make launching tricky. Also, floating seagrass often piles up and there is no public parking available.
I’m happy to report there is now a much better option for paddlers. McCarthy’s Marina hosts an onsite paddle outfitter and allows paddlers to launch their own kayaks. Longtime marina manager Ruben Perez and his son, Ruben Jr., have launched Captiva Kayak. This location gives everyone immediate access to the northern end of Roosevelt Channel, an incredible area to explore. Just a short distance north lies a shallow flat teeming with marine life. Along the way, you’ll pass the famed Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling boathouse, which fans of novelist Randy Wayne White will recognize as “Doc Ford’s lab.”
A little farther north, you reach mangrove-lined Chadwick Bayou. The bayou and the flats running along South Seas Resort are loaded with fish that powerboats rarely reach. Heading south takes you down Roosevelt Channel, named after President Theodore Roosevelt, who fished these waters. The eastern side of the channel is bordered by the pristine mangroves of Buck Key, while the western side is lined with Captiva homes and docks. A little more than a mile south of the launch is the entrance to Braynerd Bayou, where you can access the famed Buck Key mangrove tunnel, one of my absolute favorite paddles.
Captiva Kayak offers an easy beach launch. If you bring your own paddlecraft rather than renting, expect to pay the $20 parking fee (the standard rate for beachgoers as well) plus a small launch fee. The parking fee is reduced if someone in your party rents a kayak or SUP. Because this is a new operation, I strongly recommend calling ahead before you go to inquire about fees, especially during peak tourist season when island parking fills up fast.
Whether you want to fish the flats, bayous and docks, or simply cruise through a shaded mangrove tunnel, this new access point is tough to beat. For more information on launching from Captiva Kayak call (239) 339-7384 or visit www.captivakayak.com.