Though it’s easy to reach, Barefoot Beach makes you feel miles away from highways and highrises. It’s one of the last undeveloped barrier islands on Florida’s southwest coast.
Barefoot Beach Preserve County Park is located at the end of Barefoot Beach Boulevard off of Bonita Beach Road, which is 15 minutes west of I-75. To reach the park, you wind through a residential community of multi-million dollar homes and condos.
Because it is a county park, it tends to be known mostly by locals. If you want to get away from people, just start walking south. There is a mile of beach lined with 342 acres of natural land, ending in the swift currents of Wiggins Pass.
Stephen Leatherman, aka “Dr. Beach”, named it to his top 10 beaches in America list for several years, but, fortunately, it remains unspoiled. When he named it #6 in 2013, he describes it this way: “The surf is gentle with waves generally being measured in inches, and the water is very shallow, making this a great beach for bathing and swimming for families. The sand is fine and contains many small shells.”
Like at many of the Gulf’s spectacular beaches, you may find sand-dollars, shells or spot a bottle-nosed dolphin in the water in the distance.
Gopher tortoises and their burrows are plentiful along the nature trail that runs between the sand dunes and the hammock and it’s a good place to see crawl marks left by nesting Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles in the summer.
Kayaking is popular on the inland side of Barefoot Beach, with its tidal creeks and mangrove swamps. Canoes can be rented at the Barefoot Beach concession. A one-mile nature trail weaves through the tropical hammock to Wiggins Pass.
The real attraction, though, is a perfect, unspoiled natural beach lined with a lush profusion of vegetation.
Please note: This is the same beach that is right in front of the Barefoot Beach Club condos. However, our section is privately owned and not open to the public. Barefoot Bliss by Britt at 267 Barefoot Beach Blvd. is located right on this beach!