San Carlos Bay - Bunche Beach Preserve — Attraction in Cape Coral

This is by far my favorite place to go to the beach in SW Florida! There’s a parking area located at the end of a long, undeveloped road, that has maybe enough spots to park 50 cars total. The lot is almost always at capacity when I go, but I don’t think I’ve ever waited more than 10 minutes before someone comes walking from the beach to their car to leave, allowing me to take their spot, and more than once the person leaving has waited for me to park, rolled down their window and given me their parking ticket to put in my window because they didn’t use the full amount of time they paid for!

The best part in my opinion about this beach is there is only about 50 feet of sand between the water in front of you and the dense vegetation behind you, so when the lot is full, you either have to sit close to strangers or you have to start walking left or right to find a quieter, less populated location. One of the first times I went here I did just that...I started walking and after about 5 mins, I found the spot on the beach that you find yourself daydreaming about. The spot with no one around. The spot where the vegetation comes just to the waters edge about 10 feet away on either side. The spot where there are two palm trees spaced apart from one another so perfectly it allows you to secure your hammock around their trunks and when you sit down, you're gently swinging over the water and when you hang your legs over the side, your toes barely skim the waters surface! This place is my idea of the perfect day...

(February 2025) I wanted to give this place five stars for its beauty, but gave it four because of the parking hassles. To park here one absolutely MUST have a cell phone, since there’s no booth or kiosk, but if you have your phone it’s quite easy! Once your card information is entered in the app it will remind you every hour if you would like to add another hour or not, and yes, they charge $2 per hour which isn’t too bad, however it can get very crowded there even on weekdays and this involves a long walk to and from the beach. Anyway this automated system makes it easy to enjoy the beach without running back every hour to feed a meter!

Once you’re there I didn’t notice any real facilities, such as a restroom, shelter, drinking fountain, or vending machines. They may have had a porta-potty there but with the crowds there may or may not be any toilet paper when needed??

The actual beach is scenic and great for wading and sunsets, and at either end of the beach there’s an inlet which both appear good for fishing. If you do decide to fish these inlets though be aware, as there are snags aplenty and you’ll definitely lose plenty of hooks in either inlet if you let your rig touch bottom! When I was there I caught some catfish and mangrove snapper mostly on shrimp, and the fishing action was plenty good using...

Bring Bug Spray! I can not stress this enough. The second you are out of your car you will be attacked by no-see-ums, or sand fleas/flies, or whatever they are. They are so small you wont see them but you will feel them. And they bite you all over, any exposed skin. But, that's because the parking lot is near a boggy area with mucky fresh water I'm sure they love. Still wont dock stars for that. You are out there to be in nature, you're in nature. Not a lot of parking. During week not a big problem but during weekend get there early or you're going to have a bit of a walk. If you do get there early the beach is just steps away with views of Ft. Myers Beach and the Sanibel cause-ways. This is the hidden quiet beach of the area, a good place to relax, if you have bug spray. PLUS, if you are into fishing or kayaking there is a small stretch of river (recommend using the kayak rental place to launch not the area near the parking - hip deep mud) for a slow paced enjoyable outing. Lots of wildlife, fish, birds and raccoons. Only the insects so far have proven aggressive. Lots of sea life near beach, horseshoe crabs, hermits,...