Walking Barefoot at Barefoot Beach
Florida Trip Travelog #8
Bonita Springs, FL - Thu, 22 Sep 2022, 5pm
After exploring the hotel's water slides and lazy river pool this morning, eating lunch, and taking a short break up in the room to digest, it was time for our next adventure. I would've been fine going back out to the water slides, but Hawk was passionate about visiting one of the nearby beaches. Unfortunately our hotel isn't on the beach... it's on the mainland near a bay that's protected by a barrier island. But fortunately there are beaches not too far away, including some really nice ones. Barefoot Beach is very highly rated, so that where we headed next.
"Miles of white sand!" read the praise for Barefoot Beach. It was not wrong. As a bonus, Barefoot Beach was also not crowded. Well, parts of it were busier. We parked at the far end of the road, where it was quieter, and then walked down from the entry to the sand. Most people using the beach where within 100' of the entry.
Another bit of praise about Barefoot Beach is that it's great for finding seashells. "Finding" is kind of a strong word; it implies having to look, which isn't necessary. At Barefoot Beach the shells are literally everywhere, in piles. You'll find them looking or not when they hurt your bare feet as you walk!
Along with shells everywhere in the sand, we found this rare shell tree. A few of the shells on the tree were really nice, but we didn't take them. It's like firewood; the rule is "down and dead only". So Hawk collected a nice shell that had already fallen off. 🤣
We talked about going further down the strand, toward a sand bar at the southern end, but turned back before getting there. I was watching the clock and wanted to get back to the hotel in time to use the water slides a few more times. As we headed back to the parking area, though, we saw an afternoon thunderstorm brewing. Not a minute after we got to the car the skies opened up with a huge downpour.
Bonita Springs, FL - Thu, 22 Sep 2022, 5pm
After exploring the hotel's water slides and lazy river pool this morning, eating lunch, and taking a short break up in the room to digest, it was time for our next adventure. I would've been fine going back out to the water slides, but Hawk was passionate about visiting one of the nearby beaches. Unfortunately our hotel isn't on the beach... it's on the mainland near a bay that's protected by a barrier island. But fortunately there are beaches not too far away, including some really nice ones. Barefoot Beach is very highly rated, so that where we headed next.
"Miles of white sand!" read the praise for Barefoot Beach. It was not wrong. As a bonus, Barefoot Beach was also not crowded. Well, parts of it were busier. We parked at the far end of the road, where it was quieter, and then walked down from the entry to the sand. Most people using the beach where within 100' of the entry.
Another bit of praise about Barefoot Beach is that it's great for finding seashells. "Finding" is kind of a strong word; it implies having to look, which isn't necessary. At Barefoot Beach the shells are literally everywhere, in piles. You'll find them looking or not when they hurt your bare feet as you walk!
Along with shells everywhere in the sand, we found this rare shell tree. A few of the shells on the tree were really nice, but we didn't take them. It's like firewood; the rule is "down and dead only". So Hawk collected a nice shell that had already fallen off. 🤣
We talked about going further down the strand, toward a sand bar at the southern end, but turned back before getting there. I was watching the clock and wanted to get back to the hotel in time to use the water slides a few more times. As we headed back to the parking area, though, we saw an afternoon thunderstorm brewing. Not a minute after we got to the car the skies opened up with a huge downpour.