Where is Pine Island Florida? – Your Quick Guide
A straightforward answer to the most frequently asked question “Where is Pine Island Florida” is that Pine Island, Florida, is between Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, and Florida’s Gulf Coast. Also, close to Fort Myers and Cape Coral on the mainland.
Where is Pine Island Florida?
Escape to Southwest Florida’s Island doesn’t have to mean jockeying for beach parking spots or sticker shocks; Pine Island remains a true to itself Island gateway.
Deprived of the magnificent beaches of its Island neighbors, Pine Island hides between the mainland and barrier Islands, a recluse whose tropical fruit farming, fishing, and funky art community appealed to folks looking for an authentic Florida experience away from the bustle.
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People come out to Pine Island to escape from everyday life; it’s like stepping back in time when you cross that bridge through mountain Shea which offers a people gateway into Old Florida.
Visiting Pine Island is like getting into Old Florida, which is quickly developing.
Things to do in Pine Island Florida
Pine Island consists of two Islands and five distinct communities. Matlacha has built a reputation for fresh seafood and spontaneous arts. Originally Pine Island was primarily inhabited by commercial fishermen and crabbers.
There were many fish houses out here where the fishermen would come in and offload their products, and the fish houses would buy them and then distribute them throughout the State.
Pine Island restaurants are known for their fresh seafood and old Island character. For people who love shrimp, the rustic time-worn beauty of the fishing industry has inspired a growing artist’s community centered in the town.
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The peace of the Island, the serenity, the water, the fishing community, the people, the music, all those things inspire to capture beauty to love.
Glioma Lovegrove has been instrumental in elevating Matlachay’s artistic reputation with her worldwide renown. While Mel Mayo, considered the Island folk artists laureate, has bridged the Island’s indigenous art tradition with its vibrant modern gallery scene.
Pine Island Park
Alfred McKethan Park, better known as Pine Island Park, orders the locals just Pine Island; this park is located in Hernando County, a cute little park just west of Weeki Wachee and offers a beachfront location to the Gulf of Mexico.
It is a 3-acre park in a pleasant Peninsula within the heart of the west side of Hernando County. It is about 10 minutes from U.S. 19 and Cortez Boulevard, which requires a good drive. You will love that drive beautifully coming up there and know how beautiful Pine Island, Florida, is.
It is $5 to get in; they do have pavilions, but they are first come, first served, so the reservation is not an option.
It’s got a concession stand, bathrooms, changing areas, and a playground for kids. This park does fill up early, and it is better to go on a weekday. If weekends are suitable for you, then go as early as possible.
Tropic Star Cruises offers a Calusa boat and land tour in Pine Island. They allow people to go and ever walk the Research Center with a guide, then they come in for lunch and go out in the water to finish things up.
Historic Tarpon is one of the not chained lodging choices on Pine Island. It’s also one of the Island’s hottest dining spots. The old building was built in 1926 as a personal residence, and an avid fishing couple made it.
Pine Island Center
Pine Island Center will be the first thing you will come across; not too big, but it is the main commercial area. A public swimming pool, a library, and a supermarket are here to must visit.
The library has a museum that is worth visiting. Artifacts of Calusa Indians, dolls, seashells, and a buggy is there to make visitors wonder.
Even back to the Calusa, Pine Island was always an artistic, creative community. The Calussive was created, and it evolved into that, and these later years there’s a lot of artists, musicians, and writers, and it’s just a Mecca of that now.
Pine Island was once a significant Calusa settlement, and the spirit of the ancient culture lives in one local artist who recreates their arts and takes visitors on paddling tours back in time.
From getting outside there, on a left turn, a small but busiest village named St. James is right on Pine Island. Watersports and fishing points are the most known things to do there because the water of Pine Island is known for fishing.
For those, not fishing fans, take a right drive toward Stringfellow Road, the main street of Pine Island. Pine Island’s true beauty lies in the local nurseries and fruit grooves that stretch around.
The rich soil of Pine Island nurtures fruits, veggies, plants, and palm trees. Pine Island fruity enterprises have inspired the Island’s most famous annual festival. As a result, all the farms’ Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce decided to introduce Mango Mania tropical fruit festival about 11 years ago.
MangoMania is a traditional custom for them that they celebrate happily, and with full of zest event they crown their queen with MangoMania. It goes on each summer in July during the peak season of the Mango crop, and it’s grown bigger and bigger. Healthy mango smoothies are this specialty here.
In addition to Mangos, produce lovers come year-round to Pine Island for locally grown tomatoes, strawberries, and other crops—their tropic food pilgrimages tropic ayah, which recently moved from Matlacha to the community of Pine Island Center.
Just a slight left at mile marker 12, the Pineland road is ahead for you towards the best land, Mangoes. Pesticides-free Mango sellers are there to sell their famous mangoes, honey, and chutneys.
Pineland Marina
The next one is Pineland Marina; boat trips and taxis are there to entertain the visitors that meet with adjacent islands. Cabbage Key, Cayo Costa State Park, and Boca Grande are just another island fun and a boat ride far.
Pineland Marina is at 13921 Waterfront Dr, Bokeelia, FL 33922, the heart of Southwest Florida’s fishing Mecca. Pineland Marina is just minutes away from the beautiful barrier islands of South West Florida.
This ramp is ideally located to get you to Boca Grande or swing down to Cayo Costa or Captivas. This marina has many amenities, like a ship’s store for water, sunscreen, and snacks. Bathrooms are located on-site, as well as water for engine flushing and even boat rentals!
Randell Research Center, a part of the Natural History in Florida Museum, is just across the street from Tarpon Lodge.
Tarpon Lodge is now renovated and available to rent the rooms, providing shelter or renting space in the neighbor cottages.
Tarpon Lodge has a unique history since President Jimmy Carter and 23 families spent their vacation here to make it the best memory.
Step inside and find the Calusa trail to see a place where 2000 years ago, Calusa Indians used this place to call home.
A half mile, of course, will only take 300 feet from the top of Calusa shell mound, where the breathtaking views are your welcomers. A fantastic adventure of the past is ready to amaze you with its wonderings.
Back to Stringfellow Road, a fruit market and a nursery named Fruitcapes will be there to soothe your sights and views. Sellers have a welcoming attitude and always make their customers and visitors happy with their offerings and selling.
Some uncommon fruits like sugar apples, jackfruit, and sour sops are the rare findings of that place.
Not limited to this, they have some homemade bread to offer, plus a fresh coconut that can be cracked to stick in straw is available in varieties to make an addition in enjoyment.
Keep moving to the north, and the Mango Factory will be spotted as a project of 1964 from Mango Man. His son and grandson are running this show smoothly, and they have a variety of 9 mangoes for you to make your taste buds delicious.
Bokeelia
At the northernmost tip of the Island, Bokeelia feels like reaching the end of the earth. On the way up Stringfellow Road, it passes near palm tree farms and fruit stands.
Bokeelia, Florida, is a charming coastal town with its iconic pier and southern serenity is a driving tour from southwest Cape Coral to Bokeelia through the colorful, artist, and fishing community of Matlacha. Bokeelia, Pine Island, in Lee County, Florida, United States, is an unorganized community and census-designated place.
From the 2020 census, the population of CDP is 1,855, up from 1,780 by the 2010 census, part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida, and Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Some people come for the views some people come for the tropical fruit. Pine Island is the most significant low fruit-growing area in Florida outside Homestead. Farms have bloomed as great Mango farms, lychees, star fruit, and carambola.
Bokeelia is the jumping-off point for fishing and Island hopping expeditions, Its marinas bustle with tour charters and restaurants.
On the south side of Pine Island, this road is veterans; on the north side, it becomes a burnt store road. As you go east from here, it’s southwest Pine Island Road; as you go west from here, it’s northwest.
A golf course nearby and a bike path that goes all the way from St. James City to Bokeelia and the Island worked hard on getting that together along with the County, and that’s a great accomplishment that gives people an opportunity to ride around and enjoy the outdoors which is why they probably come out here to Pine Island.
Pine Island road will then go through Matlacah, and it goes all the way to Pine Island; as it approaches, the right is Bokeelia at the northern end of Pine Island, and to the left is Saint James City at the Southern end.
There is a great path along; it says that Bokeelia is in the top 10 fishing in the world, with many boats and marinas.
The only thing is that Matlacha Pass can be shallow at low tide, like one to two feet shallow at low tide.
One must be careful if they are boaters and trying to get out of big water that you time correctly in terms of high tide.
In season, a significant amount of traffic goes through Matlacha because it’s a place everyone desires to see once. However, many people enjoy coming back like it’s an artist community; there are little tiny storefronts and cottages.
Saint James City
In the south end of Pine Island, Saint James City offers all the picturesque sights of all the perfect wonders of southwest Florida. The Caloosahtchee River also meets the Gulf of Mexico along the Great Calusa blue way paddling trail trust.
This way, quick access is available to reach Useppa Island, Cabbage Key, and Cayo Costa, beautifully oriented dreamland places. A boat ride is the perfect thing to desire and visit Captiva, Estro Island, and Sanibel in a short time for a great adventure.
The local boating crowd looking for fishy repast finds it in places name hogfish grill, waterfront restaurant Woody’s, and ragged-ass saloon. The Island restaurant gets lively when local bands entertain, and the fun turns serious.
Village of Pineland
Not misspelled, an attraction-grabbing village Pineland of 400 population has an untold story of crack houses and crashed homes in Old Florida with different porches.
Early Florida cowboys were used to call these wooden houses whips. Upon crossing rustic houses, make a little bit of a turn and let Tarpon Lodge welcome you.
Restaurants and cuisines are delivering their best in each culinary or recipe, so these cuisines are getting awarded on different levels quickly. Sitting outside with a fireplace to enjoy the beauty and nature is worth a visit.
Changes to Pine Island Road
One of the busiest roads in Southwest Florida is the epicenter of development. Thousands of apartments, new restaurants, and retail shops are either under construction or in the planning stages.
If you have not driven along Pine Island Road recently, significantly the closer you get to Matt O’Shea and Pine Island, you may not even recognize it anymore.
New businesses are opened recently or are under construction, and there are signs of development anywhere you look.
Whether looking from your car or taking a bird’s eye view, you see signs of development anywhere on Pine Island Road. A lot is going on, which is a surprise for this area.
Surprising, says John Smart, who is lived in the northwest part of Cape Coral for a decade, because, he says, this area has historically been left behind by commercial development.
According to city planning records, more than 5400 apartment units are either already under construction or in the planning phases.
And this four-and-a-half-mile stretch of Pine Island Road from Santa Barbara Boulevard down to Burnt Store Road, a 30,000-square-foot shopping center is set to open by the fall of next year.
Conclusion
Besides fun, Pine Island takes its recreation, fresh food, and historic heritage seriously enough that visitors immediately share its sense of place on their Island gateway.
