Cayo Costa State Park

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Cayo Costa State Park
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
Image:Red pog.svg Image:US Locator Blank.svg
Location	Lee County, Florida, USA
Nearest city	Boca Grande, Florida
Coordinates	26°40′19″N 82°14′49″W / 26.67194, -82.24694Coordinates: 26°40′19″N 82°14′49″W / 26.67194, -82.24694
Area	2,506 acres (10 km²)
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Cayo Costa State Park is a Florida State Park on the island of Cayo Costa, which is directly south of Boca Grande, Florida, 12 miles (19 km) west of Cape Coral. The park is accessible only by private boat or ferry.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Fauna 3 Recreational Activities 4 Amenities 5 Camping 6 Hours 7 References

[edit] Geography

Cayo Costa is one of a chain of barrier islands that shelter Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. The park contains nine miles (14 km) of beaches and 2,506 acres (10 km²) of pine forests, oak-palm hammocks, and mangrove swamps.

[edit] Fauna

Among the wildlife that can be seen at the park are manatees, dolphins, and an assortment of birds.

[edit] Recreational Activities

Activities include hiking, off-road bicycling, swimming kayaking, snorkeling, picnicking, fishing, shelling, wildlife viewing, camping, and sunbathing.

[edit] Amenities

Amenities include boat slips, beaches, hiking trails, picnic pavillions, 12 primitive camping cabins and bath house/restrooms. The park offers a small nature center/gift shop with nature exhibits as well as items for sale. The park has the following available for purchase: ice, sun lotion, bug spray, t-shirts, hats, bird keys, shell keys, and postcards. Cayo Costa has bikes available for half-day and full-day rentals.

[edit] Camping

There are 12 primitive cabins and 30 tent sites available for camping each with its own picnic table and fire pit/ground grill assigned to each site. Boat slips are available for those who wish to camp aboard their boats.

[edit] Hours

Florida state parks are open between 8 A.M. and sundown every day of the year (including holidays).

[edit] References

• Cayo Costa State Park at Florida State Parks
• Cayo Costa State Park at Absolutely Florida

• Cayo Costa State Park is at coordinates 26°40′19″N 82°14′49″W / 26.672, -82.247Coordinates: 26°40′19″N 82°14′49″W / 26.672, -82.247

v • d • e Protected Areas of Florida
National Park Service	Biscayne National Park • Dry Tortugas National Park • Everglades National Park • Castillo de San Marcos National Monument • Fort Matanzas National Monument • Big Cypress National Preserve • Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve • De Soto National Memorial • Fort Caroline National Memorial • Canaveral National Seashore • Gulf Islands National Seashore
National Forests	Apalachicola • Choctawhatchee • Ocala • Osceola
State Parks	Amelia Island • Anastasia • Avalon • Bahia Honda • Bald Point • Big Lagoon • Big Talbot Island • Bill Baggs Cape Florida • Bulow Creek • Caladesi Island • Camp Helen • Cayo Costa • Collier-Seminole • Curry Hammock • Delnor-Wiggins Pass • Devil's Millhopper • Don Pedro Island • Eden Gardens • Egmont Key • Falling Waters • Faver-Dykes • Florida Caverns • Fort Clinch • Fort Cooper • Fort George Island • Fort Pierce Inlet • Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou • Gasparilla Island • George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier • Highlands Hammock • Hontoon Island • Hugh Taylor Birch • John D. MacArthur Beach • John Pennekamp Coral Reef • John U. Lloyd Beach • Jonathan Dickinson • Little Talbot Island • Long Key • Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson • Mike Roess Gold Head Branch • Navarre Beach • North Peninsula • O'Leno • Oscar Scherer • Ravine Gardens • River Bluff Picnic Site • Sebastian Inlet • Skyway Fishing Pier • St. George Island • St. Joseph Peninsula • Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center • Stump Pass Beach • Tomoka • Torreya • Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens • Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock • Lignumvitae Key • Washington Oaks State Gardens
Lakes, Rivers and Springs	Deer Lake • Lake Griffin • Lake June in Winter Scrub • Lake Kissimmee • Lake Louisa • Lake Manatee • Lake Talquin • Alafia River • Blackwater River • Econfina River • Guana River • Hillsborough River • Little Manatee River • Myakka River • Ochlockonee River • Silver River • Suwannee River • Blue Spring • De Leon Springs • Edward Ball Wakulla Springs • Fanning Springs • Homosassa Springs Wildlife • Ichetucknee Springs • Lafayette Blue Springs • Madison Blue Springs • Manatee Springs • Peacock Springs • Rainbow Springs • Troy Springs • Wekiwa Springs • Werner-Boyce Salt Springs
Recreation areas	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek • Dead Lakes • Dunns Creek • Gamble Rogers Memorial • Grayton Beach • Henderson Beach • Honeymoon Island • Oleta River • Perdido Key • Ponce de Leon Springs • St. Andrews • Three Rivers
Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum • Constitution Convention Museum • Forest Capital Museum • John Gorrie State Museum • Ybor City Museum • The Barnacle • Bulow Plantation Ruins • Dade Battlefield • DeSoto Site • Dudley Farm • Fort Foster • Fort Mose • Fort Zachary Taylor • Gamble Plantation • Indian Key • Koreshan • Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead • Natural Bridge Battlefield • Olustee Battlefield • Orman House • Paynes Creek • San Marcos de Apalache • Yellow Bluff Fort • Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins • Crystal River • Lake Jackson Mounds • Letchworth Mounds • Madira Bickel Mound • Mound Key • San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Anclote Key • Cedar Key Scrub • Charlotte Harbor • Crystal River • Estero Bay • Fakahatchee Strand • Kissimmee Prairie • Lower Wekiva River • Paynes Prairie • Pumpkin Hill Creek • River Rise • Rock Springs Run • San Felasco Hammock • Savannas • Seabranch • St. Lucie Inlet • St. Sebastian River • Tarkiln Bayou • Topsail Hill • Tosohatchee • Waccasassa Bay • Yellow River Marsh
Trails	Gainesville-Hawthorne • General James A. Van Fleet • Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail • Withlacoochee
State Forests	Belmore • Big Shoals Public Lands • Blackwater River • Carl Duval Moore • Cary • Cottage Hill • Deep Creek • Etoniah Creek • Four Creeks • Goethe • Holopaw • Jennings • John Bethea • Lake George • Lake Talquin • Lake Wales Ridge • Little-Big Econ • Matanzas • Myakka • Okaloacoochee Slough • Picayune Strand • Pine Log • Point Washington • Ralph E. Simmons Memorial • Ross Prairie • Seminole • Tate's Hell • Tiger Bay • Twin Rivers • Wakulla • Watson Island • Welaka • Withlacoochee
Florida Department of Environmental Protection