Immerse in an ECO-Tour and Experience Southwest Florida Islands by Boat

“Captain Brian Holaway is well versed in the intricacies of our unmatched locale. He can guide to and through a multitude of out-of-the way tidal creeks, bayous, keys and islands. More important is his passionate interest and respect for the region. With unique insights from his many explorations and his studies, not only does he identify the birds and wildlife that inhabit our semi-tropical watery land, but he explains their interconnectedness to their environment and each other. In addition, he shares the fascinating history of rugged people who came long before us: Florida Native Indians, the Calusa, the Spanish, the Cubans, early homesteaders, and the wisdom evident in the growth of their culture.

You will come away with great enjoyment and a new understanding of this beautiful place and its history.”

Historian, Betty Anholt
Author of Sanibel’s Story

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Wonderful Day

Another wonderful day on the water with long time clients, Nancy and Melissa, who traveled with me for a fun day of exploring on the islands. It is always fun to take Nancy and her family out. She usually says, "go wherever you want to go" (of course she knows this will always lead to Cayo Costa at some point in the day). We started the hot August day by traveling to the Tarpon Lodge on Pine Island for lunch. After a delightful lunch we traveled to the north end of Cayo Costa. Melissa enjoys photography and brought along her new lens for her camera. The light and cloud formations were superb for photography. I had not taken photos at the north end of the island like this for 2 years almost to the day. We spotted a new sand bar resembling Little Pavillion Key in the Everglades where we took numerous photos of the birds enjoying this new spit of land.
We then traveled south in the Gulf of Mexico along the shoreline of Cayo Costa dodging sandbars and afternoon rain storms, while admiring sea oats in full bloom along the way. We went to a spot on the bay side where it was calm and protected where we walked across the island and observed unbelievable cloud formations as we collected shells. Finds of the day were sand dollars, the largest Auger shell I have ever found and moon shells among others. Walking along observing the clouds , smelling a hint of rain, seeing the tide run out - it was another beautiful day on Cayo Costa and a pleasurable boat ride.