Coastal cruising at Tween Waters Marina
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 05/07/07
During Spring Break 2007, my girlfriend and I cruised down the Intracoastal Waterway from Clearwater Beach to stay at the Tween Waters Resort. Though we stayed on board our boat, this review lets everyone know what you'll expect, minus the room.
After the terrible 2004 hurricane season, when three storms cris-crossed Florida, we were concerned with the damage Charlie left, as the eye made first landfall on Cayo Costa Island (LaCosta Island) about 10 mi. north. But I think Captiva looks better than it ever has!
Since my last visit (beach cottage-rental, very nice), most of the buildings appeared to have new steel roofs and a total facelift from the exterior, and all the public buildings were clean inside, including the ground-floor restaurants, boathouse, and lobby.
The pool has a small open-air bar and grill, with poolside service, and the grounds were older, but fairly well manicured.
The best fact was that it's located on the narrowest part of the barrier island. So from our boat, moored on the back-bay/east-side, you walk between the buildings, across the two-lane street, and you're smack on the beach! Since this portion of the street has no buildings on the beach side and the hotel/traffic is somewhat shielded by sand dunes, it feels pretty private when you're enjoying the beach.
I was disappointed that the beach chairs and umbrellas were provided only for hourly rental. You'd think that they could just check to see you're a registered guest and provide them for free instead.
Of the 3 restaurants (1 main dining room and 2 smaller cafes, I think they were pretty steep ($15-25) depending on what you order. You may like it for dinner, but for more alternatives go for a short walk.
If you're looking for a nice stroll, take a 3/4 mile walk up the beach, til you see the street "end". There's a yellow arrow indicating that Captiva Dr (the beach road) jogs a block east (right/left) to the bay side, and continues up the island. There's about 8 blocks of "the town" with a few choices of shops and restaurants!
We ate at The Green Flash, a very reasonable spot on the right/bay side, just north of the shift/jog. Here, lunch will run you from $8 to $13, and maybe up to $13-18 for seafood or steaks. The decor is white/sparse new Florida style, but everything has a view of Pine Island Sound.
We also ate at the Mucky Duck, which is smack on the beach, north of where the road jogs inland. The food was ok, the view was so-so, but the snooty staff kept playing rather dry practical jokes on customers with restaurant "props"... a huge turn-off, personally.
For boaters, dockage is fair, unlike most nearby marinas. But gas was outrageous (about $4/gal for mid-grade 89, when cars were $2.80). Fuel was cheaper at Jug Creek High and Dry in Bokeelia if you can slide through the 3ft deep creek's mangrove channel. Otherwise, better fuel somewhere north of Boca Grande because all the marinas in Pine Island Sound are pretty elitist!
Tween Waters's entrance channel is deep and wide, pending you leave the ICW between Mkrs 37 and 38 and head southwest. Watch for a few derelict anchored vessels in Roosevelt Channel, esp. boating at night, and lockup your companionway as a precaution. You won't get away dinghying into shore, so suck it up and buy a slip. Water and shore power are included. Book early.