Bowman's Beach

I love Bowmans Beach. Yes, it's a bit of a hike to get to the ocean, but that's kind of nice because the beach isn't so crowded. You do have to pay to park. It's also a great place to get shells. I'll always come to this beach when I'm on sanibel island.

Quite the variety of shells to collect, birds to watch and photograph, plenty of sunshine!

This is shell sand beach in the west coast Florida. You may need to wear protective footwear on the beach. The facility is beautiful and the park has all thing you need such as changing room, restrooms, fresh water wash off, parking, bridge access, playground, and more. The parking is required a fee. They do have canoe launch area for your use. The beach is no dog allowed. The beach contains of a lot of sea shell coarse grain. Footwear is definitely a must. The beach wave is very mild. Great for kid. However, close the shore line has a lot shell that difficult to sit on the edge of water. Overall is a good beach for the sea shell collector. Beach goer wear footwear over bridge is recommended.

A beautiful beach. Great bathrooms. There is also a changing area located outside. There is an area to dine off outside as well. Getting to the beach itself is not too bad. There is a path, and a small boardwalk/bridge to cross over. If you are looking for seashells, this is a good spot. Most of mine were found when we were swimming in the water. The beach is pretty clean. They try to keep it like that tooZ Parking is easy, and plentiful.

Beach was ok. But be careful specially with kids . There's a mosquito plague in that area. If happen to go make sure to take repellent . I suffered a severe allergy due to the multiple bites as show on image all over my body. It's terrible and the itch is so bad . They itch a day after or couple of hours after exposed but the scars show up the day after . They are very tiny mosquitos that you can't even see .

Beach baby! Let's go! Best shelling happens a lot here. The beach is gorgeous. There are facilities. There is parking.

Dolphins, shells, and lots of sand! It's beautiful! What more could you ask for? Parking is five dollars an hour but you can pay with your phone.

This beach was pretty calm, and peaceful. There weren't places to rent umbrellas or tents but that's ok. We only went for 30-40 min because it was really hot. There weren't many shells either. But the water was not in such an uproar, pretty calm. Would go back!

Very nice beach on Sanibel Island. You do have to pay for parking ($5/hour), pretty big lot, we did find a spot easily in April. Not so crowded after spring breakers left. Nice facilities, restrooms, changing rooms and showers for coming back from the beach. The actual beach is quiet, with lots of nature around, many birds, shells. We enjoyed walking around, picking up shells and taking in the views. It wasn't crowded, so we enjoyed some relaxing time here. You need to bring chairs, umbrellas, food. There isn't anything around. I don't mind, but it's good to know. The sand is white, the water blue, your typical paradise island. In the best way! I'd go back again, enjoyable spot, perfect vacation getaway!

A quiet beach on Sanibel island: *Wide shoreline, the area nearest public parking was congested but just walk down the shore and you can find a quiet place to setup *Parking lot is small so depending on the season, you can find spots. I went on New Year's eve afternoon and found parking fine. You have to pay using your phone with a QR code that is posted towards the front/middle of the lot. If QR code does not work, you can text SANIBEL to 25023. A receipt and link will be texted to your phone *Sanibel island is notorious for handing out parking citations so be respectful and park and PAY for designated spots *Using the QR code, fill in the license plate #, credit card # (does not take apple pay at this time, and time in hourly increments. It's 5.00 an hour. You can also add more time through the same link that is texted to your phone if you need more time before the session is up *after the parking lot, there are clear signs that mark the way to the beach. Go over a little bridge over the canal to get to the beach *Toll for the causeway to get to the island is $6.00 *Public restrooms right after the parking lot before you get on the trail to the beach entrance *Tons of shells and sea birds *There is no boardwalk, it is a public beach so no vendors or food. Bring your own in a cooler and the walk is 7+ minutes from the parking lot to the beach so a beach wagon is a great idea *no trash bins on the beach but plenty of trash receptacles on the path back to parking. And for a public beach, I was pleasantly surprised at how clean the beach was. No litter or anything! *some of the shore line has lots of tiny, broken up shells so water shoes or good flip flops are a must *area to rinse off before the parking lot to wash off sand *with the bridge toll and hourly parking, a few hours will set you back over 20$ but this beach was clean, had restrooms, patrons were respectful and you could easily relax for hours. It's definitely a trek to get there as you have to have a car and there is no public transportation like a bus, but that could be a considered a pro since it's a more quiet and relaxing beach.

The best beach! This beach is equal comparison to any beach in Destin! Pictures do absolutely no justice. You cannot tell, but the sand is white and the water is blue and absolutely beautiful. Beautiful waves, a ton of shells, and very needy seagulls so watch your food! The beach is wide and very long so you can spread out and even play frisbee or volleyball! Even for a cloudy day, it's a 1 in a million beach. It's pricey as you have a toll to enter the island and $5.00 per hour parking. If you're like me, you wanna spend all day here! The conservation will check your dashboards so please do the right thing and pay before you stay. There's nice showers and changing areas. You can camp here and there's a play area for kids. The trash cans are located at the front. PLEASE TAKE YOUR TRASH WITH YOU. If you see holes, fill them and if you see trash, pick it up! Do the right thing. :-)

Love this beach! Parking is easy - just be sure to pay. Restrooms available. Short walk to the beach but so worth it. Well kept paths. Great spot to relax and play.

An okay beach when we went. I hate giving a beach such a low rating, and my opinion may change if I went on a different day. It was crowded when we went, and felt loud and unwelcoming. Not many shells, but was told later (at a different beach), that the shells were particularly sparse at the time, so again, my opinion may change if I went on a different day.

Beware 150 dollar parking ticket after the provided parking app malfunctioned Beach was not in good shape very few shells Many people at least 1/2 were unable to get the partly g app to work and no assistance I mistakenly thought I had paid and got a ticket in 12 minutes Seriously ? Between the dead planes , closed businesses, and bad attitude by the parking patrol I won't go back any time soon If they had ParkMobile or even the system at fort Myers beach it would be manageable Honestly who has good cell service and data reliably on the beach They need a kiosk which provides a mechanism to pay and show proof of payment not shunt this to the well intentioned tourist

My husband and I finally visited Sanibel post Ian. The island is a mess but slowly recovering. Less than half of the businesses are operating and downed trees line the roads. We decided to check out Bowman's Beach then get lunch and do some shopping at the businesses that were open. At Bowman's Beach many areas were marked off with protective orange temporary fencing and yellow police tape as well as signs say "wear shoes - debris may be in the water". We checked out an area of the beach that wasn't fenced off, took a quick dip and headed back to our car. At our car there was a ranger issuing us a parking ticket. The beach was virtually empty and the parking lot was at best 10% full. She laughingly told us "it's too late and this is going to cost you $150! It's all electronic, there's nothing I can do about it." To which my husband replied "why do you need rub it if you can't do anything about it?" After our warm welcome back to Sanibel greeting we got the $150 dollar ticket and got out of there as quickly as we could and do not plan on returning any time soon.

What used to be a great gem of a beach is now a Hillbilly enclave. Once this was a nice upscale semi secluded and obscure beach now all the riff raff has discovered this place and ruined it for all decent folk. As if all this isn't bad enough the chiggers, no seeums or sand fleas bugs will eat you alive. Make sure you use plenty of repellent and stay away from the Dunes on any SW FL beach! 2 more caveats and this will be a deal killer for a lot of family with kids... the trajectory from the parking lot to the beach is kind of long so if you have a bunch of things and other people to lug bear this in mind Last but not least are the park rangers or workers in the parking lot waiting for you to be one minute over that your time limit to give you a nice $150 fine!!!

We came late afternoon during the week to this beach and wow, are we glad we did. The temperature was perfect and the evening so lovely. We did pay $20 for 4 hours of parking, but it was worth the drive and the money. The walking trail to the beach is so peaceful and not too terribly far of a walk. They have restrooms, outdoor showers and changing stations. We will be back!

Ended up here on the recommendation of our brunch waiter, a Sandibel Island local. He said it was his favorite beach. It quickly became one of ours. It was easily accessible. The parking lot had plenty of available spots and the restrooms and changing areas at the entrance were very convenient. The beach provided a bounty of shells and room to spread out or walk alone if that's your jam. We swam, waded, ran from the waves (and fish!) and watched the birds and thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon. We were an all adult group so we were okay with the fact that the waves were pretty strong and the descent into the water is pretty steep. There's a drop off not far out so if you are not a swimmer, beware. I would say this is NOT an ideal beach for young children.

Love this island ..this is the most popular thing on the island .. a public beach. We always stay on places at this beach closer towards Ft Myers down the beach. It's all pretty similar but the public beach is much more crowded and you have to pay for parking .. like 5$ and limited parking. In other words no reason to come here when we are staying right down the beach where it's not crowded. right now in the corona virus its even more an issue to be places that aren't crowded. Alot of beaches are closing soon .. but it sounds like Sanibel beaches are staying open. so the thought by the locals is the are all going to come here for the 4th of July ... and the locals and people staying here aren't happy about that. This is a quiet island and paying to get over the bridge and paying for parking usually keeps alot from coming here. We like it quiet. Sanibel was socially distancing before social distancing was cool lol. .. before this crazy virus. but bowman beach is open and it's a great beach if you can find parking. I love the ocean here .. the water is usually calm and lovely. no sea grass or red tide ... yay. Lots of sealife and birds .. especially sea birds. Sometimes dolphins, sting rays, manatees, ospreys and best shelling beach in USA. right now is sea turtle season ... they are coming to shore to lay eggs so they have barriers up to protect the turtle eggs till they hatch and can make it to the ocean .. soooo cool. always something neat to see on the island. Its usually peaceful and always gorgeous.

It is late August, and the beach on a Friday afternoon was pretty empty. It is about a quarter mile walk to the beach from the parking lot. Parking is $5 per hour. There are restrooms, a changing area, a place to rinse off the sand outside, and picnic tables on the way from the lot to the beach. The water is not clear, so temper those expectations, as this is not Clearwater Beach. Anyway, there are lots of shells and you don't need water socks to walk around, FYI. I read that the best tine to go shelling is at low tide, which is not when we were there. Bring a bucket, a net, and hopefully a partner to help you wade waste deep looking for stuff. I did not find amy big ones, but I did not have a bucket or a net, just a partner to help keep me under water while I tried to fish out what I found. :). I found a few pretty shells, but nothing very large. I would definitely return to this pretty beach.

Parking $5/hour. Meh. We came mid October and it wasn't busy. Make sure to bring some type of bag to hold your shells and some water shoes. It was painful being barefoot on all of those shells. Haha. We ended up going to Fort Meyer beach after and there were less shells there but MANY more large ones in great condition. The ones here were small and the big ones were hard to get because they kept rolling away in the water or they were chipped. Bathrooms are on the way in. There is also specified area to change clothing. It's outdoors, right by the bathrooms, and it's an "S" shape to get in so no doors. I suppose the only way you would ensure not to walk in on someone is to check for feet! LOL

This beach was horrible we were on a trip for a baseball tournament and went to the beach no signs for parking that will give it away. We leave the beach and come back to find a 150 dollar ticket for parking violation. That's laughable 150 dollars for a shit beach in sanibel. Never go here again bunch of assholes

This is a nice beach. There are little board walks to get over to the beach. A ramp for kayaking. They have a shower area to rinse off. There is a little outside changing area along with restrooms in the same area. Very nice beach and lots a shells to collect. We also found a bunch of claims (which we put back).

Beautiful as always. But long walk (make your load lite or get a beach wagon). Oh my it's been a while since we've went, $$$ 5.00 an hour to park plus the $$$ 6.00 to get over the bridge.!!

Parking: Ample room, we got one right near the walking path to the beach. Costs $5/hour. All parking in dirt Surroundings: Even thought we got closest to the walk trail to the beach, the walk to the actually beach was a LONG one - 1,000 steps, yes i tracked it! :( A long dirt trail, bridge and doc to get to beach. On the way, we passed bathrooms, showers and changing areas. There was a soda vending machine too Beach: The sand was nice soft with just sand but more crushed shells making it feel more like gravel. Busy but area is open enough to get spread out and not too close to anyone

Great beach We were there the Friday after Thanksgiving and it was packed. The water was nice and clear no signs of red tide. Sand is soft as powdered sugar and great for shell hunting. There are bathrooms and showering stations. The parking lot is a short walk away so I would honestly take just what you need.

Beautiful, natural beach with amazing views and great shelling. We saw dolphins! The water was calm, warm, and peaceful. We found all kinds of unique shells. But.. my son did get stung by a jellyfish.

Bowman's Beach was a bummer. It took forever on a hot September day to walk from the parking lot to the beach. The parking was $5 an hour. It seemed to take half and hour just to get out there and back to the car. If you have any disability I would not suggest coming here even though they do have handicap parking. Next time I will just stay on Ft. Myers Beach the whole time and forget Sanibel. Yes, there are shells but I didn't think they were anything special.

I'm on this constant adventure to try new beaches, and especially ones that my Lee County Parks parking pass works at! After a family breakfast at the Island Cow, I checked the county website, and realized that Bowman's Beach was somewhere that I could park for free! We ventured up to Bowman's Beach and had no trouble parking on a slightly overcast Friday afternoon in October. It was a nice treat to not have to pay for parking since it was $4/hr. I'd recommend not bringing a ton of items to the beach, since it is a bit of walk to the beach from the parking area. We eat had a backpack chair and towel - so no difficulty in our group. There were nice bathrooms, pavilions, changing areas, water fountains, and a park for kids! Bowman's Beach was absolutely perfect for a relaxing day at the beach! No restaurants or hustle, but bring a book, and you'll find this place to be a little slice of heaven (with bathrooms)!

We wandered over here in the car yesterday. Drove all of Sanibel Island.. what a pleasant drive. Stopping here has a changing outdoor roomm, bathrooms and a walk to the beach. Nice shell beach but mostly smalls. EVERYONE picks up shells here so not a lot left. I was here wIth two friends from Europe and one gal picked up loTs to take home with her. She said she wasn't but she did. Lol. We sunbathed while she picked! It actually got hot ! The weather has been a bit iffy and chilly. They have not been able to Swim in the ocean yet!! It's been cold here in Jan. I actually got a bit pink even with sunscreen. Ah and there is $5 hr parking.

This place was packed on a holiday/vacation week. There was a huge line just to get in and find a space. Parking is now $5 an hour!! We remember coming here years back when parking was free. We wanted to stop by a Sanibel beach so my girlfriend who was visiting from Michigan could do some shelling. So my husband dropped us off while he circled around looking for a parking spot. We walked down the pathways and over the wood boardwalk over the water. It is quite a distance from the lot to the actual beach so if you have any disabilities or problems walking, this beach is not for you. Once on the actual sand, the beach is wide. Even as busy as it was, there is plenty of room to stretch out on a blanket, etc. Part of the beach is actually sandy, but most is crushed shells ... and some not crushed. You will see many people shelling as well as enjoying the water. We walked around a bit, then made the long walk back. It took almost an hour -- and my husband was still circling around trying to find a parking space. So, from one perspective, we saved $5 --although on the other hand, he didn't get to enjoy the gulf breezes... I'd come back again, perhaps, but definitely not "in season" .

Good beach with a lot of open space. My friends and I came here on our last day, and we would definitely recommend!

This is an excellent beach on Sanibel, a great alternative to Blind Pass or Turner, where lots fill up quickly. There are always parking spots here. The beach is better for swimming since the aforementioned beaches can have a strong current.

Very nice beach. This is not a resort style beach but a place wheee u need to bring everything with you. A short walk from parking area through the protected natural dunes area. A lot of shells to collect and the water was perfect. During this recent period of red tide, this beach does not seem to have been affected as of 30 July No dead fish and no smell. The parking is $5 per hour, but we'll worth the cost because the beach and facilities are clean compared to normal public beach standards. We will be back. Well done.

We chose Sanibel for our vacay destination even though the island is still in recovery mode. I especially love Bowman's beach and so happy it was open for visitors. We anticipated paying for parking but the pay by phone was new to us. We arrived early and observed a lot of people walking on by the pay station. We didn't see anyone paying. Was the pay system operational? No one was doing it. Husband took a photo of the QR code and we proceeded to the beach, wondering what to do. Approached a couple on the beach and inquired about the parking. She said "we come here all the time and never pay to park". So we didn't either. And we got nailed with a $150 citation on our windshield. Found out the couple we approached had a veterans license plate and a handicap sticker. Very expensive lesson learned. Better bring your phone and credit card to Sanibel beaches. No cash option.

The beach is deep. Meaning you have to walk a ways to get to the water. Which is good and bad. More people can spread out even when it's high tide, but man, luggin your beach gear is hard in the sand. I even had a cart with wheels, it was still a chore. The sand is like regular beach sand, it's not that nice sugar soft sand you can find at other beaches. There are bathrooms. And an outside shower to rinse your feet off. Some picnic tables and grills. It's $5.00 an hour to park. Being a "world famous" beach. I would have liked to have seen blue crystal clear water. Soft sand. Stepping on the seashells is like stepping on legos. Be sure to wear water shoes. For the cost to come over the bridge,$6.00 and $5.00 an hour to park. And the pain in the ass it is to drive a steady 35 mph. My God, I had to set cruise control because I just couldn't keep a steady 35 for the long period and straight away stretches. I've lived on island time for 3 years in Hawai'i, they don't even drive that slow.

Seriously a hidden gem! This beach is clean and very quiet. The views are spectacular. It's so quiet that it almost feels like a private beach. You will have to pay for parking ($5). Also make sure you bring proper sandals because this isn't the type of beach you want to walk barefoot in. Soooo many shells everywhere. On the other hand if you're a shell collector, you'll find some beautiful finds here. :)

It costs $5, FIVE DOLLARS, to park per hour at Bowman's Beach. That seemed outrageous to me, but on the bright side there was plenty of parking. The park seems very nice and after about a 7 minute walk from the parking lot, you arrive at the beach. The beach was packed on Monday at 2pm when I arrived. There are tons of seashells here so if you're a collector, you will hit the jackpot. I'd say that the shoreline is about 98% shells and 2% sand, so walking on the beach can be a bit painful. Still, the water looks beautiful here.

Beautiful beach with gentle surf and endless shells to comb through. We visited Bowman's Beach twice on a three day stay in Fort Myers in April, both times over lunch. The beach is a short hike from a large and mostly shaded but fairly expensive parking lot. Near the lot was a good bathroom and beach house for changing into suits (and out of dirty diapers) and a playground full of little lizards to chase. The lot was almost full even on an 80ish days in April. Even so because the beach was so large we easily found a lot of space to setup close to the path from the lot, keeping the walk pretty easy. However it might be harder during the summer months unless you get there earlier then we did. We found the swimming was nice, but there was a bit of a breeze both days that made it hard for the kids to stay in for long periods, even though the surf was gentle. The water was very clear and nice for snorkeling. There is not a lot of wildlife to find, one boy did find a living giant conch! The kids were happy to pick over the shells and build things out of them. However we didn't find many intact shells like we had hoped. We were told that because of recent storms many of the intact shells were crushed which was unfortunate. Overall we mostly enjoyed ourselves and would like to go back when we get the chance.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Parking area is a breath of fresh air after trying to find parking in and around Turner Beach. The walk from the parking area to the beach is gorgeous and shady. Shells to keep you busy all day. Our favorite beach here!

It's hard for me to comprehend a bad day at the beach, you'd have to have a pretty mundane life or be allergic to fun to have a truly bad day at the beach unless of course you get eaten by a shark or overcome by some other sea creature. I will admit every beach doesn't offer the same level of amenities and the quality of the sand and water can vary greatly from beach to beach but these are all things that most of us can deal with. This beach is a great beach mainly because man doesn't have much say in the any part of it except the access and the up keep from use but like most things we humans control there's room for improvement. I do like that it's somewhat secluded from the main road and the parking remains unpaved and rustic, I'm okay with the pay by the hour parking which encourages people to share a ride to save on parking fees or the fact that some simply avoid this beach because of the fees. The long walk to the fun is painful and only rivaled by the walk back to your car after spending hours in the sun. As you'd expect there are some brilliant considerations though nice bathrooms and showers, shaded picnic areas and benches, lots of signage and the beautiful trails offers access to different parts of the beach. Okay I have to admit with all the positives there are some poorly thought out things as well so just come prepared and these things won't feel as bad as they are. One Einstein moment the engineers missed was the location of the showers and foot rinse stations - okay so after spending hours on the beach and trekking hundreds of yards to get back to your vehicle you stop a little over half way to rinse off the sand from your body and feet only to walk through sand and shells for the second half of your journey, sure you're refreshed but the objective is to rid yourself of the sand and sweat prior to getting into your vehicle a gallon of fresh water and a few extra towels in your car will keep you sane. Secondly the walk to the water is ridiculous since the decision was made not to pave the parking why not locate it a little closer to the beach as much as I appreciate the long winding nature trails that wind through the palms and pines I came here for the beach and I want to get there quickly. If your a seasoned beach goer it's likely that you may already own a big wheel device to tote your beach gear and cooler if not spend the money you'll never regret this expenditure, after all a day at the beach should be fun and relaxing and free from pain enjoy...

Woof, that $5 an hour parking! Besides that, this place is a wonderful beach to visit while in Sanibel! My bartender at lunch recommended it so I was confident it would be an ideal place to spend the afternoon. It was a bit crowded but otherwise, an awesome place to take in some rays and look for seashells!

When we arrived at this beach's parking lot we were presented with a machine to pay for parking. A whopping $4 per hour--really? You then walk to the beach, and walk, and walk, and then walk some more. Along the way there are restrooms and change rooms. The beach is nice and secluded. The sand is not powder white like at Fort Myers Beach but it is nice and soft. The water level was very low when we went a couple of days ago (early Oct). In summary, the place is nice, but not worth the high parking fees and long walk to the beach.

One of the reasons we traveled to Sanibel Island was to check out the beaches, as we've heard the shells here are amazing. As others have mentioned it is a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the beach. That's not really a big deal, we don't mind walking. After paying for parking ($4 an hour), we headed to the beach. Along the way you'll find bathrooms, a changing area, showers for afterwards and lots of trash and recycling bins. (Kudos on the recycling bins) So there's no reason for anyone to be dropping their trash anywhere along this nice area let alone the beach. When we got to the beach it was earlyish, around 9:30. There wasn't a ton of people there yet, but many people were out shelling. Hot Wife found several good finds along her walk. There's certainly no shortage of shells here. The water was warm and choppy, due to the wind, which was gusty at times. We stayed long enough to enjoy it, but it started to really fill up with people. When we left we went a different way back to the car and came across a Gopher Turtle! That was neat, and the alternate route was a nice walk under some shaded trees. (more trash and recycling bins along the way). As we got to the main merge it seemed like streams of people were coming in. We're not big fans of masses of people, so we left at the right time. After a quick shower, off we went. Nice beach, and incredibly popular it seems.

Water was not clear at all. Lots of seaweed and murky water. Shells were not great. I had high hopes for Sanibel Island views, shelling, clear water, and this beach but left disappointed. The few beaches I've been to elsewhere in Florida before were much better.

My first time in Florida and I came here, it was beautiful. The Emerald color salty Water, fine white sand, beautiful sea shells etc. There was a few changing areas which was very convenient cause I usually don't like changing in the restrooms. The restrooms could use more cleaning. Overall it was a beautiful area/Beach, I would definitely recommend.

Beautiful beach with tons of shells! It was a 1/4 mile walk from the parking lot. The surf was a bit rough for small children and it was hard to get in and out of the water because it dropped off pretty significantly. Shells were a bit rough underfoot while swimming too. We went near low tide so maybe it's distant when the water is higher. Worth a visit for sure!

Love Bowman's Beach! It offers so much more than your average beach. Soft, sandy shores with rolling tides. Turquoise waters. Loads of tropical flora. Canoe and Kayak launch. Clean, large restrooms. Large rinse station. Beautiful trails and a World Fitness Trail. Abundant wildlife--we even saw a large alligator! Bird and sea turtle nesting areas (of course, roped off and protected. Several covered shelters for when you need a break. Wheelchair accessible. Fire pits for picnic spots. Perfect views of gorgeous sunsets!! I could go on and on. Just fabulous! Here are a few things to know when visiting... large parking area is $5/hr and highly monitored; distance from parking to beach is long but worth it; no concessions offered so you must bring your own chair, umbrellas, food, water and toys; no lifeguards! However, don't let any of these keep you away because it is so worth the trouble. Great family place! Shelling abundant. Large enough beach to spread out. Relatively quiet atmosphere for perfect relaxation. Check out the photos for more details!

Beautiful. No shade but beautiful and great swimming. Great people, too. Thank you to whoever found our car keys and left them in our car