Redfish Pass

South Seas Island Resort is at the northern tip of Captiva Island. On the east, its beaches face the Gulf of Mexico; on the west, Pine Island Sound. The island at this end is maybe 1/2 mile across. At the northern tip, a narrow channel called Redfish Pass separates Captiva and North Captiva Islands. It was once a single island, until a hurricane cut a pass between the two.

The waterway guides urge extreme caution, because Redfish Pass is subject to constant shifts and shoaling — local knowledge is essential. So when I was in Everglades City, I called the dockmaster at South Seas to inquire. His advice was short and sweet: “Ignore your paper charts. Ignore your chart plotter. Download the diagram from our website and commit to it totally. If you do, it’s no problem.”

Well, he was right. There is a straight, deep channel right down the middle, marked by three buoys. You align yourself with the first buoy, set your course due east, and you do not waver until you pass the last buoy. Waves are breaking over the shoals on either side of you. Somewhat anxiety-inducing, but in fact, no problem.

Anyway, we slept 12 hours last night: 7:30 to 7:30. Cumulative exhaustion, I suppose. I lay down listening to my playlist on low volume and woke up 8 hours later with it still playing. Then slept another 4 hours.

I knew today was going to have some harsh conditions, so we walked to the bay side to have a look. We were met with a beautiful sunrise over calm seas on the Sound. What the heck?

We then headed for the Gulf side so that Guinness could get in a run on the beach. We were met with totally different conditions: 15-knot winds; 4-foot seas; a 10-degree drop in temperature. Seas are forecast to go to 8 feet. Guinness loved it; he was invigorated. But it was definitely blowing.

We walked over to look at Redfish Pass under today’s conditions. I looked at it and marveled that we had actually passed through it yesterday (under much better conditions.) I was very impressed that the entire channel is surrounded by white water – waves breaking, marking the shallow water.

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We’re now back from exploring the island. A nice 6-mile walk. We are staying in the marina at South Seas Plantation. I was here years ago on a business boondoggle, and I was curious to know if it was as beautiful as I remembered. It certainly is. We’ll stop here again on our return loop.