When choosing a sailboat waterfront home in Southwest Florida and in particular Charlotte County there are many options. Very often when our northern boaters consider our area they single out the “sail boat” accessible neighborhoods primarily looking at the homes. Of course, we all want the best home in the best neighborhood but of course, that comes with a price.
The best neighborhood for your water craft is:
- One that accommodates the draft of your boat
- One that has a boat ride time to open water you are comfortable with
- One that has a home you are happy with
- One that is in a town that you really want to be part of
This all sounds so simple but different communities have different weighting on the 4 points above. With that said let’s compare South Gulf Cove to Gulf Cove and with that compare them to Punta Gorda (in particular Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles).
South Gulf Cove: This waterfront neighborhood consists of a freshwater canal system that has a lock system in order to enter a saltwater river, the Myakka River. The first big thing with this neighborhood to consider is boat ride time. Figure 10-15 minutes to lock your boat in or out for each boating outing. Add to that the boat ride time from your dock to the lock, which would be from 10 minutes to 60 minutes or so. You should also factor in that if you have boats ahead of you to leave or get back home, you have to wait on each boat to use the lock. Three boats ahead of you might add another 30-40 minutes to your lock out. If you are in a storm or in a hurry you are between a rock and a hard spot.
The location of South Gulf Cove is between Port Charlotte and Englewood. It is largely undeveloped however there are plenty of homes sprinkled around and some streets are more developed then others. As it is, you are not exactly part of any town by my perspective but close. This neighborhood is closer to the beach then many others which is a bonus.
Many customers pick this neighborhood first because they see the most beautiful homes for the least amount of money here generally speaking. I think the insight into the water ways and location tells the story as to why the house prices are lower than many other waterfront neighborhoods. LOCATION! The precluding water depth that I measured in my soundings was just at 5 feet MLW just outside the lock through a channel that runs through a mud flat then into the river.
Gulf Cove: This community is located just north of the El Jobean bridge which crosses the Myakka River. For a sail boater, you would have to have a retractable mast and obviously a very small boat to consider this neighborhood. As such, it is generally a smaller power boat area. Because it is not sail boat friendly, I will not cover any more except to say that Gulf Cove is north of the bridge and South Gulf Cove is south of the bridge. Either way, access to Charlotte Harbor and then to the Gulf of Mexico is considerably longer then from many other neighborhoods in Charlotte County.
Punta Gorda Isles: Located right in the heart of Punta Gorda, this neighborhood has very quick boating access to the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor. From 5 minutes to an average of 30 minutes or less is the boat ride time out. There are some sections with longer boat ride times however. There is no lock system and no restrictions. The average water depths that are minimal for consideration to a deeper draft sailboat is 6 feet with the canals considerably deeper. Some canals and exits have a bit more water than that and of course, on higher tide phases some very large vessels come and go from their home port.
Burnt Store Isles: Located just outside of the town of Punta Gorda, this community exits into the Alligator Creek which places you further south on the harbor (closer to the gulf) then the other Punta Gorda neighborhoods. Boat ride times average about 20 minutes at the shortest time but consider that you are further down the harbor, which is the direction most go (south), then the extra time if your home is 35-40 minutes out really does not matter, depending on how you look at it. This community also has an excellent golf course as well.
Summary: When looking at the 4 points above, the Punta Gorda waterfront neighborhood gets the nod on all 4 points. If you are comfortable with a remote feeling and not worried about being closely integrated into a town, then you might like South Gulf Cove. There are plenty of sailors there and its closer to the beach. However, your boat ride times to the harbor and gulf is something to weigh in on. You will get a newer home for less money here. Comparing South Gulf Cove to Punta Gorda Isles (or Burnt Store Isles) finds many differences. The perfect approach for a visit to the area is to personally drive through each of the neighborhoods and see if they fit your dream of life where its warm and sunny and where boating is a year around lifestyle! With that accomplished, we can spend time after that focusing on the areas you are most interested in. Come live the boaters dream of having your boat at your dock behind your house- IT’S INCREDIBLE!
