Red Tide

We have reservations at the Marco Island Marriott for March 20-26. After reading several postings about how terribly sick peope get when red tide shows up, I am really concerned about taking my family to the gulf coast of florida and ending up sick for months! Sanibel Island seems to get hit quite often, can someone give me some candid information about Red Tide and Marco Island?

Thanks

Red Tide

Anybody?

Red Tide

Hello ';the Casey%26#39;s';,

I almost hate to write this because I don%26#39;t want to tempt the fates. But, for the most part, when there is red tide in the Marco area, it has been far enough off shore not to disrupt the beaches. It has caused the fisherman to change which reefs they fish or what types of fish they go after.

The scientist have not yet developed a red tide forecast. So no one can promise you the location and concentrations in future dates.

The official red tide monitoring service can be found:

research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp…

Randy

Randy is correct with his information.

I%26#39;m sure there may be some rare individuals who are hypersensitive or who have respiratory problems and are ';sick for months'; if exposed to red tide. As someone who is on the Marco beach every day, even those few, few days when red tide has been present, the only effect has been some coughing....and, once I get off the beach, it clears up.

Thank you for your comments. It does seem that while they can not predict where and when red tide will hit, some areas experience it more frequently. The Sanibel Island forum is littered with accounts of respiratory irritation and dead fish on the beach. We are considering either going to Longboat Key or Marco Island. Some have suggested that red tide is more of a prob. at Longboat Key. Since my family has allergies and asthma, I%26#39;m just trying to avoid a disaster.

The latest Red tide report is out

research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp…

Again, I don%26#39;t want to tempt the fates, but.

I think it was 4 or 5 years ago Sanibel was the center of a high concentrations of Red Tide which generate piles of dead fish on the beach and sent Sanibel island residents indoors. For the last 2 or 3 years the outbreaks have been centered further north towards Sarasota.

The FWRI Red Tide Status Line is now available to callers to hear a recording detailing red tide conditions throughout the state. FWRI updates the recording each Friday by 5 p.m. after sampling efforts for the week have been completed and analyzed. Red Tide Status Line: (866) 300-9399 (toll-free inside Florida only); (727) 552-2448 (outside Florida).

Randy

Thanks -- really appreciate a local perspective! I%26#39;ve bookmarked the red tide site and will be monitoring right up to the time we leave.

Caseys, I know its anecdotal, but we%26#39;ve been going to MI for 15 years and have never had a vacation ruined by red tide. I take my 83 year old father every year along with infants and young kids. No issues.

By the way, while you%26#39;re there, we highly recommend the Big Kahuna sunset cruise into the gulf. Giant catamaran that sails from the Marco River Marina. Great captain and crew. Very fun. Free drinks and it actually has a bathroom.

jackiepaddy -- thanks for your help once again! I appreciate any recommendations you have as this is our first trip to MI. Do you and your family swim in the gulf? Have you had problems with rashes or jellyfish? When I was a kid, we just headed to the beach....it seems to have gotten much more complicated!

Thanks again!

Hi. My family loves Marco and my kids have been going since they were infants (now 8 %26amp; 9). No problems at the beach at all with jelly fish. Some sting rays depending on where you go. Tiger Tail Beach is a protected beach and the water is very calm which causes more minnow action. South Beach and the new public beach are directly on the gulf so you get more of the waves, etc. just like you do at the hotels. You have nothing to worry about but sunburn. I will be surprised if you don%26#39;t love Marco once you%26#39;ve been there. Enjoy!

Thanks jackiepaddy -- I really appreciate your input. Perhaps this will be come a regular vacation spot for us as well. We have been experiencing extremely cold weather here for the last 5 days, so some sunshine and warm weather would be like a dream!

Thanks again for all your help.