SaltySner

it is shallow for sure on either side of the ICW. We have a Catalina 350 which draws 4.5. If you are accustomed to charts and the ICW navigation aids, it should be no problem with either.. greater than 4.5... forget it. don't go in the ICW.. only out and around outside Keys except to get fuel etc .. We saw several cats on the ICW but motoring. If you are in Sarasota, you have to go back up north to get out of the ICW, and that cut at Longboat Pass is the most run aground location on the West Coast of Florida. If you go south, and stay in the ICW it is long... not so many bridges like the east coast, but kind of boring until you get below Cayo Costa...



for sure stop there overnight but further in than just the mouth.

we stayed in a marina at Marco Island.. the yacht club.. it was nice. the entrance to Marco Island is tricky... a switch back. there are so many things to relate to you. It is usually pleasant sailing all the way to Key West.

PM me... I just did the west coast from Tampa to Keys, to Fort Lauderdale