So how brown is the beach water down there? (Cape Coral: live in, club)

[CindyRoos]

Originally Posted by Tman46544

Hard to say what it will be like in May but hope it's all good, probably heading down there again soon.

I'll have a good time regardless
Thank you!

[xmavrekx]

Is this "red tide" or as scientists call it "Harmful Algae Bloom" actually harmful? Do you have to check the beach conditions before you go to the beach every time? Coming from the northeast (New York/New Jersey), all we had to ever watch out for was strong tides and jelly fish blooms. I hate listening to the news because they make everything sound 10x worse but there was some report last year where I believe a man died from some necrotic bacteria he got while swimming in the coast of Florida. (Not sure which side)

[njkate]

Originally Posted by xmavrekx

Is this "red tide" or as scientists call it "Harmful Algae Bloom" actually harmful? Do you have to check the beach conditions before you go to the beach every time? Coming from the northeast (New York/New Jersey), all we had to ever watch out for was strong tides and jelly fish blooms. I hate listening to the news because they make everything sound 10x worse but there was some report last year where I believe a man died from some necrotic bacteria he got while swimming in the coast of Florida. (Not sure which side)

4 counties, Lee, Palm, Martin and St Lucie. I am in Lee and was at Sanibel this weekend and didn't look to bad, have not been to Ft Myers Beach. All that said the 3 counties on the east coast, well it is just really foul and nasty and yes it is harmful. People on east coast complain of rashes, headaches, breathing issues.

[nhkev]

I was at Cayo Costa and Sanibel last week. the further north you go the better the water. The water in Pine Island sound south of Matlacha bridge was black. north of the bridge the water was brown and turned yellowish out to Charlotte harbor. at Cayo Costa the water was clear with good visibility but not the bluish green I would expect in late June early July.

[xmavrekx]

Originally Posted by njkate

4 counties, Lee, Palm, Martin and St Lucie. I am in Lee and was at Sanibel this weekend and didn't look to bad, have not been to Ft Myers Beach. All that said the 3 counties on the east coast, well it is just really foul and nasty and yes it is harmful. People on east coast complain of rashes, headaches, breathing issues.

My friend just asked me if I heard about the "algae problem" in Florida. I laughed when I told him I just found this thread yesterday. When I landed in Fort Myers airport last week there was this foul smell in the air right outside the airport. Would that be the algae bloom or I heard there was a water/sewage treatment plant nearby...

[NoSnow4me]

That was probably just swamp.

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by xmavrekx

My friend just asked me if I heard about the "algae problem" in Florida. I laughed when I told him I just found this thread yesterday. When I landed in Fort Myers airport last week there was this foul smell in the air right outside the airport. Would that be the algae bloom or I heard there was a water/sewage treatment plant nearby...

The swamps can let off a foul rotting-ish smell when the water sits in sweltering sun day in and day out. Foliage rots and then burns as it gets dry. The smell can linger for quite a while. You'll know red tide/ algae smell because it's more fishy and usually an irritant to the eyes and sinus. You sneeze and hack and itch your eyes like crazy the closer you get to th beaches. Super pleasant when that rolls around. Which seems to be more frequent due to the Lake let off

[xmavrekx]

Originally Posted by Sweetbottoms

The swamps can let off a foul rotting-ish smell when the water sits in sweltering sun day in and day out. Foliage rots and then burns as it gets dry. The smell can linger for quite a while. You'll know red tide/ algae smell because it's more fishy and usually an irritant to the eyes and sinus. You sneeze and hack and itch your eyes like crazy the closer you get to th beaches. Super pleasant when that rolls around. Which seems to be more frequent due to the Lake let off

Nice... I'm becoming more excited about moving to the area now... lol. I mean how often is this? Is it once in a while (say twice a year) or like once every 2 months?

I have issues with smells. My wife says I have a dogs nose lol. I just would like to know what I'm in for. I remember when I worked at a Subaru dealership in NJ and there was a sewage treatment facility down the block... You would go outside and smell raw $h#t the minute you stepped out of the door... Awful. And quite the contrary of when I worked at a Benz dealership across the street from a bakery

[NoSnow4me]

lol. Please don't take this wrong. I'm not trying to be rude. If you find the smell of swamp intolerable, SWFL might very well be a place where you don't want to live. The rainy season is summer time, and there is a lot of standing water everywhere. Some places have more of it than others, but you aren't going to be able to escape swamp if you live in the middle of one. Cape Coral with all its canals has pretty good drainage, so there's a lot less of it there, but there's also a lot less tropical vegetation. Some people don't like that. I'd suggest a long vacation to kick around and see what the whole area is like.

Red tide isn't common though. You'll rarely have to deal with that, and unless you're wealthy, you won't live close enough to the gulf to have any problems with it at home.

[rikoshaprl]

I never even noticed any bad smells in this area and I've been all over SW Florida. You want bad smells check out low tide up north near the big city.