Boca Grande is a small residential community on Gasparilla Island, in southwest Florida. Gasparilla Island is a part of both Charlotte and Lee Counties, while the actual village of Boca Grande, which is home to many seasonal and some yearround residents, is entirely in the Lee County portion of the island. It is part of the Cape Coral–Fort Myers Metropolitan Statistical Area. Boca Grande is known for its historic downtown, sugar sand beaches, blue water and world class fishing.


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Its name Spanish for "Big Mouth" comes from the mouth of the waterway, called Boca Grande Pass, at the southern tip of the island. The pass was used as a busy shipping point for many years as the waters in the pass are naturally deep. Processed phosphate from the Bone Valley region was loaded onto waiting oceangoing cargo vessels via the Seaboard Air Line Railroad at the dock located on the southern tip of the island. Shipping business to the island declined in the late 1970s as it was no longer cost effective to ship phosphate by rail to Boca Grande when it could be loaded at Tampa. The phosphate plant at Boca Grande was old and its tonsperhour rate was slow. Therefore, it made economic sense to discontinue the operation. Its newspaper is called "The Boca Beacon" Evidence of the island's industrial past can still be seen.[citation needed]


Same Beach, looking south in November after renaturing.
There are no gas stations in the village of Boca Grande, with the exception of a street pump at Boca Grande Marina, so many local residents use a golf cart as their main mode of transportation. On any given day in Boca Grande, you will see golf carts, as well as some automobiles, making their way throughout downtown. A Lee County ordinance designates all but two streets as golf cart paths. Drivers must be at least 14 years old to operate a golf cart on these designated streets.[citation needed]

Boca Grande provided the backdrop for Denzel Washington's movie, Out of Time, where the quiet village was renamed "Banyan Key" in reference to the banyan trees that populate the island. Scenes for the 2006 film based on Carl Hiaasen's book Hoot were also filmed on the island, which was again renamed for the filming. This time it became "Coconut Cove".[citation needed]

Boca Grande's serene beauty also makes it a destination for highprofile weddings and residences for the elite seeking privacy. Sara Blakely (Spanx founder and owner) and Jesse Itzler were married on Boca Grande in 2008, while the Bush family and Audrey Hepburn have called it home seasonally.[citation needed]

Hurricane Charley hit Boca Grande heavily on August 13, 2004, causing some $20 billion USD worth of damage to Southwest Florida. There were no deaths or injuries on the island, but many buildings were damaged and numerous banyan trees were heavily damagedThe Journey by Arthur Vyncke |   / arthurvost  
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