1700 Bowmans Beach Road
Sanibel

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Bowman's is fairly typical of the public beaches on Sanibel Island: a little more rugged and isolated than those found on Florida's east coast but still popular destinations for families, tourists, shell gatherers — and birders. The beach attracts a variety of shore birds, including plovers, willets and sanderlings.

But shore birds aren't all this place has to offer. A mangrove-lined bayou separates the parking area from the beach, the two sides connected by a bridge. We found an osprey sitting in the trees and a mantee grazing peacefully in the water below. The walk from the parking lot to the beach is rather long, but the bridge serves as a feature point. There are typical beach front plants, including sea oats, sea lavender and dune sunflowers. The beach is about a mile (very roughly) from Sanibel Captiva Road, one of the major arteries on the island, and that makes Bowman's quiet, except for the wind and the sounds of people having a good time.

There are some trails, picnic facilities, restrooms and drinking water. There's also plenty of parking, albeit expensive parking at $4 an hour. Our main purpose when we came to Sanibel was to explore the "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, but we didn't want to leave without visiting the island's fine beaches. We were not disappointed at Bowman's.