Message From The Manager

Each of the five aquatic preserves within the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves offers a memorable experience visiting protected submerged state lands, healthy mangrove shorelines, seagrass beds and oyster bars. Southwest Florida’s subtropical climate is home to a variety of animals as well, in addition to migrating birds. Although the areas are all connected by water, each offers unique vistas, worthy of continued conservation efforts for the enjoyment of future generations.

Gasparilla Sound-Charlotte Harbor is the largest of the five within Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves, offering an expansive area for recreation. When you look to the east or the west in Charlotte Harbor, you’ll see the beautiful mangrove shorelines, almost all of which represent Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park. Depending on the time of year, you will see a variety of different birds, from migrating birds to nesting wading and diving birds. Fevers of rays swim through Charlotte Harbor in the late spring, as do so many other uniquely fascinating creatures. No matter the time of year, every day in Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves brings a different, special natural beauty.

Sincerely, 

Arielle Taylor-Manges