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Bowman's Beach Park

Bowman's Beach Park is a beautiful, secluded beach in Sanibel, FL featuring dog-friendly hiking trails. Park amenities include picnic tables, grills, bathrooms and a pavilion. Dogs are allowed on leash. Please note, there is a parking fee. Visit Website

Or call (239) 472-6397 or email leeparks@leegov.com for more information.

Reviews

BringFido Guest Rating
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Bowman's Beach Park has received a rating of 5.0 out of 5 bones by 15 canine critics on BringFido and 4.5 out of 5 by 3,095 guests on TripAdvisor.


Visitors praise Bowman's Beach Park as a fantastic dog-friendly beach with beautiful scenery, ample amenities, and a generally enjoyable experience for both dogs and their owners. They note that the beach can get crowded, especially during peak times, and that there is a fee to access the island, but overall, they highly recommend the beach as a great spot for a day with your furry friend.

AI-generated from the text of reviews

  • Kevin
    Feb 14, 2024
    Fantastic dog beach tough to get there, harder to leave!

    Sanibel is still recovering from hurricane Ian and traffic is beyond tolerable. Entering the Island from the Causeway starting point to Bowman's Beach took 45 minutes and leaving from Bowman's Beach to the end of the Causeway was 90 minutes. Our dogs LOVED the beach, the humans did not enjoy the expanded time in the car.

  • Susa
    May 14, 2023
    Nice beach

    Rest rooms, picknick tables and showers. A short walk from the parking to the beach. Dogs on leash welcome. Saw many dogs.

  • Katelyn
    Jun 19, 2022
    Our dogs loved it!

    We just visited Bowman’s Beach with our three dogs and they loved it. It was beautiful blue water, great temperature. We just adopted a 6 month old puppy, so we wanted a leashed dog beach. We ended up not even seeing any other dogs, which is exactly what we hoped for. It is a bit of a walk to the beach, about .25 miles. We chose to walk even further to get away from as many people as we could. Once you walk over the bridge, you have four different paths to choose from. We went right and used the nature trail. We went down to the third beach opening, which was perfect, because we had no one around us. Most people don’t want to walk that far, but it was great for us! There is a $6 fee to get on Sanibel Island and it is $5 an hour to park, but definitely worth it!

  • Tina
    May 7, 2022
    Very nice dog-friendly beach!

    Great beach for families and dogs! The water close to the beach was shallow and great for playing fetch with our dog. We had a 30’ floating leash which allowed him to play but still enabled us to keep him tethered to us. It was a great long beach for taking walks and playing in the surf. Nice shower and bathroom facilities.

  • Michelle
    Feb 13, 2022
    Perfect Beach Day!!

    We enjoyed our day here. My two dogs had a blast. We walked a little further down the beach and the area is amazing. There’s a combo of people only and dogs. Nobody was too crowded and all of the dog owners were following the rules with on leash only. Everyone was having a great time. Highly recommend.

  • Ann
    Dec 25, 2021
    Lots of fun on Christmas Day!

    Our dog had a great time here! Come early if you happen to come on Christmas Day! Our dog loved swimming here and walking through the mangroves. If you have a dog cart/carrier for your bike, there are nice bike paths on the island that are separated from the streets. Most of the businesses are closed on Christmas day, so you can drive over with your bikes and park in any of the empty lots. Everyone at the beach was having fun. There’s a nice water fountain for the dogs to get a drink and a place for humans to wash the sand off their feet. Bathrooms were well maintained. Only downside was that the drink vending machine took our money and didn’t spit out a drink!

  • Elisa
    Mar 31, 2021
    Florida gem

    gorgeous beach with lots of open space. plenty of amenities. (bathrooms, rinsing stations, lots of parking) worth the trip.

  • Joan
    Jan 13, 2021
    Nice Beach

    A little walk from the parking opens to a lovely beach

  • Helen
    Feb 19, 2020
    Great Beach

    beautiful beach on sanibel. Great experience with dog. It’s huge so great for a walk along the shore. Go early. Traffic gets v busy. There are toilets and water stations. Take beach umbrella - no shade on beach. 5 min walk to beach. We took lots of water for us and dog as it’s gets hot. Stayed for 4 hours. Will go back

  • Genevieve
    Jan 1, 2020
    Wow great Beach!

    Love it!

  • Lisa
    Mar 14, 2019
    Very Nice Beach

    Lots of amenities- our dog loved the water.

  • Aida j.
    Apr 22, 2018
    Best dog's beach ever!

    One of the best dogs beaches in Florida.

  • Melissa
    Jan 23, 2018
    One of our favorite spots!

    This beach and the one just north of it are both great. There is a water fountain for dogs at the Captiva side parking area.

  • Jill
    More than a year ago
    Our Dogs Loved It

    Brought our 2 small shih tzu mixes here over Thanksgiving weekend; we had a great time. We didn't see any other dogs for the few hours we were there. We loved the soft sand and the shells. The beach was clean. Bring water and poop bags. Parking was $5 an hour (you can pay by credit card but there was no app to pay by phone) and we could use Sunpass for the $6 Sanibel Island toll. We will go back.

  • Kc
    More than a year ago
    Perfect day-Enjoyable experience

    We went to Bowman's beach found it to be perfect place for our family and dog to enjoy time together. We enjoyed walking our dog down the white sand and shell lined beach. The water was a beautiful turquoise and our dog enjoyed the waves coming in. The other families at the beach were respectful. There were 3 other dogs there on the beach that were well behaved.

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Area Info

Bowman's Beach Park