Dog Beach, Bonita Springs

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Clam Pass

Naples Pier

Favorite Beaches

Sanibel-Captiva

Wiggins Pass

Fort Myers

What can I say about a Dog Park. It ain't pretty but your dog will love it. The pictures says it all. Like anything else some people swear by it other don't. map     Southwest Florida Beach Directory.

One comment:

Comment two:

Comment Three:

Many people say low tide is the best time to go because there is more sand and beach While others are horrified to the exposure to bacteria and alike.

I say, go there for the benefit of the dog not. Be happy.I know from my own experience female dogs in heat shouldn't go to the beach and little dogs should stay near there owners.

Photo is from the entrance of Dog Park looking out from Big Carlos Pass to lovers Key and wiggins pass.

Comment Four:

The park has an off-leash area for larger dogs, called Bailey Tobin’s Big Dog Run, and an off-leash area for smaller dogs, called Dolce Sherman’s Small Dog Playground. Both playgrounds, named for the dogs of people who made significant contributions to the park, are connected in the center by a shaded structure, which is complete with drinking fountains and benches for owners to relax.

The Naples Dog Park, nicknamed Central Bark, will be open, like the city’s other parks, from dawn to dusk every day.Central Bark

There are three other dog parks in the area: Rover Run at Veterans Community Park in North Naples, Canine Cove at Mackle Park on Marco Island and the Estero Community Center Dog Park

Article from Naples Daily News by ann marina

On a humid July morning, Cebel McCaffrey splashes in the surf with her dog Shadow, a 2 year-old boxer mix. Shadow races off to greet two more canines and their owner walking onto the beach.

This is Bonita Dog Park, on the north shore of New Pass, where dogs are allowed off-leash.

The beach is actually a sandbar surrounded by water on three sides, and the entire park encompasses five acres between Bonita Beach and Fort Myers Beach. Dogs and their people walk down a path through the mangroves that opens out to a wide stretch of sand, with views of the Gulf and Lovers Key Park.

“I like coming here on weekday mornings,” McCaffrey said. “It’s too crowded on the weekends. We come to unwind and get some exercise. I’m glad they’re keeping it open,” she added.

Last fall, there was talk of Bonita Dog Park being shut down as an off-leash facility. Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah put the park on notice, saying he’d received reports of waste and trash being left behind. But members of the volunteer group, Save Our Off-leash Dog Area (SOODA), argued that the beach and surrounding areas were being kept clean.

“That’s what we’re hearing today,” said John Yarbrough, Lee County Parks and Recreation Director. “In the last nine months or more, I haven’t heard any negative reports. I think the volunteers and most park visitors are keeping it clean.”

Commissioner Judah agrees.

“I give credit to Pat and Mary DeVincent and the Adopt-A-Park program,” he said. “People are working together to maintain the area. It will not be shut down as long as I continue receiving positive input.”

Park maintenance staff go through the facility every morning, Yarbrough said.

“They empty garbage and waste receptacles and replenish the supply of bags for collecting dog waste,” he said.

Through the efforts of Pat and Mary DeVincent and SOODA, Bonita Dog Park was officially opened as an off-leash facility in May of 2002. Before that, people and dogs enjoyed the beach, but not always as a legal, off-leash park.

“We started going there in 1995,” Mary DeVincent said, “and everyone let their dogs off-leash then. But in 2000, the land was leased from the county to the state, and a little sign appeared near the entrance, showing a dog on a leash.”

People started being ticketed for having their dogs off-leash.

The DeVincents and others formed SOODA to work with the state and county administrations, seeking a way to reopen the area for dogs. County Commissioner Ray Judah appealed to the state to return the five acres for use as a dog facility.

“Because wildlife doesn’t nest there, it’s appropriate for dogs,” Judah said. “During high tide, most of the sandbar is covered and there’s a natural perimeter of rocks and mangroves.”

The state agreed to return the land to Lee County Parks and Recreation. SOODA developed the “Adopt-A-Park” program to maintain the area and educate visitors. SOODA pamphlets are available at the park entrance, next to the bulletin board.

Gary Redmond’s dog, Gertrude, swims serenely a few yards offshore while Redmond relaxes in his folding chair on the sand. “I got her from a shelter in Ohio,” he said. “She’s about 3 ½ years old. We come here every other day, and I enjoy it as much as she does.”

Redmond, a retired electrician from upstate New York, recently bought a home in Bonita Springs.

“One of the main reasons I chose Bonita Springs was this dog park,” he said.

“The success of Bonita Dog Park has provided momentum for the County Commission to do the same in other parks,” Judah said. “I’ve been pushing for dog areas in all our new regional parks.”

But Judah is opposed to having dogs on Bunche Beach, east of John Morris Road, where it’s been proposed that dogs be allowed on leashes. “It’s not an appropriate place for dogs,” he said. “There are endangered birds, and a turtle’s nest there.”

So for now, dog lovers have Bonita Dog Park as the only off-leash facility in Southwest Florida.

“We get visitors from all over the world,” Pat DeVincent said. “A woman from England wrote to say she named her dog ‘Bonita’ because she loves this beach.”