Cape Coral residents in the Bimini Basin area have recently seen it finally cleared of derelict boats. It’s a move that opens the way for future projects coming to the area.
It also puts farther into the past concerns of pollution and contamination in the south Cape Coral canal connector. This 2018 story on news-press.com reported the basin was contaminated with elevated levels of fecal matter and bacteria.
The story, published in May 2018, pointed out how Cape residents living in homes and condominiums around the basin expressed their disgust about the polluted water. A reading of 35 colonies per 100 milliliters of water is considered normal and 71 moderate; the reading measured 1,987 on March 30, 2018 and 300 a week later.
It’s a much different story more than seven years later. Currently, no boats are moored in the basin as a significant transition is underway.
In a recent post made in the Facebook Group called Cape Coral Residents, a group member said: “I can walk to Four Freedoms Park, and we often go there to relax and look at the sailboats anchored in Bimini Basin. This morning all the boats were cleared out. What’s up with that?” The boat clearings, done by the Cape Coral Police Department’s Marine Unit, are the result of Ordinance 24-17, which established an Anchorage Limitation Area (ALA) in Bimini Basin back in November 2024.
The required signage and buoys were installed on June 11 (of this year), and the ALA was officially enforceable on June 12.
What is an Anchorage Limitation Area?
“An Anchorage Limitation Area means an area in which a person may not anchor a vessel for more than forty-five consecutive days in any six-month period, subject, however, to the exemptions in Sections 327.4108(4)-(5), Florida Statutes,” said Lauren Kirkimilis, a public information specialist for Cape Coral.
Exceptions include if the vessel has a mechanical failure (it can stay anchored for up to three days), if weather conditions (hurricane, tropical storm) would make moving the vessel too dangerous, and during special events like fireworks displays and local government waterfront activities.
Derelict boats, which according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, are boats that are wrecked, junked, or in substantially dismantled condition in any Florida waters, pose a threat to marine life and the surrounding environment. “They threaten our oceans, coasts, and waterways by obstructing navigational channels, causing harm to the environment, and diminishing commercial and recreational activities,” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says on its website. “Once lost or abandoned, [they] can be a dangerous and damaging problem, destroying habitat, leaking pollutants to the surrounding environment, and can even be dangerous to other boaters if a vessel is difficult to see below the water.” The ALA, while seemingly effective at preventing derelict boats from piling up in the Bimini Basin, is only step one for the city.
The next step is a mooring field. A mooring field is a legally defined body of water. Boaters are assigned a mooring and can use a mooring buoy to secure their vessel.
The Bimini Basin Mooring Field: What to know
The Bimini Basin Mooring Field project was approved in 2024.
What will it cost for boat owners to moor their boat in the basin when they are able to?
While some Cape residents are concerned about paying to park their boats in any future mooring fields, the city says that the project is simply too early in the planning stages to know whether mooring fees would apply.
A poster in the Cape Coral Residents group speculated and wrote: “The city is redoing the mooring field to charge more money. The boats will return, but only those who are rich friends of the City Council members that can afford the ridiculously high mooring fees.”
That prompted Cape Coral assistant city manager Maureen Buice to jump into the conversation.
She wrote in a post: “Rates have not been set. Permit applications for the Bimini Basin mooring field were submitted to FDEP (Florida Department of Transporation) and the Army Corp in Dec 2024.”
The original poster replied to Buice, writing: “Yup, but rest assured the rates will skyrocket from where they were.”
Buice replied and wrote: “Since there’s no fee, any future fee might feel that way.”
The mooring field, the city says, is integral to keeping the waters of Bimini Basin clean.
“The Bimini Basin Mooring Field Project would help reduce pollution and offer significant environmental benefits by providing managed, secure mooring locations, organized waste disposal via a pump-out dock, and protecting sensitive habitats, including the endangered smalltooth sawfish,” said Kaitlyn Mullen, a public information officer for the city. “Water quality can be affected in areas where mooring is not regulated and there is illegal dumping of boat ‘black water’ or sewage.”
As of August 2025, about 30% of the plans for the project have been completed. The city says that once the mooring field is completed, the ALA will cease to exist.
“While the mooring field initiative is related to the establishment of the Bimini Basin ALA, it is still a separate initiative,” said Kirkimilis. “In the event a mooring field or marina is created within the Bimini Basin, the Bimini Basin ALA will be deemed null and void.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral’s Bimini Basin: Long-time eye sore for city in significant transition
Reporting by Layza Pinero Resto, Fort Myers News-Press / Fort Myers News-Press
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