La Costa Island

Cayo Costa State Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Location	Lee County, Florida, United States
Nearest city	Boca Grande, Florida
Coordinates	26°40′19″N 82°14′49″W / 26.67194°N 82.24694°W / 26.67194; -82.24694Coordinates: 26°40′19″N 82°14′49″W / 26.67194°N 82.24694°W / 26.67194; -82.24694
Area	2,506 acres (10 km2)
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Cayo Costa State Park is a Florida State Park on Cayo Costa (formerly known as La Costa Island (Padilla Rancho), which is directly south of Boca Grande (Gasparilla Island), 12 miles (19 km) west of Cape Coral and just north of North Captiva Island. The park is accessible only by charter boat (with or without captain), private boat, ferry or helicopter. Exploration of the New World by Spaniards brought traders to the west coast of Florida to barter with the Indians as early as the 17th century. In their wake came men who started fish ranches on the out islands like Cayo Costa before Florida was opened to American settlers. In the 1870s, Tervio Padilla, a wealthy merchant from the Canary Islands, came to Key West and established trade with natives and “ranchos” that extended northward to Charlotte Harbor. His ships often made port at Cayo Costa at the entrance to the harbor. Enchanted by the tropical island, he eventually decided to settle there. Padilla prospered until the outbreak of the Spanish–American War when his fleet was burned and scuttled. He then turned to another means of livelihood – fishing. When the government claimed his land he was disinclined to set up another ranch so moved with his wife further down the island and as before, simply homesteaded. For many years Charlotte Harbor locals referred to the Island as "Padilla Rancho" or Padilla Ranch although Mr. Padilla only occupied one part of the Island at a time. Most Padilla descendants now reside in nearby Bokeelia or Boca Grande.

Cayo Costa Island is one of a chain of barrier islands that shelter Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. The park contains nine miles (14 km) of soft white sandy beaches and 2,506 acres (10 km²) of pine forests, oak-palm hammocks, and mangrove swamps.

There is a variety of wildlife that can be seen at the park.

Among the most looked-for animals found in Cayo Costa State Park are the sea turtles. There are four species found on the island, the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), hawksbill (Eremochelys imbriata), green (Chelonia mydas), and Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii). Cayo Costa has many volunteers who check the entire nine mile beach each morning during sea turtle nesting season to find new nests and document them which is during the months of March through October in Southwest Florida. The loggerhead turtle is found far more than the others, and the green turtle is a distant second. The loggerhead turtle and green turtle’s eggs have the most diverse niches awhile hawksbill and Kemp’s ridley do not. Their niches rely on climate and weather which allow the eggs to survive on land and eventually hatch.