Opens the Navionics chart. For a route from your canal, use Auto Routing in the Navionics Boating app.
City of Cape Coral freshwater & saltwater canal map (PDF) — currently linked in the city’s official map directory, checked November 13, 2026. The map was created January 19, 2022; it is not a newly updated 2026 map or a navigation chart. Use it to distinguish canal water types, not to confirm a boat’s Gulf-access route, bridge clearance or current depth.
Low tides — next 10 days
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NOAA station 8725520, Fort Myers (Caloosahatchee), heights above mean lower low water (MLLW). Full high & low tide table →
Matlacha Pass low tides — next 10 days
For the northwest Cape canals off Old Burnt Store Road and anyone running the Pass — these are the real numbers for Matlacha Pass itself, not Fort Myers.
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Low-tide alert
NW and NE Cape default to Matlacha Pass; SW and SE Cape to Fort Myers. Change the station below any time.
In-app alerts check NOAA whenever the app is open. Numbers from NOAA station 8725506. NOAA tide table
NOAA station 8725506, Matlacha Pass, heights above mean lower low water (MLLW). The Pass gets very skinny at low tide — plan to leave and return on a rising tide. Full high & low tide table →
How deep is my canal?
The city doesn't publish a depth for each canal, and depths change with silt and tide, so we don't show made-up numbers. To check yours:
- NOAA chart 11427 — official depths for the river, Matlacha Pass and the Pine Island Sound area.
- Navionics — community-sonar depths that often cover the canals themselves.
- Ask neighbors or your marina what draft boats run your canal at low tide.
Buying waterfront? Check the route, not just the listing
Saltwater does not mean bridge-free access. Saltwater canals may have low fixed bridges along the route to open water. Before choosing a home, verify the full route from its dock and every bridge’s clearance against your boat’s height with its top, antennas and other equipment up—especially at high tide. Do not rely on a canal’s water type or a listing’s “Gulf access” label alone.
Source: Worthington Realty’s Cape Coral canal-access guide (local real-estate reference, not a city navigation chart), checked November 13, 2026. Recorded bridge heights are reference values, not current tide-specific clearance; confirm access with the City and a qualified local marine professional before making an offer.
- Before you buy: measure your boat's height with the top up and check every bridge on the route.
- Time the run from the dock to open water.
- Check depth at the canal mouth at low tide.
- Confirm whether the canal is saltwater or freshwater (freshwater canals have no Gulf access).
- Ask the seller for seawall age and any seawall or dock permits.
Getting in and out of the canals
- Most residential canals are posted idle speed / no wake — go slow until you reach open water.
- Cape Coral has two canal systems: saltwater canals reach the river or Matlacha Pass; freshwater canals are closed off by weirs and have no boat access to the Gulf.
- Follow your canal to a main 'spreader' canal, then out to the Caloosahatchee (south and east Cape) or Matlacha Pass (north and west Cape).
- Watch fixed bridge clearance — check your boat's height (with top up) before you pass under a low bridge.
- Keep to the right in canals and pass other boats port to port.
Tides — the most important thing
- Many canal mouths, Matlacha Pass and the flats get very shallow at low tide. New boaters should plan to go out and come back on a rising or high tide.
- The lowest tides of the month fall around the new and full moon, and winter cold fronts can push water out even lower.
- If you touch bottom, trim up and idle — don't power through, it damages seagrass and your prop.
On the river and passes
- The Caloosahatchee and Matlacha Pass have posted manatee speed zones, some seasonal — slow down where signs say so.
- Stay inside the marked channel: red markers on your right heading upriver/in from the Gulf ('red, right, returning').
- Florida requires anyone born on or after Jan 1, 1988 to carry a Boating Safety Education ID to run a boat of 10 hp or more.
More: Boat SWFL · Fishing & canal wildlife · Dock & dine · FWC boating rules. Tips are general guidance — always follow posted signs and your chart.