Salty Sam's Marina

My wife and I have had the pleasure of staying at Salty Sam's Marina at least half a dozen times within the last several years and it is a delightful marina compound with exceptional service and lots to do. Located on San Carlos Island in Matanzas pass just South of the Fort Myers Beach Bridge, we were always greeted with a friendly attitude and were made to feel like family. This full service marina has two great restaurants on-site; Parrot Key Caribbean Grille offering an open-air seafood dining experience and a real Key West feel and the Original Shrimp Dock Bar & Grille, which has a more down to earth feel, menu, and pricing. Both restaurants feature weekly quality entertainment from bands, fun entertainers, and a dueling piano act at Shrimp Dock. The Marina also has a very well stocked ship store and gift shop that has something for everyone and hot coffee in the morning for you if you need it. On-site there is also an ice cream shop and you could spend the day with your family on Salty Sam's Pirate Cruise which sails several times a day from the Marina. There is also a vintage car show at the Marina once a week as well. From what I understand, the Marina can accommodate your smaller vessel all the way up to 100' or more. We highly recommend Salty Sam's Marina if you are ever coming through the Fort Myers Beach area.

The positive? We were able to get away for a few days and spend time with our Friends cruising on our boat around Fort Myers and were blessed to have an amazing full moon, also was awesome to have a restaurant on site. Negatives? Mosiquitos at the dock at night were unbearable, when we returned after a day out on the boat our slip had another boat in it, we called on the radio and they told us to move from D dock to B dock, which was unacceptable since we were there with friends and all on the same dock together. Two guys came out to the dock and we were told the slip we were assigned belongs to someone who is there full time and they weren't expecting them back and we would need to move to another slip. We should never have been given that slip. We traveled there with friends and we were across the dock from each other, which was great, well until we couldn't park are boat there. What would have happened if we were already in the slip when they returned? Ok so we were given another slip on same dock just a few slips down from our friends, crisis averted. Or so we thought because we went out for a sunset cruise and when we returned the 2nd slip we were assigned had another boat in it. It was late when we got back and the office was closed so we were on our own to find a slip to park in. No apology, no compensation for the inconvenience. In fact the first time it happened there were 2 dock staff that came out to the dock.....one was not understanding of it, got a bit huffy and actually just walked away from the dock. We were clearly upset and frustrated but him walking away was not solving the situation. After the first guy walked away the other guy was very sympatric to the situation and apologized for the his co-worker. We moved down to another slip and well you know what happened next, we left and returned for that spot being taken up by another boat. We never heard from anyone regarding the situation, no one came to make sure all was ok. Was a very unorganized situation that could have been avoided with proper handling and managing of the boat slips. Probably won't be back.

Very nice deep approach and marina. The only disappointment is the fuel dock crew leaves before they are supposed to close, so had to wait until the next day for fuel. However, there are easier places to get fuel while approaching before going under the bridge. I would stay here again, all things considered.

Great location, very friendly and helpful marina staff, easy to get in and out of slips, great amenities and fun restaurants. Will definitely be back.

We stayed for one night (1/1/2020) while cruising north from the keys. The Good: The marina is well protected, and not a terrible distance from the ICW/Gulf. The facility is somewhat busy, but well appointed with restaurant, ship store, and fuel. The dockhands were attentive when we hailed, and met us at our slip to help with lines and power hookup. We were on B dock, which was a nice distance away from the rental operation. Fuel was the cheapest in the area. ($3.05/gal for unleaded) The Bad: The showers are a bit of a hike from where we docked, and serviceable, but not exactly the cleanest. We were unable to get fuel the evening of our arrival because the dockmaster informed us that they were fueling their rental fleet. The following morning, we motored over to the fuel dock and were able to get right in. We would have preferred to get fuel the night before. BTW, These guys will rent a boat to anyone who can fog a mirror! I overheard some terrifying questions that some folks renting were asking the staff before departure. Give a wide berth to any of their rental fleet that you see on the water.

Great marina, great group of liveaboards that were very friendly. We enjoyed the area and the marina was very nice and clean.

Friendly, helpful and practical staff that appreciates the needs of traveling mariners.

Very nice place to stay. Staying an extra day.

Very nice marina. Love the helpful and friendly staff. Restrooms are clean. Great restaurant. This is our second time staying there. Wonderful experience. Keep up the great work Salty Sam's!

Wifi a bit weak at end of dock. Otherwise good. To rate as 5 stars marina must have a pool. This is a decent provisioning stop but wouldn't stay much longer.

We spent 3 days at Salty Sams. Super helpful dockhands.bEasy to access floating docks. 2 great restaurants on site. $5 boat taxi to Ft Myers Beach. Enterprise Car rental half mile away. Lovely seasonal live aboards. Decent showers and bath.

First, this is a nice marina. Very busy but well located and the folks were generally nice. We drove in two days before to see the facility and speak to the dockmaster about where we might be placed. Casey told us we would likely be on B row but couldn't confirm. We arrived in our 47' trawler and they put us on D row in a 40' slip between 34' and 38' boats. We stuck out into the fairway a lot. Dockhands said they do it all the time and we would be ok. All went well during the Christmas boat show but we noticed many larger slips on B row were open. Sunday Morning at 7:15 we were woken by the sound of a bow thruster, then a thump....we had been hit. I scrambled to see who had hit us and it turned out to be one of the crew that was moving in boats for the day's rentals. I called out to him "are you just going to leave? You hit us!" he said "Sir, I did not hit you". His was the only boat in the fairway with a bow thruster and three people on our boat felt the hit. When I inspected our boat, there was no noticeable damage. I went to where he had docked the boat and asked another crew member if he was in charge. He said he wasn't but went and looked at the other boat which also showed no damage....all the while the crew member that hit my boat kept saying "sir, I did not hit your boat." Fortunately there was no damage to either vessel, but my expectation was that this crew member would first, admit what he did; second, act concerned and not drive away from us while talking to him; apologize for the incident. So our experience was not the best but we like the facility and hope they will teach their crew to act more responsibly. I hope the crew would also fit the boat to the proper sized slip in the future.

Facilities are nice. No WiFi connectivity where we were docked.

Don’t expect much. WiFi currently under repair. No cable TV. If you want to refuel, don’t do it the am. They are too busy gassing up the rental boats. It is clear the rental business is their main interest, not short stay transients. Bathroom for restaurant close to dock but showers are farther away. We didn’t try their restaurant, is was rated ok but places down near bridge are much better (about 20 min walk).

Dock hands are great! Strong constant current. Otherwise just a place to dock for a night.

Staff very helpful and pleasant..We didn't eat at the restaurant but it was crowded both nights....Yes I would go back!!

We had a great time at Salty Sams. The staff was very helpful. The accommodations were clean and we met their new Dockmaster Rob... he was fantastic to work with.

• BEWARE!!! Think long and hard before dealing with Salty Sam's. I hired them to survey an outboard engine on a boat that I was looking at to purchase. First of all, it took an hour and forty minutes for the "mechanic" to drive nineteen miles and an hour and a half to drive back. Mind you, I was paying $95 an hour for travel time plus a hundred dollars for the hour service call. When he finally got there, obviously after having stopped for lunch on my dime, he spent most of the hour he was there playing with the diagnostic computer. He barely looked at the engine. I had to ask him to check the oil and do a compression test on the cylinders. At the end of the hour, he gave the engine a thumbs up and went on his way (an hour and a half to go back the nineteen miles) My bill was $524.00. Now the best part. I came within an hour of buying this boat when my gut said something was wrong. I went home and did some more research only to find that the boat and the engine had been sunk and spent almost a week submerged in salt water. There is no way an engine that spent a week under salt water should fool any knowledgeable mechanic. I might has well have flushed $524 down the toilet.