Are there any fixed bridges on the Intracoastal Waterway in Lemon Bay?

No. From the Boca Grande Causeway to the Albee Road bridge in Venice every road bridge on the waterway opens. The one fixed overhead crossing on the waterway is a power cable at Manasota with 88 feet of charted clearance.

What does "no fixed bridges" mean in an Englewood listing?

That the listing agent reports no fixed bridge between the home and open water. On Lemon Bay that is mostly a statement about the home's own canal or creek, since the waterway's bridges all open. Check the route on the chart before relying on it.

Can a sailboat get from Lemon Bay to the Gulf?

Yes, through the drawbridges or out a pass. On the waterway the fixed limit is the 88-foot power cable at Manasota; the closer limits are the depth of your canal and your pass, and any fixed bridge on your own creek.

Which pass is closest to Englewood?

Stump Pass, at the south end of Manasota Key. It shifts often and has no published controlling depth, so Coast Pilot advises local knowledge. Venice Inlet to the north is a maintained, marked channel.

Is Stump Pass dredged?

Yes. Charlotte County maintains it through a dredging taxing unit; the county's project pages and annual fund reports describe the work.

How deep is the Intracoastal Waterway through Lemon Bay?

The federal project depth for this stretch is 9 feet, but Coast Pilot warns it can shoal by several feet between dredgings. Check recent Army Corps condition surveys for the latest.

When do the drawbridges open?

The Tom Adams, Manasota, Circus and Albee Road bridges open on signal. The Boca Grande Causeway, Venice Avenue and Hatchett Creek bridges open on schedules set in federal regulation, 33 CFR 117.287.

Is bridge clearance measured at high tide or low tide?

At mean high water. A higher-than-average tide or a storm surge reduces the real clearance, so leave a margin.

How big is the tide on Lemon Bay?

Small — the mean range at the Englewood station is about one foot, and the great diurnal range about one and a half. Depth at low water, not height, is usually the tighter limit.

Who maintains canals in Charlotte County?

Waterway maintenance units run by the county's Public Works department, funded by the owners on each canal system. Many unit pages link recent canal depth surveys.

Does South Gulf Cove have a lock?

Yes. Charlotte County operates the South Gulf Cove boat lock, which connects the canals to the Myakka River through an exterior channel the county dredges.

How do I check one home's route to the Gulf?

Trace it on NOAA's online chart, look up each bridge in Coast Pilot and FHWA InfoBridge, read the nearest tide station's datums, check the county's canal surveys, and confirm with a local captain. The step-by-step list above links each tool.

Lemon Bay Boating and No-Fixed-Bridge Homes, Englewood, FL

Every bridge between Venice and Boca Grande opens — so for a boat on Lemon Bay, the real questions are your own canal, your pass to the Gulf and the tide. Here's how to check an address before you buy.

Updated November 10, 2026

Drafted from local records and community sources; pending verification by Lasbury Tracy Realty. Details like fees, hours and rules change — verify locally before you rely on them. Spot an error? Tell us.

The short answer

The Intracoastal Waterway through Lemon Bay has no fixed road bridges. From the Boca Grande Causeway north to the Albee Road bridge in Venice, every bridge on the waterway is a drawbridge that opens — some whenever a boat signals, some on a schedule. The one fixed overhead obstruction on the waterway itself is a power cable at Manasota with 88 feet of charted clearance.

So when a listing says "no fixed bridges", the claim that matters is about the stretch between the dock and the waterway: the home's own canal or creek, any low road bridge over it, and how much water is there at low tide. That is what this guide teaches you to check.

Three ways out to the Gulf

Lemon Bay has two passes of its own and a well-marked inlet to the north. Stump Pass, at the south end of Manasota Key, is the closest to most of Englewood, but it moves: Coast Pilot calls it subject to frequent change and says to run it with local knowledge, and no controlling depth is published. Charlotte County keeps it open by dredging through a taxing unit. Gasparilla Pass, between Little Gasparilla and Gasparilla islands, is unmarked and shallow over the bar. Venice Inlet, north of the Venice drawbridges, is a dredged channel between jetties, marked by daybeacons. Further south, Boca Grande Pass is the deep-water route — a federal channel with strong tidal currents.

The table gives each exit the nearest NOAA tide station and two numbers from it: how far mean high water sits above mean lower low water (the datum chart depths are measured from), and the mean tide range.

Gulf exits from Lemon Bay and the nearest NOAA tide stations (feet, 1983–2001 epoch)
Exit	Connects	NOAA station (ID)	MHW above MLLW	Mean range	Notes
Stump Pass	South Lemon Bay to the Gulf, near waterway mile 41	Englewood, Lemon Bay (8725747)	1.30	1.00	Shifts often; no published controlling depth; dredged by Charlotte County
Gasparilla Pass	Gasparilla Sound and Placida Harbor to the Gulf	Placida, Gasparilla Sound (8725667)	1.17	0.82	Unmarked; shallow over the bar
Venice Inlet	The waterway at Venice and Nokomis to the Gulf	Nokomis, Venice Inlet (8725899)	1.64	1.34	Dredged federal channel between jetties, marked by daybeacons
Boca Grande Pass	Charlotte Harbor to the Gulf	Port Boca Grande (8725577)	1.33	0.93	Federal channel 32 ft deep; strong currents

Source: NOAA CO-OPS tidal datums and NOAA Coast Pilot 5, chapter 4, checked November 10, 2026.

The bridges on the waterway

Here is every bridge and overhead crossing on the waterway from Boca Grande to north of Venice Inlet, south to north, with the vertical clearance when closed as Coast Pilot charts it at mean high water. A boat that fits under a closed span is not allowed to ask for an opening.

Four of the drawbridges open promptly on signal at any time. Three open on schedules set in federal regulation (33 CFR 117.287): the Boca Grande Causeway swing bridge on set intervals through the day, and the Venice Avenue and Hatchett Creek bridges on weekday schedules with a closed period at the evening rush. Schedules can change by Coast Guard notice, so check the Local Notice to Mariners before a trip that depends on one.

Bridges and overhead crossings on the Intracoastal Waterway, Boca Grande to Venice (feet at mean high water)
Bridge	Waterway mile	Type	Closed clearance	Horizontal	NBI structure no.	Opens
Boca Grande Causeway	34.3	Swing	22	80	016004	On a schedule
Tom Adams Bridge (Beach Road)	43.5	Bascule	26	86	010029	On signal
Manasota Bridge (Manasota Beach Road)	49.9	Bascule	26	90	170058	On signal
Overhead power cable, Manasota	49.9	Fixed	88	—	—	Does not open
Circus Bridge (Business 41)	54.9	Bascule (twin)	25	90	170167, 170168	On signal
Venice Avenue	56.6	Bascule	30	90	170054	On a schedule
Hatchett Creek / KMI (Business 41)	56.9	Bascule (twin)	30	100	170169, 170170	On a schedule
Albee Road	59.3	Bascule	14	90	170057	On signal

Source: NOAA Coast Pilot 5, chapter 12 (clearances), FHWA National Bridge Inventory 2025 (structure numbers), checked November 10, 2026.

Fixed crossings off the main waterway

The fixed bridges that matter are on the creeks and side channels — exactly where many canal homes are. Coast Pilot charts these, and a home on one of them has a hard ceiling that no drawbridge can lift. Inside the canal systems themselves there are more small fixed bridges than any one publication lists, which is why the address check below ends on the chart.

Charted fixed crossings off the waterway near Lemon Bay and Gasparilla Sound (feet at mean high water)
Crossing	Where	Clearance
Ainger (Rock) Creek bridge	Ainger Creek, Englewood	9
Coral Creek bridge (SR 771)	Creek off Gasparilla Sound, Placida	8½
Boca Grande Bayou bridge	Bayou on Gasparilla Island	13
Boca Grande Causeway fixed spans	Side spans of the causeway	26 and 16
Boca Grande Causeway power cables	Alongside the causeway	35 and 27

Source: NOAA Coast Pilot 5, chapter 12, checked November 10, 2026.

What the tide does to clearance and depth

Bridge clearances are measured at mean high water; chart depths are measured at mean lower low water. The gap between them is small here — at the Englewood station mean high water is 1.30 feet above the depth datum — but it cuts both ways. A higher-than-average high tide takes inches off every clearance (at Manasota the highest predicted tide is about a foot above mean high water), and a storm surge takes far more. A low tide takes the same water out from under your keel or props.

Lemon Bay's whole tidal range is only about one to one and a half feet, so on this bay depth is usually the tighter constraint, not height. Canals that are fine at high water can be too thin at low water for a deep-draft boat.

Check this address, step by step

Before you rely on a listing's "no fixed bridges" — or any boating claim — run the route yourself with these free, official tools. Every one of them is public.

Find the home on NOAA's online electronic chart (ENC viewer) and trace the water from its dock to the Intracoastal. Note every bridge, cable and charted depth along the way.
Look up any bridge you cross in Coast Pilot 5 for its charted clearance, and in FHWA InfoBridge by structure number for its type and year built.
Read the mean high water and low water at the nearest NOAA tide station, and add your boat's air draft and draft to them.
In Charlotte County, find the canal's waterway maintenance unit on the county's MSBU/MSTU pages: many link recent canal depth surveys. Check the parcel on the county GIS and the property appraiser too.
Check the West Coast Inland Navigation District's pages for which passes are maintained, and the Coast Guard's Local Notice to Mariners for bridge work or shoaling.
Then ask the sellers how they take their own boat out, at what tide, and how deep the water is at the dock at low tide — and verify it with a local captain or a dock survey before you close.

Homes listed with no fixed bridges

Listings in our MLS can say "no fixed bridges" or "sailboat water" in their waterfront details. Here is how many homes say so right now, by town. These are the listing agents' own answers — use the steps above to check one.

Listed right now with no fixed bridges

523 homes for sale on the Gulf Coast report no fixed bridges to open water, or sailboat water, in their listing. These are the listing agents’ own answers — check the route for yourself before you rely on one.

Every no-fixed-bridge home for sale →

Questions, answered

Are there any fixed bridges on the Intracoastal Waterway in Lemon Bay?: No. From the Boca Grande Causeway to the Albee Road bridge in Venice every road bridge on the waterway opens. The one fixed overhead crossing on the waterway is a power cable at Manasota with 88 feet of charted clearance.
What does "no fixed bridges" mean in an Englewood listing?: That the listing agent reports no fixed bridge between the home and open water. On Lemon Bay that is mostly a statement about the home's own canal or creek, since the waterway's bridges all open. Check the route on the chart before relying on it.
Can a sailboat get from Lemon Bay to the Gulf?: Yes, through the drawbridges or out a pass. On the waterway the fixed limit is the 88-foot power cable at Manasota; the closer limits are the depth of your canal and your pass, and any fixed bridge on your own creek.
Which pass is closest to Englewood?: Stump Pass, at the south end of Manasota Key. It shifts often and has no published controlling depth, so Coast Pilot advises local knowledge. Venice Inlet to the north is a maintained, marked channel.
Is Stump Pass dredged?: Yes. Charlotte County maintains it through a dredging taxing unit; the county's project pages and annual fund reports describe the work.
How deep is the Intracoastal Waterway through Lemon Bay?: The federal project depth for this stretch is 9 feet, but Coast Pilot warns it can shoal by several feet between dredgings. Check recent Army Corps condition surveys for the latest.
When do the drawbridges open?: The Tom Adams, Manasota, Circus and Albee Road bridges open on signal. The Boca Grande Causeway, Venice Avenue and Hatchett Creek bridges open on schedules set in federal regulation, 33 CFR 117.287.
Is bridge clearance measured at high tide or low tide?: At mean high water. A higher-than-average tide or a storm surge reduces the real clearance, so leave a margin.
How big is the tide on Lemon Bay?: Small — the mean range at the Englewood station is about one foot, and the great diurnal range about one and a half. Depth at low water, not height, is usually the tighter limit.
Who maintains canals in Charlotte County?: Waterway maintenance units run by the county's Public Works department, funded by the owners on each canal system. Many unit pages link recent canal depth surveys.
Does South Gulf Cove have a lock?: Yes. Charlotte County operates the South Gulf Cove boat lock, which connects the canals to the Myakka River through an exterior channel the county dredges.
How do I check one home's route to the Gulf?: Trace it on NOAA's online chart, look up each bridge in Coast Pilot and FHWA InfoBridge, read the nearest tide station's datums, check the county's canal surveys, and confirm with a local captain. The step-by-step list above links each tool.