Gulfside City Park Beach(Agliers Beach)

Located in Sanibel Island, Gulfside City Park is a recreational park that has an unnamed long white sand beach. This beach is also known as Gulfside City Park Beach and Algiers Beach. As an interesting fact, the beach gets its alternative name after a Mississippi River steamboat boat named "Algiers" - this steamboat was the planned home of the affluent politician Lathrop Brown and his wife Helen. The Browns had bought the land around the beach’s current location to add it within their estate along with the steamboat during the late 1950s. However, Lathrop Brown died before his plans could be fully implemented, and the boat was dismantled in 1982, while Brown’s land was purchased by the city of Sanibel after Helen’s death in 1979. 

Although Gulfside City Park does not have lifeguards, it does have many other amenities including picnic tables, boardwalks, restrooms, showers, barbecue spots, and interpretive signs. Dogs on leashes are allowed on the beach in Gulfside City Park. 

Gulfside City Park offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, wildlife watching, picnicking, fishing, swimming, surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, paddle-boarding, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, water-skiing, kayaking, canoeing, parasailing, wake-boarding, and boating. If you are planning to enter the water near Gulfside City Park, we recommend being careful as the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents. Depending on the time of the year, you can view many kinds of animals in the water near Gulfside City Park including sea turtles and manatees. Sea turtles also use the beach in Gulfside City Park as a seasonal nesting spot. If you like birdwatching, you can view many kinds of shorebirds around the beach in Gulfside City Park including willets, sanderlings, and plovers. The beach in Gulfside City Park is also a great beachcombing spot and you can find many kinds of shells here. If you are planning to fish in the water near Gulfside City Park we recommend following the local fishing regulations. 

The City of Sanibel Police Department offers complimentary beach wheelchairs (based on availability) to visitors with disabilities in Gulfside City Park. If you want a beach wheelchair, you can contact the City of Sanibel Police Department Dispatch at 239-472-3111 around 24 hours before your visit. 

Getting to Gulfside City Park is easy - the park is located near 2100 Algiers Lane, where a paid parking lot is also available. You can easily walk to the beach from this parking lot. It is important to note that the fee for parking here is 5 dollars per hour. 

There are many attractions near Gulfside City Park. Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum has 30 permanent exhibitions including a hall that showcases the museum’s collection of 500,000 shells. In addition, the museum also has aquariums and touch tanks which are home to many kinds of marine animals including sea hares, cuttlefish, and a Giant Pacific octopus. Sanibel Historical Museum & Village offers a collection of nine historic buildings dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries which have been moved to the village from their original locations - these buildings have also been restored to their original conditions. The village also has docents that offer interesting information about local history. If you are looking for another attraction near Gulfside City Park, Sanibel Community Park is a recreational park that has many amenities including restrooms, a playground, shuffleboard courts, and a picnic area.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Gulfside City Park. The Mad Hatter Restaurant is an upscale waterfront restaurant that serves amazing New American cuisine. The restaurant’s menu often exhibits seasonal dishes with ingenious culinary influences. Gramma Dot’s offers amazing dishes for lunch and dinner including seafood, sandwiches, salads, burgers, poultry dishes, and steaks. The restaurant has also repeatedly been awarded the annual Taste of the Island – People’s Choice Award by the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife. Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille-Sanibel Island serves amazing dishes which exhibit primarily Latin American and Caribbean culinary influences. If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Gulfside City Park, Sanibel Deli & Coffee Factory offers excellent salads, breakfast dishes, wraps, sandwiches, soups, chicken wings, and pizzas.

If you are looking for a hotel near Gulfside City Park, there are many great nearby options. The 4-Star Marriott Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa is a 20-minute drive away and offers many amenities including multiple restaurants, a bar, a spa with a pool, and a steam room, three additional outdoor pools, a gym, a tennis court, and a hot tub. A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star West Wind Island Resort which offers many amenities including a restaurant, a poolside bar, a fitness center, a pool, and a recreation area. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Gulfside City Park, the 2-Star Anchor Inn & Cottages Sanibel offers many amenities including a pool with a sundeck, horseshoes, a shuffleboard court, a picnic area, barbecue areas, bike rental facilities, and complimentary beach gear loaner facilities.