The Boca Beacon’s Gasparilla Island Tennis Classic opens on Saturday, Jan.17, 2026.
The annual all-island tournament will be held at the Boca Bay Pass Club, The Gasparilla Inn Tennis Club and the…
BY CAPT. WILL WATERHOUSE
This year we have a back to back champion with Tina Sexton taking home the trophy with her two combined redfish measuring 52.5 inches. Congratulations to Tina and Capt. D…
Above, Sarah Holt, Lizzie Ahlers and Kerri Jacobs at Bella Vida.
This Christmas shopping season is the first full season since the island’s recovery from 2024 hurricanes. The Beacon took just a f…
Just off Gasparilla Island, a small colony of Florida burrowing owls – a state-threatened species – is holding on as development increases around them. Fewer than 50 adult owls remain in western Cha…
Sarah Sharp Farish passed away on November 24, 2025 at home in Boca Grande, Florida, surrounded by her family.
Raised in Wilmington, Delaware, Sarah was the daughter of Mary and Bayard Sharp. In…
The blue barrels to gather non-perishable food for the Englewood Helping Hand program are now out in downtown Boca Grande.
The barrels are located in front of Crews Bank, the Post Office and both…
From tennis court to animal habitat
Mark Horan’s path to conservation work in Boca Grande and Cape Haze began long before he ever paddled out to collect water samples or walked the edges of a bur…
Coffee and Conservation invites the public to a special hands-on workshop, Vertical Oyster Gardening: Clean Water Starts Here, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 10 a.m. to noon at Don Pedro Island State Park…
Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program (STCRP) documented a historic nesting season in 2025, with 5,735 total nests recorded along 35 miles of Sarasota County beaches, from Longboat Key…
Growth has altered our way of life. Our Gulf Coast was originally settled by fishermen. They were the only ones that could feed themselves. We had few roads, and they were dirt. Boats were the main…
