Live in Surfside
The saltwater west side of the Southwest Cape, out to the South Spreader Waterway: 2,513 lots on Gulf-access canals, two residents in three in Lee County's first evacuation zone, 72% of parcels in FEMA's flood zone, and six schools inside the line.
Surfside is this site's name, after the boulevard that runs its length, for six of the Gulf American Corporation's plat units on the west side of the Southwest Cape: Units 70, 74, 93 and 96, the Agualinda plat and UP04, about 2,871 acres where the 2020 census counted 8,845 residents in 4,354 homes. Every canal inside is salt water: the City's parcel layer puts 2,513 of its 5,972 parcels on canals of the SW-B system, which reaches open water through the South Spreader Waterway on the western edge, and 2,365 lots have a seawall. That water is also the exposure: Lee County puts 5,887 residents in evacuation zone A, the first ordered out, and FEMA's 2022 map puts 4,284 parcels, 72%, in its special flood hazard area. Ida S. Baker High, Gulf Elementary and Gulf Middle and the City's three Oasis charter schools are all inside, and Zillow's typical value for ZIP code 33914, $421,223 in August 2026, covers 42,222 people and is not a Surfside price.
Every canal here is salt, and so is the risk
No public body draws or names a Surfside neighborhood: the name is this site's, after Surfside Boulevard, though the City once kept a utility assessment area called Surfside and Lee County maps a Surfside Waterway Estates subdivision here. The line is a set of whole plat units the Gulf American Corporation recorded, as the City of Cape Coral's Department of Community Development maps them on its GAC Unit layer: Units 70, 74 (with 74-1), 93 (with the empty 93-1) and 96, the Agualinda plat and UP04, unioned and clipped to the City Boundary layer, about 2,871 acres. Traced against the City's Major Streets and Canals layers, Chiquita Boulevard South is the eastern edge, from Cape Coral Parkway West north to the Killer Canal, where the line turns west along the canals and SW 20th Avenue to Surfside Boulevard and follows it north to Veterans Memorial Parkway, leaving the corner at Chiquita and Veterans (Unit 92) to no guide; Veterans Memorial Parkway is the northern edge, west to the South Spreader Waterway, which is the western edge; Beach Parkway West and then Cape Coral Parkway West form the southern edge back to Chiquita. Skyline is across Chiquita Boulevard, Trafalgar across Veterans Parkway, Sands across Beach Parkway West and Cape Harbour across Cape Coral Parkway; the City's preserve plat is across the Spreader. Inside are Surfside, Agualinda and Oasis boulevards, Joe Coviello Park, the Oasis Gymnasium, six schools, Fire Station 6 and the City's Southwest water treatment and reclamation plants. Every 2020 resident is in ZIP code 33914, Lee County and the Lee County School District; none is in the South Cape redevelopment area.
Surfside is a name this site gives, after the boulevard that runs its length. No public body draws neighborhoods in Cape Coral, and Surfside is also a town in Miami-Dade County. The City keeps the plat the Gulf American Land Corporation laid out from 1957, and this guide is six of its pieces, Units 70, 74, 93 and 96, the Agualinda plat and UP04, about 2,871 acres between Chiquita Boulevard, Veterans Memorial Parkway, the South Spreader Waterway, Beach Parkway West and Cape Coral Parkway West. The 2020 census counted 8,845 residents in 4,354 homes, and the city has grown about 22% since.
This is the Gulf-access side of the Southwest Cape. The City's parcel layer puts 2,513 of its 5,972 parcels on saltwater canals and none on fresh water. All of them are on the SW-B system, which reaches open water through the South Spreader Waterway on the western edge, and 2,365 lots have a seawall. Ten bridges cross the canals inside the line, with clearances of 8 to 9.6 feet on the City's layer. This guide has not traced which docks clear every bridge on the way out, so it claims sailboat access for none: measure the route before you buy a boat to fit the lot.
It is a built-out grid, mostly from the 1990s on. Of 5,121 single-family parcels, the City dates 2,168 to the 2000s, 1,160 to the 1990s and 1,607 to 2010 or later; only 186 are older. 647 lots were vacant. City water and sewer came through extension areas from 2003 (Southwest 1 and 3) to 2015 (Southwest 6 and 7), each a special assessment of $13,236 to $24,742 prepaid on a standard lot; an owner who chose installments may still carry one on the tax bill. Inside are six schools, Joe Coviello Park and the City's Southwest water plants.
The water is also the exposure. Hurricane Ian made landfall on Cayo Costa, west of the city, on 28 September 2022, and the National Hurricane Center puts maximum inundation in Cape Coral at 6 to 9 feet above ground. No public map records which streets here took water. Lee County puts 5,887 residents, two in three, in evacuation zone A, the first ordered out, and 4,060 live in the City's Coastal High Hazard Area. FEMA's 2022 maps put 4,284 parcels, 72%, in the special flood hazard area; at the reference point the base flood elevation is 7 feet. A homeowners policy does not cover rising water, and Citizens already requires flood cover in that area. Repairs costing half a building's value bring it up to current flood rules, judged permit by permit since July 2025.
No price index follows this line. Zillow's typical value for ZIP code 33914, which holds every resident, was $421,223 in August 2026, down 2.4% on the year, but the ZIP held 42,222 people, inland Skyline and Pelican among them. Every City address pays the same thirteen levies, 15.3806 mills for 2025, with no fire district: a homesteaded buyer at the ZIP figure owes about $5,843 a year on the base exemption amounts, a landlord about $6,479. The City's fire, stormwater and solid waste charges add about $1,063 for 2026-27, and no exemption touches them. Save Our Homes resets at a sale, so the seller's bill understates yours. The arithmetic is on the Cape Coral page.
- Measure every bridge between the dock and the Spreader against the boat you mean to keep
- Get the seawall inspected and ask what it and the dock took in Ian
- Ask for the elevation certificate, and price a separate flood policy, which waits 30 days to start
- Read every non-ad valorem line on the seller's last tax bill, including any utility extension installment
How Surfside got here
- 1957Cape Coral is founded; the Gulf American Land Corporation wins Lee County's approval to master-plan the whole property into lots, laid out in the numbered units whose lines the City still keeps.
- 1970The City of Cape Coral incorporates on 18 August.
- 1999On 8 March the City Council passes Ordinance 8-99, which lets it bring water and sewer into an area and charge each benefiting lot a special assessment.
- 2003City water and sewer reach the 499 parcels of the Southwest 1 extension area, at $13,236 prepaid on a standard lot.
- 2004Sewer becomes available to 3,037 parcels in Southwest 3, the largest extension area here, at $13,936 prepaid on a standard lot; Southwest 2 follows in 2005 and Southwest 4 in 2007.
- 2015The Southwest 6 and 7 extension brings water and sewer to the last 213 parcels on the City's records here, at $15,407.51 prepaid on a standard lot.
- 2020The census counts 8,845 residents and 4,354 homes inside the six units.
- 2022Hurricane Ian makes landfall on Cayo Costa, west of the city, on 28 September; the National Hurricane Center puts maximum inundation in Cape Coral at 6 to 9 feet above ground. FEMA's new Lee County flood maps take effect on 17 November.
- 2026The three Oasis charter schools inside the line are graded A for the third year running, as is Gulf Middle; Ida S. Baker High is graded B. The City Council sets the 2026-27 fire, stormwater and solid waste assessments on 26 August.
Fifty acres of preserve at the middle of the grid
Joe Coviello Park, 50.4 acres on Oasis Woods Lane beside the reference point, is a nature park rather than a ball park: a walking path, a boardwalk and pier, outdoor classrooms and a pavilion, with eagles and gopher tortoises to watch. Sands Park is just south. The photographs show the city from the air, the bridge approach and the river, not Surfside.
What the map does not show: the canals' condition. The City's layers give each lot's water and seawall, not whether the seawall is sound or how deep the canal runs at the dock.
Elsewhere in Cape Coral, not Surfside
24 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 24 places, nearest first.
Method: straight lines from the population-weighted center of Surfside's census blocks, by Joe Coviello Park, times a road factor of 1.32, with a tiered speed model: honest ranges, not routed times.
Every gym within reach
The City's indoor courts are inside the line, at the Oasis Gymnasium. Its recreation centers are further, at Rotary Park and Four Freedoms Park. No year-round public pool is open in the city.
- Oasis Gymnasium: about 0.7 km, basketball and volleyball courts and the City's leagues
- Rotary Park: about 7.5 km, trails and the environmental center
- North Fort Myers Community Pool: about 18.5 km, year-round, $3 for an adult
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Oasis Gymnasium open | The City's indoor gym on Oasis Boulevard, inside the line: one regulation and two 8-foot basketball courts, two volleyball courts and locker rooms, home of the City's youth and adult basketball leagues. | 3–4 min |
| Rotary Park open | The City's park and environmental center at 5505 Rose Garden Road, listed as a recreation center on its Parks layer, with trails and a dog park. | 11–16 min |
| Four Freedoms Park open | The City's recreation center at 4818 Tarpon Court on the Bimini Basin, open Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday to 4 p.m. | 10–15 min |
| Sun Splash Family Waterpark open | The City's seasonal water park at Lake Kennedy, the only public pool open in the city; the County's pool at Cape Coral High School is permit-only and not open to the public. | 11–17 min |
| North Fort Myers Community Pool open | The nearest Lee County pool open to everyone, year-round, at 5170 Orange Grove Boulevard in North Fort Myers: $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and children. | 15–23 min |
The free option is Joe Coviello Park's path and boardwalk, inside the line.
Six schools inside, and a lottery to get into them
Every address is in the Lee County School District, which assigns no school by address. Families rank the schools of their zone and a lottery places the child, with preference for siblings and for schools within two miles. The locator puts the reference point in elementary Zone F (Gulf, Pelican, Cape), middle Zone BB (Gulf Middle, Trafalgar) and High School West Zone 3 (Ida S. Baker, Cape Coral, Mariner, North Fort Myers, with Island Coast also in the district's plan). The City's Oasis charters, inside the line and graded A for three years, admit by application.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Gulf Elementary School | Lee County School District | 3400 SW 17th Place, inside the line, 1.2 km from the reference point. The district's SchoolSite Locator puts the point in elementary Proximity Zone F, whose schools are Gulf, Pelican and Cape; families rank them and a lottery places the child, with preference for siblings and then for a school within two miles. No school is assigned by address. Graded A for 2026 and 2025, B for 2024; Pelican is graded C for 2026 and Cape A. |
| Gulf Middle School | Lee County School District | 1809 SW 36th Terrace, inside the line, 1.1 km away. The point is in middle Proximity Zone BB, whose schools are Gulf Middle and Trafalgar Middle; Gulf has been graded A for three years and Trafalgar A for 2026. |
| Ida S. Baker High School | Lee County School District | 3500 Agualinda Boulevard, inside the line, 0.7 km away, with a Cambridge program; graded B for 2026, 2025 and 2024. The point is in High School West Zone 3: the district's locator lists Ida S. Baker, Cape Coral, Mariner and North Fort Myers High, and its 2026-27 plan adds Island Coast. A student within two miles of the school gets no district bus. |
| Oasis Charter Schools | City of Cape Coral Charter School Authority | The City's own charter schools, Oasis Elementary South, Oasis Middle and Oasis High, are on Oasis Boulevard inside the line. They admit by application, not by zone, and are not the district's; each was graded A for 2026, 2025 and 2024. |
Run your own address in the district's SchoolSite Locator: a school inside the line is not a promised seat, and a child within two miles of it gets no bus. The grades are the state's, as CBS12 republished them.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Highs near 24 °C and lows near 12 °C on the 1991 to 2020 normal at Page Field in Fort Myers, across the river, with about 62 mm of rain
- The Cape Coral Art Festival fills Cape Coral Parkway downtown on 9 and 10 January 2027, the 42nd
- About 45 mm of rain on the normal and highs near 26 °C
- Bought last year? File for the homestead exemption with the Lee County Property Appraiser by 1 March
- 1 March is the deadline for the homestead exemption and for porting a Save Our Homes benefit from a previous Florida home
- Highs near 27 °C and about 53 mm of rain, still the dry season
- Joe Coviello Park's boardwalk and trails, inside the line, are at their best before the summer heat
- Highs near 30 °C and about 62 mm of rain
- A good month for a seawall and roof inspection, and for the elevation certificate, before the wet season
- About 16 days reach 32 °C (90 °F) on the normal, and about 88 mm of rain
- A new flood policy through the National Flood Insurance Program waits 30 days to start: buy it before June, not when a storm is named
- The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November
- The wet season starts in earnest: about 245 mm of rain, mostly in afternoon thunderstorms, and 22 days reaching 32 °C
- Lee County puts two Surfside residents in three in evacuation zone A, the first ordered out when a storm threatens
- Highs near 33 °C and lows near 24 °C
- Red, White & Boom closes the Cape Coral Bridge and fills Cape Coral Parkway downtown on 4 July; the 2027 show is a Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m.
- The Lee County Property Appraiser mails the TRIM notice of proposed taxes in August, and a petition to the Value Adjustment Board is due within 25 days of the mailing
- The wettest month on the normal, about 265 mm
- The Atlantic season peaks around 10 September; Hurricane Ian came ashore on Cayo Costa, west of the city, on 28 September 2022
- About 229 mm of rain, and about 20 days reaching 32 °C
- The City's fiscal year starts on 1 October, and with it 2026-27's fire service assessment ($341.63 a parcel plus $3.16 for each $5,000 of structure value), stormwater ($163) and solid waste ($384.25)
- The rains ease: about 78 mm, highs near 30 °C
- The Tax Collector mails the bills in November, with a 4% discount for paying that month
- Hurricane season ends on 30 November
- The City's Holiday Boat-a-Long parades boats on the Bimini Basin at Four Freedoms Park on Saturday 19 December 2026
- Highs near 25 °C and about 48 mm of rain
1 more photograph of Cape Coral and the region
Drawn from the site's shared, freely licensed Cape Coral photo library, not photographs of Surfside itself. Filter by category.
Showing 1–1 of 1 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images from the site's shared Cape Coral library, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. None of them is presented as a photograph of Surfside.