Fort Myers · Community
Gulf Harbour Yacht and Country Club, Fort Myers
Photograph by Kris Asquith, digitally enhanced. Representative of the community and not a depiction of any specific property for sale.
- Water
- Gulf access, with a marina in the community
- Golf
- Yes
- Gated
- Yes
- City
- Fort Myers
What Gulf Harbour Is
A gated community in Fort Myers on the Caloosahatchee River, with its own marina and a country club you join by buying into it.
Homes run from condominiums and high-rise towers through villas to single-family estate homes, spread across 22 neighborhoods, so the range inside one gate is wider than most communities offer.
It is resale only. Nothing is being built here, so every home that comes up is one somebody already owns.
I am Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, and Fort Myers is one of the nine Southwest Florida markets I work.
The No-Bridge Route Out
Gulf Harbour sits on the Caloosahatchee, and there are no bridges between here and the Gulf.
That one fact is worth more than any amenity list, and it is the thing to understand if a boat is part of why you are looking.
A bridge on the run out sets a ceiling. Whatever the water is like, your boat has to fit underneath, which rules out most sailboats and a great many tall flybridge boats no matter how deep the water or how long the slip. Plenty of Gulf-access water in this market has a bridge somewhere along the route, and buyers find out late.
No bridges means no ceiling. What still applies is depth and the boat's own draft, and those are answered slip by slip rather than community-wide, so ask about the specific slip rather than trusting a general figure.
This is Gulf ACCESS rather than Gulf-front, and the difference is the point: the boat is what you are buying here, not beach frontage. Gulf access homes in Fort Myers covers the wider market.
Owned Slips Change the Math
186 slips, and the slips are owned rather than leased.
That is a different proposition from a marina that rents you a space each season. An owned slip is a piece of property: it is bought and sold, it can be held, and it is not something the club can reprice or reallocate underneath you.
It also means a slip does not simply come with a house. There is a wait. Availability moves, so rather than print a position here that is out of date by the time you read it, ask me and I will check where things stand now.
If a slip matters to you, say so at the start rather than after you have chosen a house. It changes which homes are worth seeing.
Equity Golf, Explained
This is the part buyers most often get wrong, and it costs real money.
An equity membership is an ownership stake in the club. It is bought and sold. It is not a fee folded into your dues and it does not arrive automatically with the deed.
So the question here is never only what the house costs. It is whether a membership is available, what joining involves, and what the club's own finances look like, because as an equity member you have a stake in them.
That is the opposite of a bundled community, where golf comes with the address whether you play or not. Both models exist across this market and they suit different buyers. Fort Myers golf communities is the wider view, and I would rather walk you through the difference before you fall for a house.
Eagle Perch Island
There is a private beach, and it is on an island the community keeps for itself.
Eagle Perch Island sits in the Caloosahatchee, so this is a river beach rather than a Gulf one, and the difference is worth stating plainly rather than blurring. You are not buying open Gulf frontage here. You are buying a community with a route out to the Gulf and a private stretch of white sand of its own along the way.
That combination is unusual in Fort Myers. Plenty of communities have water. Far fewer have water, a marina, and somewhere to be dropped off with a towel.
The Club Amenities
Beyond the golf and the marina, the club runs an attended fitness center, a full service spa, a sauna, a spa and hot tub, a restaurant, and a putting green. There is a play area, and there is shopping.
Two notes on that list. The fitness center being attended is not the same as a room with equipment in it, and a full service spa is not a treatment room, so if those matter to you they are worth seeing rather than reading about.
And the membership is private, which loops back to the section above: the amenities and the house are two separate purchases, and the second one is the part people underestimate.
No CDD Here
Worth saying out loud, because the answer here is different from a lot of what you will look at nearby.
A CDD is a separate charge that repaid the cost of putting a community in, and it lands on the tax bill rather than in the association dues, which is why a monthly figure quoted as "the fees" can quietly leave it out. Tidewater has one. Laguna Lakes has one. Gulf Harbour does not.
That does not make it cheaper, and I am not going to pretend it does, because the club membership is its own number and a bigger one. It does mean one line you would otherwise have to go looking for on the tax bill is not there.
This is general information and not tax advice; check your own situation with your tax adviser.
How I Would Approach It With You
In this order, because getting it the other way round is how people end up disappointed.
The boat first, if there is one: what it needs in depth and length, and where that leaves you on the slip list. Then the membership question, because it is a separate purchase and a separate decision. Then the house, which is the easy part by comparison.
The step-by-step buying process shows where those checks fall, and buying a home in Fort Myers covers the market around it.
Get in touch or call (239) 300-1427 and I will take you through it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Gulf Harbour have Gulf access?
Yes. Gulf Harbour is on the Caloosahatchee River with a route out to the Gulf, and there are no bridges along the way. That matters because a bridge sets a height limit your boat has to fit under; no bridges means no such ceiling. Depth and draft are still answered slip by slip.
How many slips does the Gulf Harbour marina have?
186, and the slips are owned rather than leased, so a slip is a piece of property that is bought and sold. There is a wait, and availability changes, so ask me and I will check where it stands now.
Is the golf at Gulf Harbour bundled with the home?
No. Gulf Harbour golf is an equity membership, which is an ownership stake in the club that is bought and sold separately. It does not come with the deed and it is not folded into dues, so budget for it as its own decision.
Is Gulf Harbour gated?
Yes. Gulf Harbour Yacht and Country Club is a gated community in Fort Myers on the Caloosahatchee River.
Is there a beach at Gulf Harbour?
Yes. Gulf Harbour has a private white sand beach on Eagle Perch Island, which sits in the Caloosahatchee River. It is a river beach rather than Gulf frontage, so the community is Gulf access with a private beach of its own, not a beachfront community.
Is there a CDD at Gulf Harbour?
No. Unlike Tidewater in Estero or Laguna Lakes in Fort Myers, Gulf Harbour has no CDD on the tax bill. The club membership is a separate cost and a larger one, so ask about that rather than assuming the absence of a CDD makes it cheaper. This is general information and not tax advice.
What kinds of homes are at Gulf Harbour?
Condominiums, high-rise towers, villas and single-family estate homes, across 22 neighborhoods. It is resale only, so nothing new is being built.
Other Fort Myers communities
Gulf Harbour Yacht and Country Club: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Kris Asquith at Premiere Plus Realty?