Salty Sam’s Marina marketing director Ryan VanDenabeele said the marina has recovered from damage to its docks. NATHAN MAYBERG

It’s not exactly business as usual on Fort Myers Beach one year after Hurricane Ian but with the number of the businesses reopening, the rebuilding, real estate deals and development proposals, there is no shortage of business people betting on the future of the island. 

For Fort Myers Beach business owners like Peter Ennis, who operates Snug Harbor Waterfront Restaurant and Wahoo Willies, “the biggest obstacle in my mind is letting Lee, Collier and Charlotte County know that Fort Myers Beach is open for business.” 

Ennis and his partners were among the most aggressive on the island in getting their restaurants open after Ian. Wahoo Willies, which was in the midst of being constructed when Hurricane Ian struck, opened six weeks after the storm. 

The feat was impressive considering that just weeks earlier the debris at their corner of Old San Carlos Boulevard was stacked almost as high and far as the eye could see. 

“The debris was high, halfway through our building all the way to the water,” Ennis said. “So many people contributed to helping.”

Bonita Bill’s Waterfront Café and Tiki Bar took all the shots Hurricane Ian had to give and is still standing despite two boats crashing into its docks that still are lodged there. Founder Bill Semmer, who ran the business for more than 30 years, died in January from Melanoma. Katie Reynolds, his daughter, runs the business now. NATHAN MAYBERG

Snug Harbor opened in January. 

“There are many condos and homeowners that are doing everything they can to get back to their homes , but things are just taking much longer to get residents back to their homes. Hopefully hotels will be coming soon as well,” he added.  

While the highly anticipated Margaritaville resort is eyeing a December opening, one of the first hotels to open after Ian was the Pink Shell Beach Resort. 

For Pink Shell Beach Resort owner Robert Boykin, acting quickly meant everything in saving the hotel from flood damage. 

“In the first 48 hours, we had restoration crews on site moving heaven and earth,” Boykin said. “The roof got damaged in all of the buildings and severely damaged on the main building.” 

The owners of Wahoo Willies were among the most aggressive on the island in getting their restaurants open after Ian. Wahoo Willies, which was in the midst of being constructed when Hurricane Ian struck, opened six weeks after the storm. NATHAN MAYBERG

In the week after Ian, during which the island was closed off for re-entry, Boykin said the hotel incurred more damage when it began raining again.

“Those early days are critical. If you don’t get your place cleaned up in 72 hours mold develops.”  

Boykin remains discontented with the decision to close beach access to residents in the days after hurricane – a call that town, county, state, rescue teams and fire officials all blamed on each.

“You can’t make a rule like that in a vacuum,” he said. 

Despite the delays, the Pink Shell Beach Resort has been a marvel of a success, opening up half of its 200 rooms when many buildings are still inoperable. The resort housed critical emergency crews and other responders in the early days after Ian. 

Boykin said there were lessons learned from the storm — about barriers to protect elevators from flooding and to protect pool equipment. They learned to be more assertive in protecting items from being thrown out by cleaning crews. At the peak of repairs, Boykin said upwards of 400 people were working on site. 

Boykin said it’s important the town handle permits promptly. “Speed is important,” he said. Boykin has proposed a new development to the town – a 109-room hotel or condo building with a public parking garage across from the Pink Shell Beach Resort. 

While insurance is a sore spot on the island, Boykin said he collected about 60% so far from Lloyds of London though he said the costs will be going up substantially. It’s the “single most important topic for commercial property owners,” he said. “Be careful with who you buy insurance from.” He believes the state should get more involved in regulating and backing up the insurance market. 

His advice is to have a plan for a hurricane.

“If you don’t have a plan until after the hurricane, you are late to the game,” he said. 

“Sunny days are ahead though I can’t say when.” 

For Erickson and Jensen owner Grant Erickson, who runs one of the oldest shrimping operations on Fort Myers Beach dating back to the 1950s, nothing could prepare him for having nearly his entire fleet washed ashore and his docks ruined by Ian.  

The good news is that his docks are about 80% fixed and most of the shrimp boats are back in the water or being repaired. Three of the 11 boats were destroyed by Ian. The insurance was unaffordable.

“What it would cost me to cover my insurance, I could lose a boat a year and come out better,” he said.  

With some customers not back in business yet, the price of shrimp down and price of fuel for his boats up, it’s been hard to make a living. While the domestic wild-caught pink shrimp is preferred by island visitors, outside of town he is competing with cheaper foreign, farm-raised shrimp.  

“The shrimp business is terrible. The price is the lowest it’s been in years,” Erickson said. “You can’t make any business in the shrimp business right now.”

Shrimp fishermen who used to work for him are taking jobs in construction, Erickson said. 

Erickson sells shrimp of any size and amount to those who want it at his market on Main Street in San Carlos Island Monday through Saturday. “Everybody should be eating shrimp right now,” he said. “Pink shrimp is the best shrimp in the world.”

Erickson is optimistic about Fort Myers Beach. He took his boats for their annual pilgrimage to Texas in 2017 and went through Hurricane Harvey –  one of the costliest hurricanes in American history. 

“They have built back. It looks terrific now. It took them five, six years to recover. It will be better (here) eventually.” 

Over the summer, the Lani Kai Island Resort reopened its beach with furniture available for rent, watercraft recreational vehicle rentals and one of its bars. Work continues on repairs to the hotel from Hurricane Ian. 

“Our rebuild is coming along nicely, it’s slow but thankfully steady, and our family has been working so hard to juggle so many projects so we can open what we can, when we can, as soon as we can,” Lani Kai Island Resort Marketing Director Melissa Schneider said. “Our most recent completion was getting the impact doors and windows installed along our ground-level shops and storefronts.”  

Beach Bar 1, known as “Mr. C’s Bar,” has opened. That was the first bar Lani Kai Island Resort owner Bob Conidaris opened back in 1978.

“We’re coming full circle from the time he first built this legendary beachside icon 45 years ago,” Schneider said. “We all continue to push through this devastation to try to return the island to some sort of normalcy,” Schneider said. 

At Salty Sam’s Marina, marketing director Ryan VanDenabeele said the marina has recovered from damage to its docks.

“The last piece of the puzzle is the docks. We’re hoping to have the docks in the fall,” VanDenabeele said. The marina’s Parrot Key Caribbean Grill reopened at its Main St. location with a new Sunday breakfast menu. 

The owners are contemplating plans for the Original Shrimp Dock Bar and Grill. “We are trying to improve on what it once was,” VanDenabeele said. The marina’s pirate cruise underwent maintenance in August and is expected to return in the fall. The marina resumed its daily dolphin tours, sunset cruises and boat rentals.

“All the cleanup crews have done a fantastic job with clearing out the channels and the mangroves,” he said. 

Bonita Bill’s

Bonita Bill’s Waterfront Café and Tiki Bar took all the shots Hurricane Ian had to give and is still standing despite two boats crashing into its docks that still are lodged there.

Founder Bill Semmer, who ran the business for more than 30 years, died in January from Melanoma. Now run by Semmer’s daughter Katie Reynolds, the welcoming and laid-back atmosphere still persists with the same affordable breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. Business has been up and down, mirroring changes on the island.

“It’s been such a rollercoaster,” Reynolds said.

Since reopening in March, Reynolds said “We had a good first three weeks. We caught part of the season. Thank goodness we opened. We needed those three weeks. It’s been slow in the summer due to the heat and the construction.”

The survival of Bonita Bill’s is a testament to its construction by Semmer in the early 1990s. Most of the bar and café are still fully intact though the tiki bar needs work. In an interview before he died, Semmer said “there was no floor, nothing” when he purchased what was then known as Bonita Fish Company and Fish House. Workers have been sprucing up and updating the event room to allow for multiple media and technology uses for meetings and parties.

“We might rent it out for a yoga studio,” Reynolds said.  

She has also been working with the state to try and get the boats removed off her property. Bonita Bill’s leases its docks from the state though a submerged land lease.

“We’re hoping for a good comeback in October, fingers crossed,” she said. “We’re keeping our hopes high.”

Two Titans

One of the longest-running restaurants on Fort Myers Beach, Dixie Fish Co., reopened in February off Fisherman’s Wharf to jubilant acclaim. The restaurant, which dates back to the 1930s suffered minimal damage from Hurricane Ian compared to its neighbor Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille, which reopened in July.

Both restaurants have deep followings. They also share common ownership in the Harrity family.

Ownership partner Joe Harrity said Doc Ford’s underwent the most work, including the replacement of the bartops on the first and second floor, new tables, a new tiki hut, a new deck, chairs and a new roof.

The owners of the property, who operate Gulf Star Marina next door, replaced the first floor deck as well as the docks.

“The downstairs was completely wiped out,” Harrity said. “We tried to save everything we could.”

The restaurant’s popular waterfront view has been accentuated with new sliding doors upstairs overlooking the bay.

“It was a big cost to us,” Harrity said. Harrity said insurance didn’t cover anything. The restaurant lost out on months of business.

Harrity said some of their staff were working at their sister location in Sanibel. About 75% of the Fort Myers beach staff returned to their jobs.

A good portion of the kitchen crew were able to stay busy at the restaurant helping to rebuild the facility.

Harrity said he thinks Fort Myers Beach is “progressing pretty well. Margaritaville is coming along. There have been a couple big land purchases.”

Honored with multiple Fort Myers Beach Observer Best of the Beach awards over the years, the restaurant won “Best Everyday Eats” in the 2021 Tripadvisor Best of the Best Awards.