"I don't want to see it closed again for decades, it was a fight," Sarasota County Commissioner Teresa Mast said on September 22, just before the commission voted unanimously on the next phase for Midnight Pass.
Five days from now, on October 9, it will be two years since Hurricane Milton fully reopened the inlet between Siesta Key and Casey Key. The pass had been closed for more than 40 years. Hurricane Helene's surge cut a temporary opening on September 26, 2024, and Milton finished the job on October 9. For most of the time since, the pass has felt like something the storms left behind that might not last. The September vote changed that. The county is now treating Midnight Pass as a permanent waterway, and the stretch of water at the south end of the island will look different once that plan takes hold.
Nearly Two Years In, the Measurements Have Stopped Moving
County staff have surveyed the pass almost every week since it opened. They measure the cross-section of the inlet throat and post each result online. The latest survey is dated September 28, 2026. Those surveys gave Mike Jenkins, a senior principal engineer with Geosyntec Consultants, enough data to tell commissioners this month that the pass is "dynamically stable."
Here is what the data shows. According to Your Observer's September 28 report, the pass has held a depth of about 16 feet and a cross-sectional area of about 1,400 square feet for months. Its centerline moves back and forth inside an envelope about 60 feet wide. At peak tide, enough water moves through it to fill an Olympic swimming pool in about 26 seconds.
The sand helps explain why. The pass sits in coarse shell hash, which Jenkins says is quite different from the beach sand farther north. "It encourages inlet stability," he said. "You can hold a steeper slope."
Charlotte County shows how differently this could have gone. Milton also opened a new inlet there, now called Milton Pass. It first measured about 100 yards wide and 8 to 10 feet deep, and it has mostly filled back in. Midnight Pass came from the same storm, and nearly two years later it is still open.
What the September 22 Vote Sets in Motion
Since the pass is holding, the commission voted to start managing it. The five approved steps are:
- Continue collecting data.
- Move ahead with channel markers and advisory signs.
- Assess possible dredging of the adjacent channels to keep navigation safe.
- Begin the permitting process with state and federal authorities to maintain and manage the pass.
- Continue stakeholder engagement.
Your Observer reported that the planned signs would warn boaters about frequent manatees and about paddlers and other human-powered craft. The dredging under consideration is small-scale work in the two branches that connect the pass to Little Sarasota Bay. Permitting is expected to take years and would put Midnight Pass under the same kind of management that local governments already use for Longboat Pass, Big Pass and New Pass.
That last comparison matters most. Longboat, Big and New passes are maintained waterways, with marked channels and scheduled upkeep. If Midnight Pass joins that group, the open, unmarked inlet people have been boating to since late 2024 becomes a regulated channel. WWSB reported that state permits were still under discussion when the county memo went to commissioners, and that the memo did not set exact thresholds for triggering the emergency plan. Nothing changes on the water this week. The direction is set, though.
This Fall, Before the Markers Go In
Commissioners approved channel markers and advisory signs on September 22. Your Observer's September 28 report says the markers "could soon appear," which means they were not yet in the water. This fall, then, the pass is still the unmarked inlet boaters and paddlers have been using since late 2024.
When WWSB visited in June, it described clear water, boats anchored on the sandbars and birds working the shoreline. The Sarasota Bay Estuary Program has also reported a clear rise in recreational use since the reopening. It lists the effects of boat traffic on seagrass and wildlife as a question researchers have not yet answered. The approved signs about manatees and paddlers speak directly to that traffic.
Getting there is simple once you know which park does what:
| Access point | How you get to the pass | What the county lists |
|---|---|---|
| Turtle Beach Park, 8918 Midnight Pass Road | Launch from the park and boat or paddle south | Motorized and non-motorized ramps, kayak and canoe launches, fishing, swimming; open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Palmer Point Beach Park | By water only | No parking; beach access, kayak and canoe launch, fishing, swimming |
| Little Sarasota Bay | By boat from the bay side through the branch channels | The channels the county may assess for dredging |
If you're paddling, the usual route leaves Turtle Beach and follows a short canal through the mangroves of Jim Neville Preserve to the beach at the pass. SURFit USA offers guided trips on that route, plus self-guided kayak and paddleboard rentals from the Turtle Beach launch. Sarasota Kayak Rentals runs a two-hour guided beach and eco-tour to Midnight Pass that meets at Turtle Beach. Visit Sarasota's June 2026 paddling guide also lists Get Up & Go Kayaking for guided clear-kayak tours of the pass. These outfitters' pages don't show dates, so check current schedules and prices before you book.
If you've only been by boat, it's worth going once by kayak. A paddle through Jim Neville Preserve comes in at water level, and that view may change once markers and channel work arrive.
What Could Still Close It
"Dynamically stable" is an engineering term. It doesn't promise the pass will stay open. Jenkins told commissioners that the pass has not been tested by a major storm, since neither 2025 nor 2026 has brought a real tropical threat so far. "Keep in mind," he said, "it opened during a storm, storms open inlets, but they certainly can close it."
The second risk comes from beach work up the coast. Sand moves naturally along the shore, and Midnight Pass is within reach of the Turtle Beach nourishment project to the north. Jenkins said future beach projects will need to be planned with the pass in mind. "We don't want to have a condition where we place sand on the beach and we have an inlet closure," he said.
If the pass does fill in, the county has a plan. Under an emergency order, land-based equipment would come in from the north and remove about 25,000 cubic yards of sediment. The recent dredge of New Pass between Lido Key and Longboat Key moved more than ten times that much. Sarasota County and Geosyntec have drafted that emergency response plan to use if conditions call for it.
Not everyone thinks the pass is settled. In June, Mike Holderness, a local business owner and member of the Restore Midnight Pass Society II, told WWSB he believed the pass was moving north and that mangroves on its north side were dying. He wanted the engineering work to move faster. His group helped secure $500,000 from the state for the county to study and stabilize the pass. The consultant's September update describes a centerline moving within a fixed 60-foot envelope. That is the most recent engineering view on record, and Holderness's concerns are one reason the county keeps measuring every week.
As for the water itself, people who visit describe it as clearer, and longtime advocates compare it with the stagnant water there before 2024. The scientific work is still in progress. The Sarasota Bay Estuary Program's summary of its June 4 workshop says researchers are continuing to monitor water quality and nutrients in Little Sarasota Bay. The county's stated goal is improved water quality in the bay, supported by the new tidal exchange through the inlet.
Keeping Up With It From the South End
You can follow the pass directly. The county's Midnight Pass page posts each weekly survey and links to an interactive cross-section dashboard. It also has video and panel slides from the December 2, 2025 expert session at Gulf Gate Library, with speakers from the University of South Florida and Geosyntec.
There is something happening nearby this month. The Turtle Beach Campground Family Fall Fest, the county's 12th annual, runs October 23 to 25 at 8862 Midnight Pass Road, just up the road from the launch you'd use to paddle south. If you're planning a launch from Turtle Beach Park that weekend, expect the south end to be busier than usual.
Kelly has worked on Siesta Key and the barrier islands for more than 30 years, and she follows changes like the Midnight Pass plan because they affect daily life at the south end. If you live near Turtle Beach and want to talk through what a managed pass could mean for your part of the island, Kelly Rosenberg is happy to set up a market consultation or put together a personalized home valuation.
