Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Bokeelia, FL

Bokeelia is an unincorporated census-designated place and fishing village at the northern tip of Pine Island in Lee County, Florida, between Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor.

Pine Island is the largest island on Florida's Gulf Coast — about 17 miles long and 2 miles wide — and, ringed by mangroves instead of sandy shores, it has no Gulf beaches at all.

Bokeelia's population was 1,855 at the 2020 census, up slightly from 1,780 in 2010 but still below its 2000 count of 1,997.

Spanish fishing camps operated at Bokeelia as far back as the 1700s, supplying settlements as far away as the Florida Keys.

Settlers who arrived in the early 1900s made their living growing tropical fruit, and Bokeelia remains an agricultural community of palm nurseries — such as Palmco — and tropical fruit groves.

Before European settlement, the Calusa people lived on Pine Island for centuries; their heritage is preserved at the Randell Research Center and its Calusa Heritage Trail at nearby Pineland.

The 2010 census counted about 806 households in Bokeelia, and the community skews older, with a median resident age of about 57.

Bokeelia and the rest of Pine Island were devastated by Hurricane Ian in 2022 and have been rebuilding ever since.

Fishing remains the village's lifeblood, and the waters around Bokeelia are known for tarpon, speckled trout, redfish and grouper.

Bokeelia has its own ZIP code, 33922, and no local government of its own — Lee County provides its services.