As the sun sets over the Gulf of Mexico, fishing boats ride the outgoing tide through Boca Grande Pass, drifting hooks baited with crabs and baitfish through large schools of tarpon that migrate here during the early summer months to feed and spawn offshore. Between Gasparilla Island to the north and Cayo Costa State Park to the south, Boca Grande is the largest pass between the Charlotte Harbor estuary and the Gulf and the deepest natural pass in Florida.