An abandoned island at the mouth of Tampa Bay with an 1858 lighthouse, the brick gun batteries of Fort Dade slowly collapsing…An abandoned island at the mouth of Tampa Bay with an 1858 lighthouse, the brick gun batteries of Fort Dade slowly collapsing into the Gulf, and a grid of red-brick streets running straight into the water where the shoreline has eroded past the town. Snorkel the drowned battery rubble offshore. A Seminole War internment camp, a Civil War Union base, then Fort Dade, a 300-person town built for the Spanish-American War with a hospital, bowling alley and power plant. Abandoned in 1923. Erosion has taken roughly half the island, and the streets now lead into the sea, which is exactly why it is worth the trip. Anchorage: Anchor off the east beach in 3-6m sand and tender in. Watch the shipping channel and the tidal set. Hazards: Egmont Channel carries deep-draught commercial traffic and runs hard on the tide. Half the island has eroded into the sea. Altro