Miyoshi Price
•8/6/2026
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WINK)—Questions are emerging about parking, public restrooms and whether Fort Myers Beach can handle the return of Roar Offshore next month as the island continues to recover from Hurricane Ian.
The town says parking, traffic and public restroom plans are all included in the special event permit, which will go before town council before anything is finalized. The permit has not yet been approved.
Tens of thousands of people showed up to the event five years ago, before Hurricane Ian.
Kristen Diaz, who works on the island, says the lack of public restrooms has already been a problem.
"Having people just come in to try these bathrooms because of the lack of the public restrooms has been an issue," Diaz said.
Jacob Insixiengmay, who also works on the island, says parking is always a challenge.
"Parking's always been an issue on the island," Insixiengmay said. "You know, it's hard to get people. And get you know, people don't want to leave, but the trolleys are always coming back and forth."
For event organizer Shaun Torrente, the goal goes far beyond just bringing fast boats back to the Gulf.
"Just the community has given me a lot. And then racing has given me so much through my life. I've been racing for 35 years, so since I was 12 years old," Torrente said. "So, if you can help both of those things in one, you know, in one fell swoop, then it's worth doing."
Torrente says there's still plenty of work to do before the green flag drops. The U.S. Coast Guard has not given approval yet, but gave the go-ahead to announce the event, saying everything looked good.
"It's just going to be another week or two to get us our actual permit," Torrente said. "That was really our last holdup, and sponsorship and fundraising have gone pretty well."
The last race on the island was in 2021. Some say the race is an opportunity to show how far Fort Myers Beach has come since Hurricane Ian.
Stormy Mudler, who lives in Southwest Florida, says people are excited about the progress.
"This last May was like the first time we've gotten excited about it because we're like, yes, they're finally like coming back and like they're actually like making some progress, and it's starting to look so good," Mudler said.
Business owners say they're ready to welcome the crowds, as long as the island is ready too. Diaz says businesses are preparing staff for the expected influx of visitors.
"We're making sure that we're ready with our bartenders, our servers, our hostesses, and food runners, ready for a lot of people to be on the island," Diaz said. "Aside from that, we're just hoping that the island is ready."
The event will include testing, qualifying, heat races and a speed cat run. It is all supposed to take place surrounding Margaritaville, Sept. 11-13.
