Sanibel island

[sammyteach]

We are planning a week at Sanibel island to start our three week trip this summer . Can any of you folks give me you experiences on thoughts on the island. Ive done a fair bit of web surfing but any inside info would be great. We stayed on the north tip of Anna Maria island in 05 and loved the wild quiet beaches and the wildlife. Any help or opinions would be cool probably thinking about cottage condo so we do some meals ourselves as the reast of the trip is POP (free dining ) and Universal!

 

[swilshire]

We have stayed in a timeshare on Sanibel and have reservations in another on Captiva for December. We very much enjoy the nice beaches. It's sort of quiet there, not a lot of activity unless you leave the island, which suits us fine. We go to the beach, eat lunch at the Island Cow (good food, huge portions, reasonable prices), shop the church thrift store, and just relax. There is also a nice wildlife preserve on the island.

The hurricane a few years ago destroyed some of the wonderful trees and there were still tarps over some roofs when we were there in the Spring. If you hadn't seen it before, though, you wouldn't know the difference.

Summer is off season there, so you should be able to find something to rent. We stayed in late June one year before a week at Disney and I would think hard about going back in the summer. It's awfully darn hot there then. We were staying in an upstairs unit and both DH and I were exhausted by the time we dragged the luggage up two flights of stairs.

Sheila

 

[CPM]

I live just off island. Sanibel is a beautiful, very natural island. Not much to do but relax.
Are you thinking of staying at Mitchell Sand Castle cottages? They are very cute.
The water wil be very warm in the summer. The beaches are very shelly, as compared to the white sand of Ana Maria island.
Ding Darling is a natural perserve, interesting if you like nature. There is also a shell museum. Some smaller restuarnts.
You aren't far from anything else you want to do if you want to head off island.

 

[swilshire]

You aren't far from anything else you want to do if you want to head off island.

Though the toll adds up. How much is it now? $6?

Sheila

 

[CPM]

Though the toll adds up. How much is it now? $6?

Sheila

yup $6.00, but if you want off, that's what you pay.

 

[KristinBelle]

Are there any ferry's that go to the island?

 

[CPM]

Are there any ferry's that go to the island?

Not that I'm aware of.
From where?

 

[5mins2disney]

We rented a VRBO house in Cape Coral a few years back, it was roughly $1200 for a mansion (literally, a mansion....8 BRs... 8 baths..huge pool...our own boat dock on the back of the house). The only thing the owner didn't include was use of his boat and jet skis. We rented our own 22 foot Boston Whaler speedboat right in the area for $800 for a week, and had a BLAST cruising around to Sanibel, Captiva, Ft Myers beach, and other local places, we were able to park the boat right on the dock at the place we rented! Only thing you need to be careful of is not to get lost, we were trying to find our way back home one evening around dusk and learned (the hard way) that things look very similar out on the water as we took a wrong turn, would not have been fun finding our way home in the dark! But..there's lots of fun little bars / restaurants / beaches / etc you can pull up to on a boat, including Sanibel.

 

[CPM]

We rented a VRBO house in Cape Coral a few years back, it was roughly $1200 for a mansion (literally, a mansion....8 BRs... 8 baths..huge pool...our own boat dock on the back of the house). The only thing the owner didn't include was use of his boat and jet skis. We rented our own 22 foot Boston Whaler speedboat right in the area for $800 for a week, and had a BLAST cruising around to Sanibel, Captiva, Ft Myers beach, and other local places, we were able to park the boat right on the dock at the place we rented! Only thing you need to be careful of is not to get lost, we were trying to find our way back home one evening around dusk and learned (the hard way) that things look very similar out on the water as we took a wrong turn, would not have been fun finding our way home in the dark! But..there's lots of fun little bars / restaurants / beaches / etc you can pull up to on a boat, including Sanibel.

That sounds great. But just so the OP knows. You really should be an experienced boater to do that, plus there is nothing to do in Cape Coral, so you would have to drive or boat to anywhere. It's a residential boater's city, very congested one at that.

 

[ttfn3]

My family has vacationed in Sanibel for many years. We love the island for it's natural beauty. All the development is low rise - nothing higher than floors (?) - so no high rise beach condo developments. Check out the Sanibel Chamber of Commerce website and look for rentals by owners. We have had great luck renting from private owners and have gotten nice homelike condo rentals right on the beach. My family likes the Sundial resort. Beautiful pool right by the ocean. I love to walk the beach - and check for shells (of course!) Make sure you have some beach/water shoes.

I highly recommend renting a bike (from a local shop - not the resort) for the week. Sanibel has some nice bike paths all over the island. It's relatively flat so it's easy to bike. We like to bike all over and stop at the stores for a bit of shopping. It's a great way to explore the island.

Sanibel has some great restaurants. We also like to have breakfast and lunch/snacks in our room. I highly recommend picking up your groceries in Fort Myers - before you drive over the bridge to Sanibel. It's much cheaper.

 

[E(ticket)lizabeth]

It's been years since I was there, but I recommended it to a British friend a couple of years ago, and he said it was just as I described it, so I guess it hasn't changed much! Very wild, very beautiful--but remember, this is a sheller's paradise, so if you're looking for white sands like the rest of the Gulf beaches, you'll be disappointed. Sanibel sits right out in the currents that bring shells up to shore, and the island doesn't really have sand--just shells in various stages of being broken down. Some can be sharp, so plan on wearing your beach shoes all the time! That said, I would definitely visit Sanibel again, but my DH is afraid he'd be bored. He wants more "excitement" on a vacation, so we're spending a week in Indian Rocks Beach instead, where we can have beach as well as Busch Gardens!

Have fun, and you might check Vacation Rentals By Owner (vrbo.com)--we got a great condo in Indian Rocks Beach there. I didn't even look at Sanibel, so I don't know what's there, but I was pleased with the selection at other places. Good luck, and what a wonderful vacation! It reminds me a little of a trip I took as a kid--my folks borrowed a pop-up trailer and took us all the way down the Atlantic coast of Florida to Key West, then back up the Gulf side. We hit Disney, Silver Springs, the Everglades, snorkled in the Keys, shelled on Sanibel--what a memory ! I think you're building that sort of trip. You're going to have a fantastic time!

 

[5mins2disney]

That sounds great. But just so the OP knows. You really should be an experienced boater to do that, plus there is nothing to do in Cape Coral, so you would have to drive or boat to anywhere. It's a residential boater's city, very congested one at that.

I have a 36 foot sailboat and a 16 foot speedboat here in Chicago on Lake Michigan, lots of boating experience! =p

Hey, it's like Captain Ron said though..."if it's gonna happen boss it's gonna happen out there...so let's get going....back when I was driving the Saratoga...".

The boat allowed us to go some places at least, it was a ton of fun, and do some fishing also. We drove over to Sanibel, but took the boat to Ft Myers beach and restaurants. We also fished off of and around Captiva Island, and there's a sand dollar bar place where you pull in the boat and there's little sea otters that come up to the tiki bar looking for food. The kids thought it was the coolest thing!

I wouldn't let lack of knowledge deter you, it's pretty easy, a GPS Would help though if you have one. They show you how to run the boat, and give you maps and all.

"If we gets lost...we'll just pull in somewheres and ask for directions!"... (Another Capt Ron quote!)..


Yaaar..... (that's me driving by the way!)

 

[kaysmommie]

I have a 36 foot sailboat and a 16 foot speedboat here in Chicago on Lake Michigan, lots of boating experience! =p

Hey, it's like Captain Ron said though..."if it's gonna happen boss it's gonna happen out there...so let's get going....back when I was driving the Saratoga...".

The boat allowed us to go some places at least, it was a ton of fun, and do some fishing also. We drove over to Sanibel, but took the boat to Ft Myers beach and restaurants. We also fished off of and around Captiva Island, and there's a sand dollar bar place where you pull in the boat and there's little sea otters that come up to the tiki bar looking for food. The kids thought it was the coolest thing!

I wouldn't let lack of knowledge deter you, it's pretty easy, a GPS Would help though if you have one. They show you how to run the boat, and give you maps and all.

"If we gets lost...we'll just pull in somewheres and ask for directions!"... (Another Capt Ron quote!)..


Yaaar..... (that's me driving by the way!)

Hi 5mins2Disney,
We met you on our trip back in spetember at MK before wishes. Thats funny your on the dis boards now. You gave my husband your card about the townhomes. Just wanted to say hello

 

[5mins2disney]

WOW yes HI how are you guys doing?!

It's a small world!! (no pun intended! LOL)

 

[CPM]

I have a 36 foot sailboat and a 16 foot speedboat here in Chicago on Lake Michigan, lots of boating experience! =p

Right, so you have experience. I never said you didn't, just said if a vacationer was going to stay out in CC, and rent a boat, they should have some boating experience.
Very nice sail boat BTW.

 

[5mins2disney]

Right, so you have experience. I never said you didn't, just said if a vacationer was going to stay out in CC, and rent a boat, they should have some boating experience.
Very nice sail boat BTW.

Or stay in a Holiday Inn Express the night before! LOL

Thanks, it's a lot of fun, we do a lot of offshore racing in the summertime here in Chicago on Lake Michigan, the famous Chicago-Mackinac race if you've ever heard of that one, but then sometimes it just consists of going out, floating around, and having a few ...err...lemonades on a nice sunny summer day! Ahh.... can't wait for May 15th to roll back around! (Harbor reopening day!)...

 

[PrincessKitty1]

We love Sanibel but it's very, very hot in the summer. In my experience, the water is as hot as the air, so you can't cool off by taking a dip in the water. Also, summer seems to be big stingray season there and the week we stayed there, there were actually a couple of days we couldn't go in the water because of literally hundreds of stingrays "surfing" right outside our condo window! As much fun as we had, I still would not choose to go back there in the summer--I would go to an Atlantic beach or farther north to the Pensacola area in the summer, and save the southern Florida Gulf for spring, fall, or winter.