Ft. Myers/Sanibel Florida

[EllieFunt]

So, obviously EVERYTHING has changed. :biglaugh: We're now thinking of coming south. Forgive me but I've forgotten who it was lives/lived in Florida.

We did find an inexpensive hotel on Sanibel Island but I thought someone here had suggested staying on the mainland. :hmm:

Can you snorkel there? Give me the lowdown! :giggle:

[Ericanaysha]

Hey I used to live in Fort Myers!!!!

Snorkeling....eh......you could, not much to see closer to the shore.

I like Sanibel, b/c it has alot of charm. The thing is the tolls for the bridge to get on and off the island. 6 dollars. I think you only pay to go on, I will have to check with Bruce tho. So if you think you will be spending more time in Fort Myers, then I would stay there and just visit Sanibel one day.

And also the BEST beach in that area imo is a lil more south. Wiggins Pass in Naples. Less rocks and shells. The water is more clear. I have pics of Wiggins pass on my Facebook (are you on there?? We can be FB friends so you can see them, the water, sand, ect)

Sanibel wasn't my fave place as a kid (I don't remember the ages of your kids). There are these huge trees that put off burrs near the water, rocks, and shells(in the water as well so you have to wear water shoes in there as well). So you can't really run out with no shoes on. I hated that as a kid, I wanted to walk barefoot and dig my toes in the sand. So if you want a more kid friendly beach I would do Fort Myers or Wiggins Pass and then visit the Island one day. There is one cool resturant on the Island. The Bubble Room, kinda pricey but it's fun.

Ummm, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. If you have any more q's just let me know!!!

[EllieFunt]

Thanks for the info. Our girls will be 12 & 9 when we go. We want to stay at a hotel on the beach. I'll take a look for hotel prices at Wiggins Pass - how far is that from Ft. Myers?

I am on FB. :wink:

The girls really wanted to snorkel. They want to go back to LaJolla, CA - but I don't want to fly. The snorkeling was really cool there.

[Ericanaysha]

I pm'ed you. :)

[4littlelambs]

I've been to both places... my mom 'winters' in Fort Meyers. I agree that Sanibel had a TON of shells. It was gorgeous and great for collecting shells... but the kids would have to wear water shoes or flip flops at all times. We saw dolphins there... SO cool!

I don't know anything else. :giggle:

[citylights]

hey, I'd LOVE to be in on this conversation! We do FL every spring break. We've thought of traveling further south. Learning that Sanibel Island has lots of shells & isn't so good for barefoot, guess we'll steer clear of there.

Erica, I'd love to be your FB friend ... so that I can see your photos. I'll send you a pm, if that's ok with you.

Deb, we drive to Destin, and it's a GREAT spot. Last yr. was a little on the cool side, low to mid 70's, but the year before was 80's. We rent a condo for the week, and it's right there at the beach! We have to walk across the street, but we actually like that 'cuz our condo is by the pool and we like that for keeping an eye on our kids. The condos on the beach are quite a lot more expensive.

i'd LOVE to snorkle with my family! we've never done it. guess maybe i should look into this. we've thought about doing the fishing cruise with them but man, those activities are soooooooo expensive. we don't spend a lot on our trips ... we rent the condo, eat out a couple of times, then visit the fresh market & grocery while we're there relaxin' !!

[mommyof2monkeys+princess]

I have never thought about snorkeling in Ft. Myers area :tongue:

Dh's parents live there and we live 3 hours North.

Tammy

[EllieFunt]

We're still tossing this around. I did show dh the pics. The beach looks incredible!!!

We snorkeled in LaJolla, CA. They have an underwater nature preserve there - it's incredible! Our girls fell in love with it. Now they want to snorkel at other places. We were just wondering if you could there. In LaJolla you can snorkel right AT the beach - it's really neat. No worries about sharks. I won't take them off a boat where you have to be concerned about them.

Like I said, we're still tossing around the idea of Florida. I'd love to go. It would be a 2 day trip for us. That's something to think about. :hmm: We would be going in summer too. Not spring break. Too busy of a time for dh.

[Ericanaysha]

well not snorkling but there is the "mudflats" it's an area right before the Sanibel Causeway (bridge). Anywho you wear your water shoes and you can take a net and scoop things up out of the mud and you find all kinds of cool creatures! Our schools took us there for field trips.

If you do go, please lmk. It would be cool to meet up if we are able to head to FL to visit fam after I have this baby!

[EllieFunt]

Anywho you wear your water shoes and you can take a net and scoop things up out of the mud and you find all kinds of cool creatures! Now you're really tempting me! My girls would just LOVE that! They're very much into that sort of thing. :clap:

If you do go, please lmk. It would be cool to meet up if we are able to head to FL to visit fam after I have this baby! Definitely! That would be fun. :)

[EllieFunt]

It's official. (well, sort of) I should say the decision has been made. Dh went to the outdoors show this weekend and there was someone there from Sanibel with a booth. He's so excited now!

He's thinking about going in July. Any thoughts on that? 4th of July.... what would that be like?

[Ericanaysha]

Well they shoot fireworks near the causeway so that will be cool! It'll be hot. LOL But that's why you are at the beach...lol.

Most people go towards Fort Myers beach so Sanibel shouldn't be too crowded. I mean there will be people but not craziness.

[EllieFunt]

We're back! Had an awesome time! Highly recommend going. :dance2:

[Ericanaysha]

I was wondering how your trip went. We just missed each other and we left Fl on the 7th.