Here on the islands, we eat, dress, play and dream differently. We go with what's natural. We're spoiled, of course. We survive without streetlights, without smog. We thrive on salt breezes and green scenes. Many of us came to take some time off from the reality-impaired world of work and pressures. We would up staying, captured by the magic, adrift from mainstream, mainland life—no strings attached.
You are able to fish in January (not through a hole in the ice) and play tennis any week of the year (not under a dome). Golfing, kayaking, shelling, tennis, birding and other fresh-air pursuits 365 days a year. Miles of beach, bicycle paths, nature trails, canoe and boating routes to neighboring hop-scotch islands.
"The Islands of the Arts" Sanibel is rich with eclectic galleries and professional theatrical productions.
BEACH BOUND
Causeway Beaches. Terrific for swimming, fishing and windsurfing. Also handy for picnicking: Pull your vehicle right to water's edge, free of charge.
Lighthouse Beach. Site of a functioning historic lighthouse, it lies at the eastern tip of Sanibel, wrapping around Gulf-to-bay. A T-dock on the bay accommodates fisher folk; a boardwalk nature trail offers glimpses of beach and wetland habitat.
Gulfside City Park. Picnic tables, shady trees and a loop interpretive nature trail.
Tarpon Bay Beach. Popular and easily accessible. Parking for recreational vehicles and food concession in season.
Bowman's Beach. County-owned and known for its wildlife and seclusion. Many consider it the island's best shelling spot.
Resident Beaches. Signs along the Gulf Drives on Sanibel mark small parking lots and beach accesses reserved for residents.
Turner Beach. Straddles the pass between Sanibel and Captiva Islands; popular with shellers and fisherman.
Captiva Beach. Also popular place for sunset-gazing. No facilities, but watersports rentals are located near the Mucky Duck restaurant.
NIGHTLIFE
A first-run movie theatre and various resorts and restaurant lounges provide diversions in the after hours. Whether you love to dance or relax to reggae, jazz or top-40 favorites, you'll find it live somewhere on the islands. Neighborhood style pubs with big-screen TV, karaoke and darts. Best nightlife occurs on the beach under a rising moon. Breakers beat a boom-swish rhythm.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum. The most comprehensive museum in the nation exclusively devoted to shells.
Barrier Island Group for the Arts "BIG Arts". BIG Arts hosts art workshops and concerts each year, many of them geared for children.
Captiva Memorial Library. It holds an impressive collection of Florida books and more than 25,000 volumes of all genres, arranged in a well-lit, renovated setting dating back to 1928. As part of the Lee County Public Library System, it offers lending access to and free delivery of a wide variety of books and tapes. Public Internet access is also available. Membership is open to residents and visitors.
Chapel by the Sea. This charming old building invites a pause for solitude and for dwelling on the past. Islanders built it as a one-room schoolhouse that could be used as a church come Sunday. Today it serves as a popular wedding spot and interdenominational church.
Trimmed in lattice fencing, the seaside cemetery next to door guards the graves of many early settlers who came to Captiva late in the 19th century to homestead and farm.
C.R.O.W. Care and Rehabilitation of Wildlife. C.R.O.W. is a non-profit veterinary hospital dedicated to the rehabilitation and return of the wild of ill, injured and orphaned native wildlife. C.R.O.W. also participates in wildlife studies and sponsors educational programs.
Tours are offered 11 a.m. Monday-Friday, with an additional 1 p.m. Sunday tour November-April.
Temperatures
Average annual
Air Temperature is 74.4
Average high 84.1
Average low 64.7
Annual water temperatures 77.5
Average winter 70.8
Average spring/summer 84.1
Average summer high 87.0
|
J N "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. This world-famous 5,000 acre sanctuary offers an observation tower, hiking, biking and canoe trails. More than 200 species of birds nest here, many of them threatened or endangered, and the refuge is a favorite destination for birders from all across the globe. Alligators, turtles, river otters, armadillos and other creatures may be spotted as well. The Visitors/Education Center with exhibits, guides and facilities, is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. November - April; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. May - October.
Old Schoolhouse Theatre. Old Schoolhouse Theatre specializes in musical extravaganzas.
Old Town Walking and Bicycle Tour "Sanibel Historical Society". Pick up a self-tour brochure at the Historical Village or Chamber of Commerce; it will take you to yesteryear spots throughout Sanibel Island's east end, between the lighthouse and the old Bailey General Store.
Pirate Playhouse. This fully professional theatre features productions by top playwrites.
Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. A not-for-profit organization dedicated to conserving the islands' natural resources. Several miles of walking trails, exhibits, marine touch tank, native plant nursery, butterfly house, nature store, interpreted beach and nature hikes, and island boat tour. Co-sponsors, with Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce, of an environmental orientation for new residents.
Sanibel Community House. Islanders built Sanibel Community House more than 70 years ago as a friendly haven for socializing, voting and sharing potluck dinners. Today, the Old Florida-style building hosts Sanibel Island's annual Shell Show and Fair, as well as a range of community activities, from family Christmas parties and square dances to crafts fairs and bird identification classes.
Sanibel Historical Village and Museum. Off Periwinkle Way, Dunlop Road holds the present and past of Sanibel Island along its back-road curves. This village of history returns you to the days when ferry crossers stopped at Miss Carlotta's for tea, then made their way to Bailey's General Store for supplies. The village began with one building, the pioneer Rutland House. It was turned into a museum demonstrating old-island lifestyles and containing artifacts dating back to the Calusa Indians. Eventually, four buildings and a pioneer garden grew up around the museum.
Sanibel Lighthouse. The lighthouse was first lit in August 1884. Since 1950, the U.S. Coast Guard property at the lighthouse has been a wildlife refuge.
Sanibel Music Festival. Founded in the 1980s, Sanibel Music Festival presents classical music during the month of March. Performances include chamber music, recitals, Broadway and opera.
Sanibel Public Library. Author talks, old-fashioned story-telling, children's programs and puppet guild shows. The library houses more than 35,000 books and 3,000 video and audio tapes. Computer card catalog and Internet access are available. The library's stunning lobby features an identification and fossil shell collection, and a glass dolphin sculpture by local artist Lucas Century. Membership is open to residents and visitors.
