Sanibel Island info wanted

Anyone have any experience with Sanibel Island, good or bad?
I've got a friend that lives in Cape Coral, and I'm planning to visit him while
we're down later this month. Thinking about heading to Sanibel as we've
never been there, and would like to hear about places to go, places to STAY
AWAY FROM, and good places to stay a nite or two. Any info on your
experiences would be really appreciated and helpful.
Andy :wavey:

Andy, this is not going to be of much help but......

Years ago I was there and although I do not remember the name of where I stayed I do very much remember that the beaches were not loaded with folks and the walks and beaches were equal to the best I have ever walked on.

So tranquil and worthy of memory years later.

Ken:dancer01:

Nice! That fits in with what I've been hearing, and is one of the
reasons that we would like to head down there and have
a look around. We'll be in Cape Coral anyway, so it's not too far from there...
Andy

I was there in 2005 just after hurricane Charley hit with 143 mph winds. Not much to see but destruction. Average home price back then was $700,000.00 on the island. The homes with shingle roofs were hit pretty hard, complete roofs missing. The metal roofs stayed on but were bent at the eves. The old Spanish tile roofs fared well other than losing the ridge caps on some. Worst destruction I ever saw from a storm. Chain link fences were literally blown over. I saw a two story brick office building with a wall missing, yet all the office furniture was still there. All the Australian Pines on the island were blown down. The first vehicle on the island after the storm was a front end loader that had to push all the trees out of the road so emergency vehicles could enter. We stayed at a round Holiday Inn about 14 miles from Sanibel. All the A/C window units on one side of the hotel were blown into the rooms and they were flooded from the rain blowing in.

The beaches were beautiful even then. I don't think there is much beach traffic and I don't recall if they had any "public" beach access and Captiva(on the north end) is even more exclusive. Definitely the "high rent" district.

Expensive but nice.

Really crowded near holiday weekends.

You should see it at least once. Very pristine. Because the island has a more west to east orientation compared to other barrier islands, it traps more shells. Great place to go shelling and chill out.
Hope this helps.
Definitely more expensive than other barrier islands. Captiva is pricey too.

Connie and I were going to rent a beach house on Sanibel a while back. Matter of fact, it was right at the time of the BP oil well explosion that we made the arrangements. Talk about timing....

Unfortunately by the time we had to be fully committed to taking the house or lose our deposit, the oil leak was not resolved, and we decided it was too chancy of having a oil coated beach to risk spending that much money. So we bailed on the idea. We were planning on spending the entire month of September there, when prices are more reasonable than during the "snow bird" season. The locals really sock it too the tourists during that time.

Maybe sometime we'll think about trying this again.....

The first thing I would do is contact the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce. Their office is on Sanibel just after you cross the causeway on the right hand side. Call them, they are very helpful and can probably give you good advise on accommodations. Their link is below.

http://sanibel-captiva.org/

Sanibel is wide enough that when you drive through it you cannot see either the gulf or Pine Island Sound (bay). The Lighthouse beach is located on the south end of the island and has restroom facilities and parking is paid by the hour. Since it faces towards the south it catches a lot of shells, if you are into that sort of thing. Watch out for you back if you do this, you might pay later. Ask me how I know! There are a lot of restaurants on Periwinkle Way (main drag), one of my favorites is the Lazy Flamingo. More of a bar restaurant, but has a very good grouper sandwich.

Captiva is much smaller than Sanibel. You have to drive through Sanibel to the north to get to Captiva. Restaurants that I like are the Mucky Duck. Beachfront restaurant with limited parking. Does not take reservations. Food is good but it is small. The Bubble Room is a very eclectic restaurant with great food and fabulous desserts. A little upscale and does not take reservations and limited parking. Key Lime Bistro, good food, upscale and does not take reservations and no parking. The Green Flash, bayfront dining, decent food with decent parking. Remember, most of these restaurants do not take reservations and this is the height of the season, so they are busy. Be prepared to wait to be seated unless you go early.

I hope this helps!

Rich