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Sanibel Travel Guide: Reviews, photos, & videos
Wild grass and sturdy palm trees fringe white beaches covered with colorful seashells. In hard-to-reach mangroves lurk alligators, turtles and waterfowl. The 12-mile long Sanibel Island is accessible from Fort Myers by a causeway, and connected to Sanibel by a bridge is the smaller Captiva Island. Both Sanibel and Captiva are very popular retirement communities. On both islands, more than half of the land has been marked a wildlife refuge, and as a result real estate prices on the land left for development are steep.
Explore the wildlife on walking and biking paths through the refuge, and kayak down inlets with varying levels of salt and fresh water, depending on the tide. At dawn, waves wash up large conch shells and other colorful sea shells on the shores. Find your treasures and then compare your finds to the collections at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum. Visit Sanibel’s most famous landmark, the Sanibel Lighthouse, at the eastern end of the island, next to the fishing pier.
