Sanibel & Captiva Islands

Still on our quest to find the best spot for beach combing, we headed to Sanibel and Captiva Islands to spend a day searching for shells & shark's teeth. The beaches of Sanibel & Captiva Islands are known to be the best shelling in Florida. We were going to find out. If we were lucky, we might find one of the prized Junonia shells.

Sanibel is almost a 2 hour drive south of our resort on Manasota Key. We set out early. It was a beautiful day. The view from the bridge to Sanibel was spectacular. 

A pelican escorted us across the bridge. He rode the air currents keeping pace with us at 35 mph the entire length of the bridge!

Our first stop was the Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce for a map & brochures. (FYI they have nice, clean restrooms too.) Chambers work to promote tourism & local business. This Chamber manages to inject a sense of humor into the job as well. Check out their sign next to the main entrance. It was funny in Florida but now that we're back in Michigan, not so much. LOL

Our 2nd stop was The Sanibel Cafe for a quick bite to eat. I had the French Toast Trio. A slice of coconut, almond & crunchy French toast. Yum! Jason ordered a stack of fruit-filled pancakes & we shared a fresh fruit plate. Excellent breakfast! We really liked the shadow box table tops too. They were filled with examples of all the shells we hoped to find on the beach.

​After breakfast we decided to head to Captiva Island first, then work our way back to Sanibel. We didn't see much of the Gulf but the houses were beautiful.

The roads are narrow. Traffic police keep intersections flowing but the traffic was heavy. I found driving on these islands stressful. Cars, pedestrians and cyclists, nobody seemed to pay any attention to moving traffic. It was a short drive but I ready to park! Unfortunately, we had to wait in a line of cars to enter Captiva Beach. Cue the reminder from Jason...

"I told you we should have fixed the air conditioning before we left."

We found a spot in the (almost full) parking lot, grabbed our gear & headed for the beach. That's when we noticed the sign. The parking fee on Captiva was $20 for the first 2 hours! That's a little rich for our blood considering all of the beaches we had visited so far were free or required a $3 daily parking fee.

Captiva Island

Postcard Image

We hustled out to the beach for a few quick pictures then made our way back to the car. It was a beautiful beach with white sand as soft as powdered sugar but... $20? We decided to spend our money on postcards & souvenirs instead. I had 2 photos to prove I was there. LOL

Back to Sanibel!

We caught a few glimpses of the Gulf on our way back to Sanibel. There are several public beaches on Sanibel Island. To be honest, I'm not sure which beach we visited. Wherever we were, the parking was much more reasonable. Still an hourly fee with a $5 minimum. We paid $7.50, grabbed our gear & set out to find seashells.

Sanibel & Captiva are both known for great shelling. Beach combers can find Conch, Junonia, Coquina, Murex, Lightning Whelk, Tulip, Olive, Conckle & Scallop shells. Sand Dollar & Starfish too. You're allowed to collect them all providing the critters that inhabit them are no longer alive. The beach we visited on Sanibel was also beautiful but... we didn't leave with a single shell! I suspect the lack of seashells was temporary & due to the recent beach reclamation projects.

First Venice, now Captiva and Sanibel Islands. Three strikes & we're out! We spent enough time in the car looking for the best spots for beach combing. Turns out, it was in our front yard the entire time! All of the beaches on Manasota Key are full of beautiful seashells, fossilized corals and our latest obsession - shark's teeth!

We headed back to our condo, a little disappointed we struck out beach combing but happy to have visited Sanibel and Captiva Islands. I'm sure we would enjoy staying on either so long as our resort was on the beach and we could walk to shopping & dining. I can't imagine trying to navigate the traffic during the peak season.

Postcard Image

On the way back through Fort Myers we passed the Edison Ford Winter Estate. We didn't realize until much later that the Edison Ford Winter Estate contains historic homes, a museum, laboratory & gardens open to visitors. We would be interested in those tours. Next visit.

So, I've been gushing over the beaches on Manasota Key but haven't shared many of our photos yet. (Saving the best for last!) In our final few posts, we'll share the best part of our exciting Florida adventure. Stump Pass Beach State Park on Manasota Key in Englewood, Florida. Our favorite spot to wander, wade, beach comb & bird watch. Stay tuned!