La Belle Sanibel, Sanibel Island, Florida – March 1, 2020

Sanibel's beautiful beach!

Off the coast of Fort Myers, Sanibel Island is a (capital D) Destination.  Best known as a shelling paradise, the island is manicured, tasteful and lovely.  It has a beautiful white sand beach, gorgeous green water, and impressive and expensive homes.  It is a very civilized place.

The beach at the lighthouse

Sanibel handles hordes of tourists well without seeming touristy and tacky.  We visited the island on a lovely Sunday and joined the stream of families coming from the mainland to enjoy the beach.  The Chamber of Commerce building located at the end of the bridge was well staffed.  It had a sign outside telling you to knock the snow off your boots before coming inside (a bit of South Florida humor).  There were traffic cops at every major intersection easing the swell of traffic along the island main internal arteries. 

The lighthouse

 You can use any of 6 public parking lots (with rest rooms) along the beach to access the sand and water.  Once you are on the beach, all 15 miles of it are open to the public.  You can walk as far along the water as you want. Your timed parking receipt at any beach lot works in the other lots, so you can move to a different location and park there as well.

Lighthouse cottages

 We started our visit at Sanibel lighthouse, an unimposing steel structure.  As our friend Bill, who is a lighthouse buff, says – all lighthouses are beautiful, even the ugly ones. 

The lagoon we crossed on our way to the beach

From there we took our parking receipt and drove to the other end of the island to the Bowman’s Beach access point to avoid the huge crowds.  While we did have to share the beach with other people, it wasn’t bad.  From that parking lot, you cross a bridge over a lovely lagoon, and then have your choice of boardwalks across the dunes to the beach.  Did I already mention that they have certainly thought through how to handle the many visitors that flock to this beautiful island?

Looking over the dunes to the beach

We took a brief drive north to neighboring Captiva Island and had lunch at the Green Flash restaurant overlooking the bay.

A lagoon at the wildlife refuge

After the beach, our next favorite thing on Sanibel was the terrific J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  Covering 1/3 of the island, the refuge protects the flora and fauna that call the island home.  It has a 4 mile paved road that you can drive along, pulling over to watch something interesting.  We saw our old friends, huge white pelicans in several places, snoozing on sandbars in the lagoons at low tide.  As a special treat we got to watch 3 roseate spoonbills frolicking and preening in the water.  They shared a lagoon with a bunch of white pelicans, drawing all the tourist attention and cameras. 

Some White Pelicans

The drive through the wildlife refuge costs only $5, or is free if you have a lifetime senior parks pass (best $10 we ever spent – it would still be a good investment at the current $80 price).

Some preening Roseate Spoonbills - expand for the best view