About Sanibel and Captiva
Sanibel, and its neighboring island Captiva, are barrier islands.
They have long, wide beaches bordering the Gulf of Mexico, while the shores facing the coast of Florida are more tree-lined.
Lying just off the coast of Fort Myers, Florida, the islands offer a tropical paradise in easy reach of the continental United States. A three-mile causeway is all that separates Sanibel from mainland Florida, however they may as well be a hundred miles apart.
Unlike the close resort town of Naples (which can be seen from the eastern end of the island), Sanibel is steeped in casual island easiness. While visitors and residents alike look forward to seeing old friends and new along her beaches and wildlife trails, people who come to Sanibel do not come to be seen or to impress.
People come to Sanibel to be themselves - to cast aside suits and modern formality, with its schedules and confining expectations. Everyday life and its ladder-climbing ordinariness are traded in for a bathing suit and flip-flops, tan lines and uncombed hair. Nobody wears makeup, and nobody cares. Sanibel is regarded as one of nature’s best-kept and most beautiful secrets. You do not impress Sanibel, Sanibel impresses you.Sanibel is 12 miles long and is 3 miles wide in places. Its size is frequently compared to the island of Manhattan. Captiva is just north of Sanibel and is an additional 5 miles in length but is much narrower, reaching only about half a mile in width. Captiva is reached by traveling the Sanibel Captiva Road, which crosses a short land bridge between the two islands. Together, the two islands offer more than 16 miles of pristine beaches.
Despite the healthy amount of tourism to both islands, the beaches possess an air of solitude and natural beauty seemingly untouched by mankind. It is easy to find an area of beach for your family to enjoy without having to share with crowds of travelers. Beaches are generally very wide, affording generous amounts of dry sand and water fun. Sanibel’s beaches gently slope into the surrounding waters and are soft white sand and seashells (Sanibel is famous for shelling.) Its calm waters and slowly breaking waves rarely allow for an undertow, making Sanibel an ideal destination for families.
There are no drop-offs in the water, and an adult can swim out hundreds of feet before the water is deep enough to cover them. Sanibel’s waters and shorelines are kept pristine in part because portions of it are a wildlife reserve, but also because visitors are extremely conscious of protecting the island from the damaging affects of tourism commonly seen on United States beaches.
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