My husband and I moving to Cape Coral soon and wanted to get the "scoop" on restaurants, shopping malls, interesting things to do. We're moving from So. Cal and are hoping that it will offer enough to keep us busy - we like to go to dinner and movies, etc. Any suggestions?

I've been sitting here trying to think of a way to answer a question about Cape Coral without sounding incredibly negative, but I can't seem to come up with a way to do that. Have you been there? I lived there for about four months once, but it seemed more like 10 years. I can't imagine a worse thing that moving from Southern California to Cape Coral, Florida, but I assume you have some good reason to do so.
Perhaps the best restaurant in Cape Coral is Iguana Mia, which is about a 3 on a 10 point rating system, especially if you've ever been to a decent Mexican restuarant in Southern Cal. which I assume you have. Otherwise it's pretty much McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken type places, as well as some smaller family type restuarants. Just don't expect anything upscale or trendy at all. There are some movie theatres and more chain restaurants across the bridges in Ft. Myers -- particularly to the south, and you can make excursions to Sanibel or to Naples if you want a little more. Yes there is a shopping mall in Ft. Myers -- just like the ones anywhere else in the country, but lacking anything like a Bloomingdales or Nordstroms.

My parents (active, in their 50s) moved to Cape Coral last year. There's not much right in Cape Coral as far as restaurants, and there's no movie theaters nearby. Though, with the population growing as fast as it is, sooner or later they'll have to build more things to keep people entertained! There are occasional art festivals right in town that are nice.

When my parents go out to dine or to hang out at a bar with friends, they go to Matlacha, an island right off of Cape Coral. The island is full of hippie artists and rednecks (my parents' description) but everyone gets along well and has a ton of fun.

For finer dining, they make the drive down to Naples.

There is a pretty good waterslide park in Cape Coral, if you're into that type of thing. A great place to take the kids to cool off.

The biggest activity in Cape Coral seems to be boating. People own boats that they drive up and down the canals and out to the gulf where they can fish and swim. We have found many small, pretty, semiprivate beaches where we have gotten off and spent the day.

As for shopping, there is a small outlet center right outside Shell Point...not sure if it's technically IN Cape Coral or not. There is a much bigger outlet mall by the Fort Myers airport.

Cape Coral is experiencing exponential growth and the SW Cape area is seeing million dollar homes spring up almost weekly. It offers deep water canals with very large lots compared to Naples. People are moving there from many areas of Florida. I have done two homes of people moving from Naples just this season.

Unfortunately the retail and restaurant development has not occured yet. The Cape has few restaurants and they are mostly bland and uninteresting.

We have a bland a boring mall in Fort Myers just like every other small city in America with all the same stores. We have a nice little outdoor entertainment mall, Bell Tower that has 6 restaurants, two are excellent (Bacchus and Bistro 41, two are fairly good, (D'Amico's and Taste of New York )the rest are just ok to ghastly. There is a 20 screen theatre there and a Saks Fifth Avenue and other specialty stores. Very pretty location with lots of fountains and plazas where people have coffee or ice cream and people watch.

Cape Coral has been a blue collar retirement town for many years and is transitioning monthly right now. Things will improve. It certainly is an economical place to live.

LMF who lives right across the river from "The Cape" in Fort Myers.

Burts Bar in Matlacha is not for the weak of heart of stomach. The town is quite funky and a real Florida throwback. There are fisherman on Pine Island that speak only Portuguese. Pine Island Seafood sells shrimp that came off the boat that morning. I make the drive there frequently for my shellfish.

The Shell Point mentioned in an above post is in South Fort Myers on the way to Sanibel. There is a very large outlet mall in Estero which is another rapidly growing community south of Fort Myers on the way to Naples.

Thank you for the info! We've heard that its rapidly growing - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the retail and entertainment areas will grow, too....