Can anybody tell me if it will be so hot we won't want to spend anytime outside at Ft. Meyers the first week of July? We will be staying right on the gulf. Also, I think I heard the beach has lots of stingrays? Is that true?
I am use to 90 degree weather where we live but don't know how much tolerance I would have for significantly hotter weather.
thanks

There are stingrays in the Gulf but they don't want to meet you any more than you want to meet them. Just shuffle your feet in the water and they'll leave.

It will be extremely hot in July but you should get a little breeze off the water. It will probably be in the 90's.

You will also encounter a lightning storm or two. It is quite a beautiful thing to see, better than fireworks. They are passing showers, not rainy days and I have only seen them late afternoon and evening.

On our last visit to Naples this past April, we experienced somethong new. There was a huge front coming in from the gulf with over 13,000 lightning strikes per hour. DH and I were on the 13th floor of the laPlaya hotel in a gulf front room. We decided to sit on the balcony and watch the storm. Not only was it an unbelieveable sight, but we actually smelled the lightning. We saw all different colors of lightning and huge W shaped bolts that split and went back up into the sky. We went inside when the storm got too close for comfort. Once inside, we watched the storm and saw a 6 foot wide bolt strike right outside our balcony.

Well if you are into weather like I am, it is amazing and you will enjoy it. That was an extreme storm, but DH and I when in the "lightning capital" part of fla love sitting on the balcony and taking in the lightning show.

Since you are going to be on the gulf you will have a cooling breeze so you will be very comfortable.

sportsmom12: Definitely take Postal's advice about shuffeling your feet to scare away the stingrays. I stepped on one a few weeks ago in the St. Pete's area, and boy am I glad I didn't get stung!!!

Annabel...the most stupendous, amazing lightening storm I ever did see was from the balcony of the condo I stayed in on Sanibel. The lightening kept hitting (I think) a radio tower. Incredible!

I am so glad you guys like the Florida storms - they are really magnificent aren't they?

sportsmom12, it's not the temperature that will get to you, but the intensity of the sun - you should definitely invest in a beach umbrella - it extends your beach time by hours. Otherwise you will fry no matter how often and how much sunscreen you use. And try to time it so you will be beaching it in the late afternoon, there are usually a few breezes worth catching, and yes you will be amazed how much you tan, even under that umbrella! If you're worried about stingrays, you can buy a cheap pair of those watershoes at any tourist shop, and do the shuffle!

P.S. If one of those storms comes up, LEAVE THE BEACH. I cannot stress this enough - most lightning strikes occur miles from the storm center. I remember sitting on the beach with my children one day, all of a sudden everyone's hair literally stood on end (even one kid with very long hair!). We all screamed in unison and RAN off the beach - no way should you take a chance. I don't mean to scare you, but the danger from lightning is alot more serious than the stingrays!

Topping for sportsmom.

Thank you all for your replies. I just figured out how to get my messages. I wouldn't stay outside in a lightning storm, but I will have to tell my older children whom think it might be "cool" Maybe I will invest in those shoes- I don't like getting near things that might sting( chicken)

I've been there when there is a large group of stingrays (what DO you call a stingray herd?) and found they came close to shore in the morning and afternoons. It's really cool to see just a large group of stingrays hanging around. I've shuffled through them in less than knee deep water (as were many others) and don't know of anyone getting stung. If I was in the swimming mood, I would probably head to the pool for a while. Folks pay to swim with the stingrays in the Cayman Islands. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

They really are amazing. Makes me think they're from central casting from a Steven Speilburg movie or George Lucas movie...they just look like they flew in from another galaxy

A school of stingray.

Hot, humid, and sticky.

Please get inside during a thunderstorm. As joan pointed out, lightning can strike miles from the center of the storm.