Are Ft. Myers beaches nicer than Sanibel beaches? We have been to Sanibel but not to Ft. Myers--is the water as calm as in Sanibel?

Ft. Myers is much more built up, and beaches congested. You won't get the Caribbean island ambiance of Sanibel. water is similar.

My husband and I have always loved Sanibel. Only problem recently has been red tide. Last March it was so bad we couldn't enjoy the water or even the beach for 4 of the 7 days we were there. That being said, we're not returning this year. I don't know if Ft Myers has the same issues.

Red Tide can affect either of them pretty much equally. Sanibel is more of a "natural" beach in that you are likely to encounter more seaweed (usually stirred up more after storms) and there are more shells on the beach. Some people find they really need to wear shoes or sandals when walking on the Sanibel beaches. Ft. Myers Beach tends to be softer -- more sandy. The waves (or rather, the usual lack of any waves) will be identical on both. Ft. Myers Beach is certainly way more "built up" with more buildings right up to the edges as opposed to scattered and sitting back from the beach.

So if you're talking about the actual sand quality, I suppose Ft. Myers Beach has the edge, but in every other way I can think of Sanibel is sooooo much nicer.

We were at Sanibel last Summer for a week during 4th of July. It was one of our favorite summer vacations. We did drive into Ft. Myers one day, and walked in town by some of the stores and I saw the beach there (it was a public beach next to a fishing pier).

That area of Ft. Myers was dirty (almost disgusting), the beach was filthy with every one's garbage, and even garbage floating in the water. There were so many peo. on the beach, a person would have a hard time finding a place to put their towel. Tattoo parlors were more prevalent than icecream. All of the stores were touristy and some of them were raunchy. Overall, it was night and day different than Sanibel. To me, Ft. Myers wasn't a family kind of place, and certainly didn't have any of the charm that Sanibel has. But to be fair, maybe I was in the wrong part of Ft. Myers, and maybe this is because I was looking at a public beach.