Sanibel Island or Siesta Key
 

Looking for a nice beach, good food, not big on shopping or nightlife. Love to relax on the beach and read. Maybe meander around the area...do some bike riding...any suggestions or insight is appreciated

My husband and I were in Florida last month and visited both places. I thought Sanibel was perhaps the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. There were more people than I expected for the second week of January, even families with kids. Still, it had a laid back atmosphere, fairly quiet. The biggest problem we encountered was the bugs, noseeums. I was totally unprepared for all the bites we endured. In fact, a month later, they are still visible on my legs. Too late to do us any good, we learned that bug spray is very, very necessary!

We spent our last night in Sarasota and watched the sunset on Siesta Key. It was also very beautiful but, being so close to a large city, much more crowded. I’m sure the bugs were there, too, but by that time we learned to be totally covered while sitting on the beach.

If you are looking for a relaxed vibe, I think Sanibel is the better choice, although you can’t go wrong with either. Both are very beautiful, just remember the bug spray!

We love Sanibel, laid back, quiet, great food, amazing shelling. The bugs are bad, for that reason we don’t go out to the beach at night, it’s pitch dark anyway. They can also be bad at dawn.

I think for what you want Siesta Key is the better option. It gets very busy but I think it's a nicer beach for just hanging out than Sanibel. If you're into kayaking that is a great place to do it. The mangroves are so cool. We used Siesta Bike and Kayak.