love_travel11

Hi!
My husband and I are thinking of spending the Thanksgiving vacation this year at Florida. (We are from NYC). I read a lot of good things about Sanibel and Captiva in this forum. I wanted to know if there will be enough activities/places to see etc. in these islands for 4 days? (or should we do this when we have lesser time?) Also, out of the two, which one is better? Any suggestions for accomodations/must sees??

Thanks a lot!!

travel_addict

There's plenty to do for 4 days. (It's been awhile since I've been there so I don't want to name any specific places - they may or may not be open now.) There's lots of beautiful beaches, shops, a nature preserve place, and more.

Sanibel is a little busier than Captiva, but they're both nice. We stayed at Tween Waters in Captiva and it was pretty nice - had water on both sides of the road and a nice pool.

zztop

I've been to Sanibel 2 times and 4 days is not too much. It is just LOVELY. You can drive over to Captiva for an afternoon. Be sure to eat breakfast at The Lighthouse Cafe one morning. It's delicous.

garyt22

Sanibel and Captiva are two long and narrow islands end to end connected by a bridge... it only matters where you stay if you plan on leaving the islands for a trip to Naples or Ft. Myers... the speed limit is 35 and can be slow if the main road is busy... if you dont plan on several trips off the islands, stay at your choice...

PS... good food and fun at Key Lime Bistro...sit outside and enjoy live music and Great Key Lime Pie!!

imme

Hi, Just got back from Captiva yesterday..(whew beat Ernesto!). We stayed at South Seas, very dissappointed!!! We expected there would be hurricane damage and construction so didn't mind that..however, we paid $350+/night for two br, "Beach Villa"..yes, we were on the beach, but the resorts beach with beach chairs, umbrellas, drinks, etc was a mile up the beach. We had no beach chairs in the condo...so we sat in the sand and let the sand fleas attack us. Also, the market on the property consistantly charged twice as much for all items, compared to the island store two blocks away in downtown Captiva. Finally, the thing that got me the most, anytime my kids and I wanted to use the tennis courts (many courts throughout the property..all empty)..it was $15/day per person. They of course don't mention that on their web site...so anytime we wanted to go have a hit...it was $60.
We did have some fun...Charted a bay fishing excursion out of the resort with Capt. Tom...What a blast...caught atleast thirty fish...kept some to eat (yummy trout and mackarel) and took them to the Lazy Flamingo at Capt Tom's recommendation. They cooked them up with fries and cole slaw..YUM!
Also took a shelling cruise to Cayo Costa State Park. That was fun.
Ate at Mucky Duck, Bubble Room, RC Otters, and Key Lime Bistro. Mucky had best view/sunset...great idea for drinks/appetizers. Bubble Room was ecclectic and fun. RC's was fair. Key Lime had the best food.
We won't go back to Sanibel/Captiva, but I wouldn't disuade anyone else from going....just DON'T STAY AT THE SOUTH SEAS (unless you like overrated resorts that nickel and dime you).