Which hotels are nearest to the shelling areas in Sanibel? It would be nice to walk out of the hotel onto the beach and start searching for some nice shells without having to walk for miles.

There are so many. Try sanibel-captiva.org.

Also visit www.southseas.com. There are seashells along the entire stretch of beach in Sanibel/Captiva fromwhat I remember. The entire stretch of beach is lined with hotels/condos, although none highrise (thank goodness.) There's about a 5 min. walk to actually get onto the sand from most of them. They all sit back aways off the beach, seperated by grasses and lawn (if you will.) I'm sure you'll find something at either of those websites.

Have a great time!

Don't know if you're interested but I stayed at a Condo-- The Sanddollar-- right on the beach, beautiful, close enough to some restaurants to walk, others to bike(nice bike trails on Sanibel)but it had a kitchen and was very comfortable. Think I paid around $700 for the week. Check with a local realtor about rentals.

Most places are on the gulfside and beachfront, but regardless where you stay, go to Bowman Beach (off Sanibel-Captiva Rd.)for the best beach and shelling. We like to stay somewhere along West Gulf Drive.