Can anyone comment on their experience at the Sundial Resort on Sanibel Island. I'm considering a vacation there in late October or possibly early November. How's the weather then?

Hi -- I've stayed there twice, and it is very nice. Depends, of course, on which unit you get, since many are rentals from absentee owners, but both times, our unit was lovely. I was there in summer once, and then again over Thanksgiving. In November, it was fine for sitting in the sun or walking the long, wide lovely beach, but water a little chilly for swimming. There are at least two swimming pools (can't recall exactly), one for each end, they're not large, but nice enough. Know that there's not a lot to do on Sanibel; sidewalks retract at 8:00 p.m., but if you're looking for a quiet place right on the beach, Sanibel would fit the bill... great for kicking back. feel free to write to me with specific questions--not sure what you want to know.

Nice place, good location. Weather will be fine this time of year. The condo I was in was modern, well kept, but small. Enjoy!

I stayed at the Sundial Resort a couple of times a few years back (a friend's father owned a unit). It is really nice. Quiet and relaxing. Make sure you visit the Bubble Room one night for dinner. It may actually be on Captiva Island, but it is not much of a drive.

If this is the place I'm thinking of it was suitable, but not great. It was a little small (the units) and dated. Good location though. Weather at this time will surprise you, it will be cool, don't plan on lounging by the pool. Sorry.

I agree with bosco, don't plan on much pool time at this time of year.

Have to disagree with the above posters on temps in late Oct or early Nov. Highs will likely be in the 80's and almost certainly 70's, pool weather even for this Floridian!

This resort is probably but despite all the nice things people say about Sanibel, I found it to have a lot of bugs. My family members got chewed in the late afternoon and evening. Probably by sand flies. It was gross. Forget all the pleasant sounding tales of strolling peacefully on the beach and shelling, it ain't like that. I walked past your resort by the way, and from the beach it looks pretty typical of the resorts in this area. Good luck.

You were being chewed by noseeums. If you put on some insect repellant before the sun starts to go down, we usually did it about 4, you CAN have the blissful strolls.

As far as Sundial goes, we stayed there and it was really nice. It was quiet around the pool too. When we were there you weren't allowed to have a radio by the pool. I loved that!

One more thing, we went to Disney last Oct/Nov. and darn near froze it off. It was too cold during the day to swim and even colder at night, so you never can be 100% sure of FL weather.

There is a great website for checking historical weather data for every day of the year from 1994 to present.
http://www.wunderground.com/US/FL

Choose the city you are interested in, then look for a link called "historical data" or something to that effect. Plug in any date and you'll get high and low temps (and for 1999, the temp every single hour of the day), amount of precipitation for the day, and a slew of other weather tidbits.

It's great for those trying to decide between two different time slots on the basis of weather.

Just got back from Sanibel last week (first time there). While Grandma's legs got bit up and dad got a heat rash, the other 5 people in our party didn't get a noseeum bite at all. I did, however, step in a mound of fire ants and those bites STILL itch. We used Deep Woods Off and it did the trick. Leave the Skin So Soft at home. Didn't do anything for us. Someone on a Florida board had recommended trying Vitamin B for a while before leaving. I tried it for a week, didn't get bit at all (and I only used the Off once).

I really liked Sanibel. I'd go back in a heartbeat. My friend didn't like it. She was expecting a Cancun-like beach (it's not). Great atmosphere, great food, great people, great water, great beaches. It was ... well ... great.

We were close to the Sundial. Very large resort (not my kind of thing). Seemed very lively. We opted for a private home with a screened-in pool for less than Sundial was charging. We were, however, a block away from the beach.

I've heard the weather in November is perfect. Maybe not lying-by-the-pool weather, but beautiful.

October should be ok,but don't get near the Sundial in the spring..it will beat full capacity..pool chairs reserved by
family members at 7am,crowds walking on
the beach at 6am...too many people. Even
in October...you are talking about a large property..280+ rooms, 5 pools, etc. The location is good..rooms adequate, pleasant, not luxurious. Depending upon what you are looking for, Sundial could be good...it is a full service family resort. only good if your children like the camp atmoshere. I personally would stay somewhere else. I know of a great sea
captain that will take you fishing or to shell on remote islands closeby.
Email me if you want his name..Mario,
the formere concierge recommmended him and he was great.

There seems to be widely diverging comments about this resort and this time of year. My experience was good here. The resort was well kept and well run and the location was good. I did not experience the crowds described earlier. The one thing I never did figure out was that some of the condo units seemed to be privately owned and some seemed to be owned by the resort. Can anyone clarify what's going on here. I'd like to go back to this resort but don't know if there's a difference in condo's with different owners. Comments Please.

I stayed at the Sundial twice a few years ago, once in July and once in November, and never experienced the crowds, noise, bugs, kids, etc., described above. I wouldn't describe this as a "resort" in the traditional sense. And, you really cannot blame any resort for noseeums. that's just life on the beach.

Weather was fine both times for playing outside, but ocean a little chilly in November. Fine for swimming if you don't mind cool water, but it certainly was warm enough to lie in the sun, and swim in the pool.

Both units we stayed in were privately-owned condos, both lovely, spacious, with nice screened in porches, lots of room, laundry facilities, there was a decent on-site restaurant, nice staff, etc. We had absolutely no complaints about this property.

I have lived in Ft. Myers since 1964 & have owned time shares on Sanibel for over 15 yrs. Oct. & April are the best months here because of the weather & lack of tourist. Weather can be fickle but generally very good til late Dec. Yes we have no-seums at times. I was at Tortuga Beach Club last week (week 37) & even with the storms it was great as usual. Sundial is time share & condo rentals. The units are nice but in my opinion more like motel units. I wouldn't buy a unit there. As suggested the Bubble Room on Captiva Island is quite an experience, also Matzaluna & McT's restaurants are worth checking out. Prices have inched up over the years but Quality & quantity are there. You may want to eat breakfast & lunch in your unit & pig out at night. McT's all you can eat crab legs & steamed shrimp ($25???)but save room to split a piece of mud pie. Enjoy!