I would call it a weekend away, but I tend to take my mini-breaks mid-week, to avoid crowds. This time I tagged along with Baby Sis, three of her kids, our friend Sharon, from way-back, when we were all girl scouts together, and Sharon’s family. When I arrived, they were settled and had located the best shelling location and had a schedule and literally hundreds of shells.
The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau has a very comprehensive website and Lonely Planet Guide with everything to do in Fort Myers and Sanibel. This post is more anecdotal: what we did, how it went, and what might be better next time.
getting there
Driving across the 2.8-mile Sanibel Causeway Bridge is an attraction in itself. It is actually 3 bridges, connected by two small islands. You can see wide water for miles, and there are areas on each of the islands to pull off and enjoy the views. You can bike across the bridges, but I don’t like biking that close to cars; there’s no barrier between bikes and cars other than a white line.
must do activities
- shelling
- kayaking with the manatees
- birding at “ding” darling
- sanibel island lighthouse
- ride a bike!
- PLUS: where we ate and where we stayed
shelling
Apparently people come from all over the world to go shelling in Sanibel. Who knew? It has something to do with the shoreline running east-west, which traps the shells. There is even a local “shell-ebrity” with her own “shell-dazzeled” VW bug: Pam Rambo. I did not meet her, but found her website, which you might enjoy checking out, for everything you ever wanted to know about shelling. Here are some useful items for your shelling:
mesh bags
Make sure everyone has a different colored bag!
id card
beach wagon
The rental house provided two wagons, and they fit in the back of the SUV and were great for hauling everything to the beach! I want one for Jupiter!
shovel & scoop
water shoes
shade tent
We did NOT have this, but it would have been great! I mean, after you drug it to the beach and set it up… THEN it would be great. I watched the family next to us set up for the day with something similar to this, and it went quickly (10 min with two people). Shade is always nice!
NOTE: These items contain affiliate links to Amazon for your convenience, if you were to buy an item, I might could receive a commission, but there is no cost to you.
when to go…
The best time to go shelling is just before low tide, as the tide is going out, and wade out under the gulf side of the Blind Pass Bridge with scoops and nets. (There’s an app for that… see my list of favorite apps) We also went to Bowman’s Beach, which was a bust for shelling, but several manatees were swimming just off shore, so that was cool. The water was too murky to get much of a look, even when they were three feet from you.
I understand the beach near the lighthouse is also good for shelling, but cannot confirm.
shell museum
We stopped by the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. I was surprised at the ticket prices for a small museum in Sanibel – $23.95 for an adult! I was also surprised that there were tanks of live fish, and that half the fish were from the Pacific Ocean. The tanks were some of the cleanest we have ever seen, and the fish were awesome. They have an octopus and two huge touch tanks.
The staff was engaged in teaching us about their ‘cute’ little sea critters, and shared fun-facts. The admission includes a bag of shells which you can assemble into a shell animal with the glue guns they have set up on the second floor. They had a movie about mollusks, and the rest of the second floor is filled with shell displays – everything you can think of. At the end of the visit, the admission charge didn’t bother me at all, it was definitely worth it.
sailors’ valentines
Legend has it that women would make mosaics from shells while waiting for their men to come back from the sea; this story has been revised to say that the sailors bought the mosaics from natives in the islands and brought them back to the women as gifts. Regardless of the origin, it makes a nice souvenir, and Baby Sis bought kits for the kids to make their own from the shells they found on the trip.
My mother-in-law, Mary Page is a very gifted artist who started making sailors’ valentines when she and her husband would spend the winters in the Exumas. Mr. Page made the wooden inlaid cases, and she made the mosaics. I told the kids about her and the book that features her art, and as it turns out, the book was for sale in the gift shop of the shell museum, so we peeked at her chapter (but didn’t buy the book ~ shh, since I already have one). Below is a picture of the valentine we have hanging in our house, which is also featured in the book.
kayaking with the manatees
Baby Sis and Sharon woke up early the day before I got there and went kayaking and saw a bunch of manatees, so, of course, we wanted to do that again. Six of us got up early and went to Castaways Marina and rented the kayaks and set off following Sharon. Baby Sis had to work.
This was mostly a kayaking activity – over an hour each way, and when we got there the manatees took off, so, yeah, it was disappointing. Three of the dedicated kayakers returned on the longer route through the mangroves, but I returned with the other two, who had paddled enough for the day.
Here’s the thing: The manatees hang out in the marina of the T’ween Waters Resort, AND they rent kayaks there. So, the hour of paddling to see the manatees was unnecessary. We could have rented kayaks at T’ween Waters, seen the manatees (if they were around), kayaked 100 yards to the mangroves, and returned when we were ready, for a much shorter day of paddling, or longer, whichever.
For those who are comfortable running a boat, I think a flats-boat or a pontoon is the way to go. I left before the boating day, but the group rented a pontoon boat, and went to all the shelling locations. That is definitely something I want to do on the next trip.
birding at “ding” darling
The second morning we got up early again, because that’s when you see the most birds, to go to J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. We considered renting bikes, but there were too many of us, so we drove the 4 mile loop, and saw lots of birds. Sanibel Island is set up for biking, with lots of designated trails, so it is on the list for the next visit.
There were lots of bird photographers there for the early morning show, and some fishermen. We got there before the park was officially opened, so there was no one there to take our admission fees, but we were able to get in and drive the loop.
My favorite birds are the Roseate Spoonbills. They are silly looking pink birds with big noses or bills, rather, and there was one who splashed around for quite a while, giving me lots of photo-ops.
Read my post: How To Shoot Birds for photography tips, gear, and settings.
sanibel island lighthouse
where we ate
Tarpon Springs Lodge
We only went out one time due to the COVID-9 pandemic, and this was the place. It definitely had the Old Florida feel of our childhood, and the food was good. We had their specialty blue crab chowder, which everyone liked. I ordered the Chef’s Special Salad of the Day, and it was weak, but the regular menu salads looked good, as did the pastas. The entree that looked the best was the chicken and lump crab.
Ordinarily, there is a water taxi, but we drove ~ it took an hour, each way, so the water taxi would have been better.
where we stayed
nirvana sunrise
The house was complete in fall of 2019 and we might have been the first renters. Everything was brand new and beautiful. They had wagons, and beach chairs and umbrellas, mostly with the tags still on ~ never been used. It’s a very thin house built on top of mangroves, so there are lots of hallways and stairs to get around to the bedrooms, and the main living area is on the second floor, so everyone needs to be comfortable with stairs.
It has its own dock with a beautiful sunrise view, and they also own Nirvana Sunset, which is across the street, on the beach, so we were able to walk through.
