Plenty. This is Florida, after all, and Lee County offers over 50 miles of white sand beaches, with seemingly endless opportunities for fishing, boating, and swimming, as well as hiking, birding, and wildlife viewing. Add to that mix some cultural activities — theater, arts, and history — and you’ll wish you could stay another week.
The beaches are known for their variety and abundance of shells, attracting beachcombers with a passion for collecting. There are 20 named beaches in the area, including Bowman’s Beach on Sanibel Island, Turner Beach on Captiva Island, and Fort Myers Beach on the northern end of Estero Island.
Fort Myers Beach has a fun, honky-tonk feel, with trinket shops, T-shirt joints, casual restaurants, pizza parlors, and ice cream stores clustered along tree-lined pedestrian walkways in an entertainment district called Times Square. An information booth provides oodles of choices for water activities, including fishing charters, dolphin and wildlife cruises, shelling tours, parasailing, sunset party cruises, pirate cruises (“A 90-minute swashbuckling show!’’) and leisurely schooner sailing.
For a quieter experience on Estero, drive south and cross a small bridge to reach Lovers Key State Park. Composed of four barrier islands, this 1,616-acre park offers over two miles of beaches, and eight miles of trails for hiking and biking. A concession stand and gift shop rents canoes, kayaks, bicycles, beach chairs, and umbrellas. Guided kayak tours are available and ranger programs include guided walks, birding, manatee and dolphin talks, and more. A tram service from the parking lot to the south end of the beach — where there’s a gazebo, restroom, and picnic area — provides access to visitors with disabilities.
Kayak and canoe enthusiasts should seek out the Great Calusa Blueway, a 190-mile, marked paddling trail that meanders through the area’s bays, rivers, backwaters, and shoreline.
