Sanibel Island, Florida
Near Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island may not be the first Southern Florida locality you think of, but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful. In fact, I was reading a bunch of blog posts about Sanibel Island before our work trip and several of them touted that Sanibel and Captiva Islands are home to some of the best sunsets in America. I can attest to an amazing sunset our last night there!
While we visited for work and didn’t have a ton of time to really explore, we got to know our little corner of land fairly well.
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We stayed right at the bank of “Fort Myers”; technically I think the Marriott sets in a town called Punta Rassa (the hotel is 25 minutes from the Fort Myers airport). This Marriott is a short Uber drive away from most things (including Sanibel Island) except for the onsite steakhouse, bar, and beach dive restaurant called The Bimini Bait Shack. The Bimini is an upstairs, open air restaurant with a fish tank as a bar, sea-shell bathroom sinks, and a boat that suspends from the ceiling to reveal a live musician. When I say we frequented this place, some ate there 2 and 3 times.
They had a huge menu, and literally everything was good. From my Caeser salad and Shrimp Scampi, to some of the others' lobster rolls, conch fritters, nachos…. The Bimini Bait Shack has plenty of options if you choose to stay at the Marriott.
I will refrain from giving hotel recommendations, as our location was preset so this wasn’t something I spent time worrying out. The Marriott did have an incredible view from our top floor room!
A 5-10 minute ride across the bridge, and you’ll find yourself on the plush and colorful Sanibel Island.
Most of the seafood shacks and restaurants you find here are going to have the same colorful exterior, and similar seafood-esque menus.
Here’s a list of some of the restaurants we ate at, stopped in for drinks, or were on my list to try out!
The Lazy Flamingo
The Island Cow
Mudbugs Cajun Kitchen
Sweet Melissa’s Cafe
Key Lime Bistro
Sanibel Fish House
Back across the bridge on the mainland, our large group of friends had dinner at the highly recommended Lighthouse Cafe and it was AMAZING! The Lighthouse Cafe is a bit more upscale and sits right on the water. I had Tandoori-style salmon and it was just… incredible. Pretty much everyone got dessert too!
So, again, should you find yourself in Florida in the Fort Myers area, you should squeeze in some time to go pick up some sea-shells and look at all the adorably-bright homes on Sanibel Island. Don’t forget to try some Key Lime Pie!
