Why I Chose North Captiva Island for our Next Adventure

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Last month, I wrote about my experience picking a vacation rental home for a trip next year. Staying on an island off the coast of Florida was a priority in order to adhere to social distancing in case this pandemic is still going on at the time of our trip. In the process of researching, I discovered a few island gems I had never heard of before.

One of those gems is North Captiva Island. From the moment I started reading about North Captiva, I was captivated. The island, located off the coast of Fort Myers, was separated from Captiva Island during a hurricane in 1921. We chose North Captiva Island for our next vacation for these reasons:

Isolation and Tranquility

It takes effort to go to North Captiva. There are no bridges to the island. You must go by boat or by small plane (there is a grass landing strip).

The island has only 300 homes, and half of the island is a state park reserve. There are no high-rise condos there. That’s a lot of beachfront for not a lot of people!

Unique Car-less Environment

There are no cars or paved roads on North Captiva. People get around on bicycles or golf carts on sand pathways. I love the thought of a short walk to reach the tennis courts and ice cream shop.

I hate dealing with traffic, especially on vacation. There is no traffic here!

Cost

Before I discovered North Captiva, I was looking for house rentals on Sanibel and Captiva Island. However, Sanibel had mostly condos with shared pools instead of houses. And Captiva Island home rentals were crazy expensive!

In my search for a vacation home rental, I found that North Captiva had houses for a variety of budgets. Houses without pools and not bordering the beach are the least expensive, but are still located within steps of the beach. Houses with private pools and hot tubs right on the beach are the most expensive.

Stuff to Do (Or Lack Thereof)

North Captiva doesn’t have some of the usual beach touristy stuff. There’s no aquarium, no miniature golfing, etc. There are only three restaurants open, so we will have to bring our own groceries.

However, the beauty and appeal of the island is slowing down and just enjoying nature: watching manatees by the docks, looking for dolphins in the channel, collecting sea shells, kayaking, fishing, etc.

We plan to charter a boat on one of our days to explore the area by water. We may take fishing lessons from the local fishing lady.  But other than that, we will be on a beach-pool-tennis-eat-sleep repeat mode.

Due to Covid and the school schedule, we don’t have any other trips planned until this one. Having this trip booked is giving me something to look forward to.

Have you vacationed on one of Florida’s islands? Which one is your favorite?

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