Warm Gulf waters, white sand, and shell-filled beaches are an alluring part of vacationing in the Fort Myers, Sanibel, and Captiva Island, Florida. You will find award-winning Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, and Captiva Islands’ beaches provide an excellent opportunity to lie around and soak up the Florida sun!
Fort Myers area beaches also provide a bounty of fishing opportunities. Regardless of whether you choose to fish from shore or aboard a charter, you’ll have plenty of possibilities for a big catch. Local inshore species include grouper, snook, sea trout, mackerel, amberjack, snapper, shark, and tarpon. In fact, tarpon migrate to the Sanibel-Captiva area from April through June making it the Tarpon capital of the world!
New pay-by-plate parking system at select Lee County beaches
Lee County is launching a new parking payment system on Oct. 2, 2023 at select beach locations in Bonita Springs, Fort Myers Beach, and Fort Myers.
Text2Park is a cashless pay-by-plate system using your mobile device. Beach visitors will no longer need to visit a kiosk or display a parking receipt on the dashboard of their vehicle. Directions will be displayed on each parking space sign at the select beach locations.
Parking is $2 per hour, with the ability to add additional time.
Lee County parks staff will be available throughout the rollout of this system to assist guests and a video explaining the new pay-by-plate process will be available at www.leeparks. org/beaches.
Lee County beaches with pay-by-plate parking system:
Bonita Beach Park, 27954 Hickory Blvd., Bonita Springs.
Bonita Beach Access #1, 27890 Hickory Blvd., Bonita Springs.
Bonita Beach Access #10, 26082 Hickory Blvd., Bonita Springs
Bowditch Point Park, 50 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach.
Lynn Hall Memorial Beach Park, 950 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach.
San Carlos Bay-Bunche Beach Preserve, 18201 John Morris Road, Fort Myers.
Captiva & Sanibel Island Beaches
Rich with wildlife and first-class amenities, Captiva and Sanibel are considered two of the most captivating barrier islands in the country. Captiva and Sanibel Islands have also earned a reputation for some of the best shelling in the world. The Southwest Florida water currents play into a sheller’s hands, washing up more shells along the coastline than in any other place in North America—more than 400 species! Sanibel and Captiva Island are perfect places to start any beach vacation.
Sanibel Stoop
Visitors and locals alike can be found all over the area doing the “Sanibel Stoop” while scouting for shells on Sanibel Island beaches. You can find small treasures along the high tide line, but knowing where to look is the secret to successful shelling. The large shells will be obvious and easy to see, but for the small, intricately colored and sculpted shells, you’ll have to peer inside sponges and pieces of wood, overturn washed up coconuts and shore debris. Expect to encounter varieties of conch, scallop, whelk and shark eye. Some shells appear seasonally; others pop up indiscriminately or tend to remain in a specific area. Find them where they lived — on mudflats and sandbars, within grasses or mangroves or even inside other shells. One important caution: Make sure the shells you collect are not live (inhabited). Aside from the surprise you’ll get back home, it’s illegal to remove living shells from the beaches. This includes sand dollars, starfish and sea urchins.
Beaches in Fort Myers Beach
Fort Myers Beach (which is actually located on Estero Island) is ideal for a family outing. The seven-mile stretch of beach has a wide shoreline that eases into the Gulf. Gentle undertow and no steep drop-offs, the palm-shaded sand and family-friendly reputation nabbed it the title “World’s Safest Beach.”
Fort Myers Beach, Florida maintains 26 public beach accesses on Estero Island. These public beach accesses are marked and easily accessed from Estero Boulevard and many have public parking.
Colorful Fort Myers Beach is a beachcomber’s delight, replete with island style shops, Key West party atmosphere, parks, and marinas. All that is beach fun is found in the Fort Myers area, from quiet shelling and birding to exhilarating parasailing, wave running, and boating. Read our Sea Turtles of the Paradise Coast blog article here.
For an active day of water sports or just unwinding in a picturesque hideaway, you’ll have no problem finding it all on the beaches of Fort Myers, Florida.
See more things to do in Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, and Captiva Island and check out Sarasota and Naples.
