Great Loop: Captiva & Sanibel Islands

Captiva Beach

February 5th, 6th, 7th, 2022

You might expect that Looping has a rigid planning process, one that carefully schedules visits and involves contacting marinas months in advance, especially in high demand areas, so your progress is an orderly affair.  Bsssst - Wrong!  At least for the crew of Amy Marie.  We are organized in the sense that we have a maintained list of spots we would like to visit or attractions to see.  Beth maintains this in Google Maps.  This app allows you to create "Lists" of saved locations.  The benefit is that when you open Google maps and your list, you can see what you have saved from talking to others, reading articles and blogs, and whatever other sources you encounter.  It works pretty well.  We loosely plan with a horizon of 3 days, and then have difficulty remembering where we were 3 days ago.  I think this is a good indicator we have transitioned to living in the moment....

Beth and Mike - Captiva

Back to how we spent 3 days on Captiva Island.  We departed Cayo Costa in the morning.  We did not want to deal with the chaos and crowds of Fort Meyers, so the rough plan was to find a spot on Captiva or Sanibel, motor past Fort Meyers, and then stop at Marco Island.

Well we didn't have a reservation anyplace, but we had a full holding tank.  It needed to be pumped out.  Our friends, Brian and Ellen on Perfect Choice, were at a resort/marina called Tween Waters with a pump out.  However Tween Waters was full for the weekend.  Our options were a marina on Captiva, one on Sanibel, or anchoring out.  So we pulled into Tween Waters and pumped out.  We asked the dockmaster, Gene, if they had any openings.  He said unlikely as the Caloosahatchee Marching and Chowder Society Sailing Club was cruising in, BUT, if we wanted to hang around he would see if he could find a spot for us.  

Tween Waters Resort from our slip

So we spent a couple of hours moving Amy Marie up and down the dock as he found spots for those with reservations.  Finally he called us over and said, if you can get in that spot over there, it is yours. Hurray! We had a spot, but with a cross wind, it was going to be a challenge to enter.  Brian helped from the dock and we were able to get Amy Marie tied up.  

We went up to the office to pay, and Beth asks if now that we were in a slip, could we stay 3 nights!  I thought she was pushing our luck as Gene rolled his eyes, mumbled and went back to the dock.  We walked to Key Lime Bistro, a restaurant we had visited 9 years ago for a very late lunch/early dinner.  While there, Gene called to let us know he had juggled slip assignments so we could stay for the requested 3 days.  Sometimes things just work out if you are flexible, patient, and friendly with the staff.

Tween Waters offered Casitas as well as hotel rooms

Tween Waters was a good spot.  It is a lovely resort that has served visitors since the 1930's.  It has frontage on both the gulf and bay sides of the island, two restaurants, two pools, two hot tubs, a laundry, small store, 4 very clean restrooms/showers for boaters, and kayak rentals.  

Cliff Dorsey Beach Concert

On the weekend we visited, live performances from Cliff Dorsey, a young country and western singer.  Friday night's performance was on the beach and on Saturday afternoon he sang at the pool.  Very enjoyable.

Beth at one of the two pools

We enjoyed getting to know the members of the Caloosahatchee Marching and Chowder Society Sailing Club.  They all wanted to tour our Ranger Tug.  We invited them aboard so they could see what trailerable trawler life was like.  They were quite interested in our Loop adventure as well and invited us to join them at "The Green Flash" for dinner.  We accepted and enjoyed the opportunity to get to know them better.  A very active and fun bunch of sailors.  Not only were they social and welcoming, but it became clear their boat handling skills were top notch.  We'll be sure to look them up when/if we return.

A gate to the beach

We rounded out our stay with a bike ride to the town of Sanibel on Sanibel Island.  While there we visited Pinnochio's for ice cream.  I recommend their Sanibel Crunch flavor. Upon our return we got caught up on laundry, Beth swam laps in the pool, and we washed and waxed the boat.

Downtown Sanibel

This is a location that would be fun to visit again.  These islands, while developed, have retained much of the old Florida charm.  We were reluctant to leave, but were ready for new adventures.

Easy to follow directions

Trip Log