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Sanibel Island, Florida?

pierre smith

Well Known Member
So, the Missus wants to go to Key West, via Sanibel Island, for a day or two, in the near future, by way of RV-10:)

What is there of interest at Sanibel? Is there a better venue between Tampa and Key West, for activities and scenery. How 'bout you Floridians and other travelers inform me as to what you'd suggest.

Thanks,
 
if you fly into ft meyers and get best 100LL prices in the area you will have so much to do in a short distance you will be amazed. sanibel has beaches, a few small airports, more beaches, restaurants, more beaches........

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Pierre,

We spend most of March on Sanibel Island every year. The place is very rustic, no traffic lights, no MickyD's, no buildings above 3 stories, lots of wet land preserves and bike paths to everywhere.

There was an airport on the island years ago but it is long gone. The only way to get there is to rent a car from Page Field. It would be a nice day trip across the cause-way ($6 round trip) with a stop at the Ding Darling Wild Life Refuge and a guided tram ride through the refuge ($8 each) and then on up to Captiva for lunch at maybe the Bubble Room, the Green Flash or the Mucky Duck. (Captiva has 2 classes of people, the millionaires who own the property and tourists who visit along with hired help that commutes from off island. Normal people do not live there. Sanibel is somewhat exclusive in that regard but not like Captiva)

My take on the rest of Southwest Florida is too many people, too many cars and inadequate roads to handle the mass of humanity. About the only worthwhile thing to see in all this congestion is the Edison-Ford museum in Fr. Myers. It would take a couple days to do it and Sanibel.

(There is an island airport north of Sanibel on what may be called North Captiva but I do believe it is private. It is an east-west strip (seems to me grass) with water not far from either end. I saw a Cherokee there once when we took a boat tour out of Captiva to Boca Grande)

Sounds like an interesting trip. We've done Key West from Sanibel and took a "city" tour which was most interesting. (I flew out of the keys at night years ago with a single engine and wouldn't do that again, it is mighty, mighty dark until you get past the Everglades.)

PS At the very least, fly over Sanibel from the cause-way and up the beaches to Captiva. Pilots do it everyday. Commercial traffic into Regional Southwest over fly the coast and appears to be at about 5000'. There is an airplane ride operation out of Page flying a Waco or Stearman up and down the beaches most every day. It easy to fall in love with Sanibel...Turbo's take on the island is not quite right....it is not like Fr. Myers Beach in any way....and there are no airports on the island.
 
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Shells

I haven?t been there for a while but Sanibel was known for its shells on the beach.
 
Sanibel, Captiva

Pierre,

Ditto what David said re items of interest. The Edison house/museum/grounds in Fort Myers are worth half a day. Ding Darling wildlife preserve was worth a few hours if you are into wildlife (birds, gators, snakes). The Mucky Duck is a good place to grab a drink, watch the sunset or take a walk on the beach and go shell hunting. Bring your shoes and something soft to lie on since the beaches, on Captiva at least, are primarily covered in shell fragments.

I think the thing I enjoyed most was renting a small boat in Captiva and exploring Pine Island Sound. There are a number of inhabited and uninhabited keys in the sound that have great beaches. You can have an island to yourself for the day. The sound is also the breeding ground for bottlenose dolphins, and they are pretty inquisitive and get pretty close to swimmers and boats. Cabbage Key is a kitchy place that is worth a visit just because it's always fun to pull up to a beach bar in a boat and grab a burger.

At the tip of Captiva there is a little resort called the South Sea Island resort. I think that might go over well with your wife. It isn't very expensive and they run fall specials.

It's a pretty slow paced area. Life centers around the water and beaches. It's a great place to relax and tune out for a few days.
 
exactly what was said, sanibel is very low key. great beaches and shelling. The biggest thing to do there is relax in the sun and walk the beach. There is no public airport on the islands. the closest is page field, 100ll self serve at 4.46 as of yesterday. I would second the green flash for dinner, great food. Also, the Thistle lodge at Casa Ybel has great food and a fantastic atmosphere. There are a lot of things going on in fort myers also.

The flight from fort myers to key west is a great flight also. fly down the coast to the tip and then direct to MTH. fly down the island chain after that. Just watch out for the balloon north of key west. stay south of US-1 and you will be clear.

bob burns
RV-4 N92RB
 
My wife and I speculated about going to KEYW two weeks from now. I started flight planning and noticed comments on the KEYW Airnav listing about "look at Miami TAC for preferred VFR routes".

I may be showing some ignorance here, but I can't find anything on the TAC.

Since I am averse to water landing, I am assuming that one flies right down the chain of islands to get to KEYW.

Comments please??
 
My wife and I speculated about going to KEYW two weeks from now. I started flight planning and noticed comments on the KEYW Airnav listing about "look at Miami TAC for preferred VFR routes".

I may be showing some ignorance here, but I can't find anything on the TAC.

Since I am averse to water landing, I am assuming that one flies right down the chain of islands to get to KEYW.

Comments please??

It seems like they could have described that better. I suspect that they are talking about the Miami "FLY" chart, which is on the back of the printed TAC. If you go to skyvector.com and zoom in on Miami, you can see what is on the FLY by clicking the "Miami FLY" button that is on the upper right of the screen.
 
My wife and I speculated about going to KEYW two weeks from now. I started flight planning and noticed comments on the KEYW Airnav listing about "look at Miami TAC for preferred VFR routes".

I may be showing some ignorance here, but I can't find anything on the TAC.

Since I am averse to water landing, I am assuming that one flies right down the chain of islands to get to KEYW.

Comments please??

One reminder...stay well clear of R-2916. This time of the year we are pretty much always up and the tether on the aerostat will definitely ruin everyone's day...especially anyone who hits it. Be safe!
 
It seems like they could have described that better. I suspect that they are talking about the Miami "FLY" chart, which is on the back of the printed TAC. If you go to skyvector.com and zoom in on Miami, you can see what is on the FLY by clicking the "Miami FLY" button that is on the upper right of the screen.

Got it. Thanks. I'll study the chart. Learn something new every day.

And thanks for the warning about R-2916, Ron
 
Lots to do in SW Florida

Pierre, there are tons of things to do in SW Florida, as others have mentioned. Come visit laid-back Venice and we can go to Sharky's on the Pier (very popular pilot destination). SW Florida is a beautiful area to fly in. Lots of coastal airports on both sides of the state. Venice is a short 1.3 hrs from Key West (RV-6 time) taking the safe route and avoiding large quantities of water. Venice to Naples to Marathon, following the coast line and then following the island chain to Key West. KEYW is 45 minutes direct from Venice but not a lot of places to put down :D

You could build your "Island" count like Vlad did a few weeks ago..... :)

ps I'm in the VAF white pages. Call if you can stop at Venice. I haven't seen you since Sun n Fun 2009 (I think)
 
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Pierre,
If you get up the east coast and would like to visit the Miami, Ft. Lauderdale area, we have a spare room for overnight guests. Located at HWO (Hollywood North Perry airport). Will be visiting Turbo this weekend and flying to Winterhaven for thier annual lunch-flyin. Usually over 100 planes. Just email me at [email protected].
Woodman
 
the routing is easy. down the coast to the tip about everglades city then direct to MTH. follow the chain down. stay south of us1 once you get past MTH and you will stay clear of the balloon. be sure to talk to Navy EYW on 124.02 there is a lot of traffic on nice days, an some is moving very fast very low. Navy works everything past MTH. MIA center on 133.5 has the rest up miami.

that route will give you the least amount of time over water unless you want to follow the coast all the way around to largo and then follow the chain down. it also will keep you out of the ADIZ if you only have small N numbers.

bob burns
N82RB
 
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