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Lakes Park is a beautiful place, and it’s so close to the house. It’s a managed wild space and there are so many birds, alligators, squirrels, etc, there’s always something to take you eye, so every day is different there.We also go to a few other wildlife places. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is the biggest and the most varied. It’s about 45 minutes from the house, and you can easily spend all day the if you want. We tend to spend at least 3 /4 hours – it takes that length of time to wander round the boardwalk, taking your time to see all the wildlife that’s around you. It changes so much from one part of the year to the next, a visit is always worthwhile.
The Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel is usually done at the end of a day on Sanibel for us – a restful & relaxing way to finish the afternoon after a few hours on Lighthouse Beach, and before eating dinner at one of the Sanibel restaurants.
Ding Darling is a great place, and is mostly about the birds. It has a really good tram tour, that we did the first time we went there. It’s not expensive, and is taken by a trained volunteer who helps you to see the wildlife. Thereafter, we just drive our car round, and stop as often as we like.
The tram tour in Ding Darling is run by Tarpon Bay Explorers – they also do a sunset cruise on Tarpon bay, which lies between Sanibel and Fort Myers) which is a fabulous way to see the sun go down, as well as see all the sea & birdlife of Tarpon Bay …. usually including dolphins.
We also really like Six Mile Cypress Swamp Preserve – only about 10 minutes from the house, it’s a great place. There’s a boardwalk, maybe 2 miles long, but it’s amazing how long it can take to walk round if you take your time, and let the wildlife reveal itself to you. We’ve seen some amazing things there …. A racoon who walked towards a small pool with a large alligator in it, and happily saw it just in time, and backed off! …. A woodstork who landed in a tree only a few feet above our heads …. an anhinga that went fishing underwater and emerged with a fish speared on its bill, and sat on a log waiting of the fish to die, then suddenly a red-shouldered hawk swooped down from a tree and just failed to steal the fish … the anhinga was just too fast!
The Everglades is a wonderful place. Best seen by driving in along US 41 from Naples past Everglades City. Shark Valley is off US41, and is fabulous – a tram tour (15 miles in total), where you will see more alligators than you might ever have imagined exist! You can also hire a bike if you prefer, and get up closer still to the wildlife. You will learn about the Everglades – what they are, why they are so special, etc. There are also airboat rides around the entrance to Shark Valley run by the local Native Americans, the Miccosukee Tribe of Seminole Indians.
A boat trip from Chokoloskee, just beyond Everglades City is a good way to see dolphins and lots of sea birds. We really enjoyed the trip when we didi it, great for children as well as adults.
Lovers Key is at the southern end of Estero Island – the island on which Fort Myers Beach is located. Lovers Key is great – a pristine white beach, with no development around it. Great just to spend time on – take your beach gear & there is a tram to take you to the beach. It’s a wonderful pace to see eagles, osprey and lots more. We really like it, it’s unusual if we don’t go a couple of times during our stays in Fort Myers. It’s a great place for shells and walking as well as just enjoying the beach.
If you want to see dolphins in the sea near a beach, just sit on Sanibel’s Lighthouse beach at the southern tip for an hour or two, and you’ll surely see them.
And last but not least, go and watch the sun go down on Bunche Beach. You’ll see the sun go down over the southern end of Sanibel, there can’t be many better sights. Bunche Beach is on the way from the house to Sanibel, at the end of John Morris Road. A wonderful place. Sea birds come into roost as the sun goes down. We first saw black skimmers here – spectacular.
