After spending an amazing 3 nights in Orlando it was time to move on to our next destination – Cape Coral. Originally we had wanted to stay in Naples but as we had booked our holiday so late we could not find any nice properties on AirBnb but did find one in Cape Coral – 1 hour north. We didn’t know much about the area apart from that there were beaches and we also booked a kayaking tour on Trip Adviser to see the mangroves.

We had woken up to really heavy rain and drove through some rain storms on our 3.5 hour journey to the West Coast. We didn’t have a plan of action for the day apart from a rum distillery tour at 4pm which I had booked the night before so I googled places to visit and came across Pine Island which was only 30 minutes from our property.

Pine Island

We read on google that Pine Island is the largest Island on the Gulf Coast and is connected to Florida by a road. We were not really sure what we would do but it looked as though there were plenty of little trails and walks.

Driving on to the island there were lots of really lovely colourful buildings which were mostly gift shops and art galleries. We headed to Galt Preserve where we parked up and there was a walkway to see a lake. We didn’t spot any wildlife but did find a geo-cache.

We could see there was another geo-cache the other side of the lake so followed the path around to find it – unfortunately we failed as it was hidden in under growth and we didn’t want to rummage around too much. We did see loads of lizards on the path and a rabbit.

^{Wildlife spotting}

We next headed to the St James Creek Preserve (only 2 minutes down the road) as there was a nature trail (and a geo-cache). It was only a short walk but it was along a stream with mangroves. It finished on a board walk area with views onto a lake. As we walked we noticed a really small crab on the path which some passers-by told us was a tree crab and we would see many more.

^{St James Creek Preserve}

It was now about 2.30pm and we had our rum distillery tour booked so we headed back towards Cape Coral, did a quick supermarket shop for tea then arrived at the tour.

Wicked Dolphin Rum Distillery

We had no expectations as the tour was free but as we arrived the place was bustling. It was only a quick tour but we leaned how rum was made, what was special about Wicked Dolphin (all the ingredients are locally sourced) and were given a rum punch to drink on the tour.

^{Wicked Dolphin Rum Distillery}

We then went to the bar area where we sampled a coconut rum, a vanilla rum and a dark rum. We could also try any other flavours we wanted. We had a really good time and bought ourselves a bottle of coconut rum to bring home.

We checked into our next AirBnB house which was 5 minutes away and spent most of the evening in the pool which was really warm.

Kayaking Tour

The following morning we had a very early start as we were booked on a wildlife tour at 9am which departed from the Port of the Islands Marina (an hour and a half away). I had booked the tour on trip advisor and it was by Manatee Sightseeing and Wildlife Adventures. It wasn’t cheap – about £250 for the 4 of us but I thought it would be a good way to explore the mangroves.

We had to take a tour bus to the start of the kayak route – but this meant we would kayak back to the car. It was a really small tour group – only 4 other people which was lovely.

After a quick safety briefing we climbed into our kayaks (I was with Tom and Stu with Izzy) and we paddled behind our guide who gave us loads of information about the mangroves and the wildlife. It wasn’t long before Tom spotted a snake in the water but it moved too quick to take a picture.

In some areas the waterways were really narrow so we had to use our hands to move around the branches. Unfortunately we didn’t see any alligators but there were lots of fish, some sharks which swam near to us and crabs on the river bed.

We eventually came out of the mangroves onto the main river where we saw an alligator. We paddled back towards the starting point looking for manatees but didn’t really see any. However, it was an excellent tour and we all enjoyed it.

Marco Island

We returned to the car for lunch but as it had been so hot all morning the kids sandwiches had heated so were inedible. Luckily Stu and my salads were fine as they were towards the bottom of the cool bag. Tom and Izzy therefore had a McDonalds instead.

Marco Island was really pretty and seemed to be lots of houses with river/canal fronts to them. We headed to the public beach but could not find any parking so decided to try Tigertail Beach instead. Luckily there was space so we parked and walked to the beach – about 5 minutes. The sand was so white that it made everything really bright and Izzy had to wear my sunglasses.

The beach was lovely and the sea really warm. We spent an hour or so before thinking we ought to leave as we were so hot.

^{Beach time!}

We made are way back to the car, stopped off at a Dairy Queen for ice cream and headed home to spend the evening in the pool again.

Sanibel and Captiva Islands

For our final day in the area we didn’t have a plan but one of my friends messaged and said they were visiting Cape Coral and looking forward to exploring Sanibel Island. I then realised it was only 30 minutes away so we decided to visit.

We went to the visitor center first which had some excellent exhibits about the wildlife on the island and then went to the beach.

Bowman’s beach

To get to the beach we had to cross a bridge over a river and there were some huge shoals of fish swimming underneath.

Despite it being cloudy it was really warm out – and we were quite relieved the sun wasn’t shining after spending so much time out in it yesterday. We had a paddle and Tom built a massive sea fort. Stu and I spent ages watching a sea bird diving for fish.

JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

We returned to the visitor center as there was a wildlife drive with lots of viewing stops. The first stop was over a lake which had some sea birds in it. Tom and Izzy stayed in the car whilst we went for a look.

The next stop involved a mangrove walk to another lake so we all went. There were lots of trees over hanging the walkway and we noticed that they were covered in tree crabs. We spent ages watching them and trying to take videos and photos of them.

^{Mangrove Walk}

We did one more stop which was another walk to a viewpoint by which point we were ready to move on.

Capitiva Island

We thought that as we were so close to Captiva Island we really should go and have a look. We drove up but struggled to find any stopping points so gave up and decided to head back and see the lighthouse.

Sanibel Lighthouse

We walked to have a look at the lighthouse and find the geo-cache which was under it. Tom and Izzy said it wasn’t a proper lighthouse as it was more of a metal tower but I liked it! We then walked along the pier which loads of people were fishing on and there were some great views.

^{Senibel lighthouse and pier}

We went home (via Dairy Queen) and spent our final evening in the pool before heading to the Keys in the morning.