Cape Coral, whats it like?

[Sandra & co]

There are loads of Villas to rent in Cape Coral, it looks really lovely. What is the area like, nearest beaches, restaurants, shops etc? Probably just chill out by the pool but also like to do a bit of exploring. Thanks guys x

[capecoralfl]

We have a villa in Cape Coral. We are near loads of beaches (local beach on Cape Coral as well as near Ft Myers,Naples, Sanibel and Captiva). We have all the usual chain restaurants (Outback, Denny’s, Carrabbas, Applebee’s, Bonefish Grill, etc) as well as all the usual stores (TJMaxx, Ross, Bed Bath and Beyond) and loads of shopping Malls, supermarkets, drug stores etc.
It’s much further south than Tampa, Sarasota so the weather is warmer. We love the area.

[COL41]

Stayed in CC for 12 nights this August and loved it. Only really visited shops and restaurants in CC itself but visited loads of beautiful beaches and malls including Naples, Sanibel, Bonita Springs

[florida girl]

We are off to Cape Coral in less than 2 weeks first time in this area but looking forward to all the lovely beaches. So will let you know 😊😊

[Sandra & co]

Originally Posted by florida girl

We are off to Cape Coral in less than 2 weeks first time in this area but looking forward to all the lovely beaches. So will let you know 😊😊

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Ooh look forward to hearing all about it, are you going to hire a boat? Is that easy to do, the area looking amazing. Have a lovely time x

[capecoralfl]

We did a trip report on here last January of some of the things we got up to which will give a flavour of the area.
Over the years we have done most things - hired a boat, went on jet skis and paraglided over Ft Myers beach, fished off many of the piers, hired Segways and explored Captiva and Sanibel Islands, went on dolphin cruises, explored the Everglades, shopped till we dropped at the huge malls, swam in gulf coast water as warm as bath water, attended concerts, had some fab food in waterfront restaurants with dolphins popping up right by our table, went bowling & the cinema as well as having many bbqs on Lovers Key beach - so many great things to do.

[florida girl]

Originally Posted by Sandra & co

Ooh look forward to hearing all about it, are you going to hire a boat? Is that easy to do, the area looking amazing. Have a lovely time x

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Hire a boat 😯 would love to but on past experience think that will be a no 😂😂. Many years ago we hired a boat in St Johns Pass and ended up with a big bill as we did damage to the propeller so ever since we tend to let someone else Captain the boat.
Have hired Jet skis though and that is good fun.

Going to be quite a chilled holiday but we do like to get out and about and explore. Pine Island,Matlacha,Bokeelia and St James City are on our list as well as Sannibel and Captiva wanted to go there for years.

[tocpe321]

After a couple of high mileage driving holidays this area looks very relaxing and appealing. We stayed in Naples years ago and visited Sanibel and Captiva too.

[ChrisS]

Cape Coral review HERE Loads of Cape Coral threads in the 'search' option, here's a few... HERE, HERE AND HERE

Cape Coral/Fort Myers - you commented in that thread Sandra.

Cape Coral has a water park, Sunsplash. sunsplashwaterpark/

It's a lovely area, you'll have a smashing time. Plenty of beaches, watersports, fishing. Naples is a nice place to check out too - excellent soft white beach and long pier - naplesdowntown/naples-pier.htm
Naples conservancy - conservancy/
Tin City in Naples - tin-city/
Corkscrew Swamp - corkscrew.audubon/
Ding Darling on Sanibel (closed Fridays) dingdarlingsociety/
Edison Ford Estate in Fort Myers - edisonfordwinterestates/
Boat trips/dolphin watching/sunset cruises; from Captiva to Cabbage Key - captivacruises/
Casino Big M boat from Fort Myers Beach - bigmcasino/fort-myers-beach/
Everglades City Ranger boat tours - nps.gov/ever/planyourvisi...ided-tours.htm
Babcock Ranch, on SR31 between Fort Myers and Arcadia - babcockwilderness/#!home/mainPage
Octagon wildlife sanctuary, just off SR31 between Fort Myers & Punta Gorda; Lauri Caron is an incredible lady who provides home to a multitude of animals, from exotic tigers, a rare black leopard, lions, bears, wolves to donkeys, goats, chickens, ducks, racoons, gators et al - check out the website video. The citizens/local big & small businesses donate food, supplies, manpower to keep them all fed. All volunteers happily donate their time, some for 10 plus years, ensuring the majority of monies collected cares for the animals. Open Sat & Sun and by appointment Mon to Fri - octagonwildlife/
Fort Myers tourist website - fortmyers-sanibel/?gc...FdY8gQodTo8ACA
Visit Florida website - visitflorida/en-us/ci...ort-myers.html
Muscle Car City, Punta Gorda - musclecarcity/
Shopping anyone? Miramar Outlets with over 140 top designer outlet stores - miromaroutlets-px.smrtlnk/
Sanibel Outlets - sanibeloutlets/

If you like music then the top SW Fla band is Deb & the Dynamics - and boy they are really good. Take a look at their schedule - debandthedynamics/bandschedule.html
We winter on Pine Island and see them at Berts Bar on Matlacha Thursday nights but like to head for Doc Fords on a Sunday (under Fort Myers Beach Bridge docfordsfortmyersbeach/) as they play outdoors from 1 to 4pm - or on a Friday night 6 to 9pm at Pinchers @ Wyndham Hotel where they play on Estero beach. Extremely professional band, Deb sings like Janis Joplin, take a peek here the sax players wander into the audience when playing - there's no charge to these venues, eat, drink or drink, don't eat, nobody cares, just go, watch this excellent band and have a good time.

[Sandra & co]

I have booked a house for a week in Cape Coral, we are staying at Hamilton Lakes for 10 nights and then on to Cape Coral. We have stayed in Bradenton in the past and loved it but wanted to try something else. My first choice Villa was too expensive so we went with the 2nd Choice, I am more excited about staying in the Villa in Cape Coral than the one in Orlando! Might hire a small boat for a couple of days and hope to see some Dolphins swim past x