We loved our stay in cottage #7. You're staying on the beach. Wake up, go out your front (back)…read moredoor and you're on the beach. That's paradise. Here are some tips mixed in with the review, if you are planning on staying at one of the cottages on the beach. The #7 cottage is at the end, closest to The Mad Hatter. This cottage is really cute. Everything looks fairly new - five years. The cottage was surface clean, if you don't look at the ceiling fan blades, vents, under the sink. Bring suction cup hooks to hold your clothes while you shower. There weren't any hooks in the bathrooms. The covered lanai had four chairs and two small end tables. It also has a clothes line set up (bring hangers of clothes pins) to help dry your bathing suits. Although the screen door was torn, there were barely any bugs in the lanai. We watched an incredible lightning storm one night. There's a bbq grill outside the lanai. You need to bring your own bbq briquettes, lighter, fluid, and bbq utensils, but then you can enjoy chargrilled hamburgers, hot dogs, bbq chicken.... There's also a picnic table outside your lanai, next to the bbq. Bring a sponge to wash dishes. It's not easy washing dishes with paper towels. This isn't as well stocked as a time share. However they have most of the basics. We weren't planning on cooking this weekend. Bringing premade meals, much easier. There's a toaster, blender, coffee machine with basket (not the cone type), microwave, electric range. No dishwasher. There is no table to eat at, there is a small island in the kitchen with stools. Bring water shoes if you have sensitive feet. There's a lot of small shells and the sand gets HOT during the summer afternoons. For just walking on the sand, Dollar Tree flip flops will protect you from the heat. There's no outdoor shower, not even a hose, to rinse off prior to going inside the cottage. Someone was kind enough to leave a plastic tub, that we filled with water and a bit of dish soap (maybe left by the owners or a previous renter?). That did help to at least wash off our feet before showering. With every precaution taken, sand will get in the cottage. There is no vacuum or mop. We were able to sweep most of the sand away, but I wish we brought our stick vacuum. The driveway is for one car only and it is tight (we have a Yukon)! Get friendly with your neighbors, because you need to share the entrance/exit to your parking spot and if they don't park exactly in their spot you'll need to ask them to move their car to either enter of leave. The entrance to all of the beach cottages is in the back of the house. The walkway is all sand. Keep that in mind when packing. Rolling luggage will get stuck, and if you roll anything you'll be bringing sand into the cottage. I called ahead and asked about beach towels, they said bring your own beach towels or you can use the bath towels. Although we never needed any beach towels. We usually stayed in the lanai looking at shells. until it was shower time. I hope they replace the mattresses soon. None of us slept well. Although if you spend all day in the water, you'll be too tired to notice. The air conditioning worked perfectly. Nice and cool. Especially when it was almost 100 degrees outside! Bring a couple of carabiners to attach your room key to your bathing suit or bag. If you need ice for your cooler, they have ice across the street (marina side). We brought our own beach chairs from home, but they have some you can borrow (leave a deposit and get it back when you return the chair). Bring itch cream, the sand fleas are ferocious in the evening. The sunsets are stunning. The town is only a 15 minute drive away. We weren't phased by having to drive to town, however our neighbors thought town would be in walking distance. Bring buckets or mesh bags for shell collecting. There were lots of pretty, small shells to choose from. We had an incredible stay in cottage #7.

I've been to better beaches…read more To start off, to even get on the Island they charge you $6. $6? Where is this money going to? It obviously isn't getting spent on upgrading the island. And by upgrading... I mean this next part. Half the island where all the shops are have phone data reception. The other half where you actually live, doesn't. Need to call 911? Good luck. You won't have any data. You will have to find a local Wi-Fi hotspot to get data. The WHOLE island is infested with noseeums. If you sleep in any house or cottage, you will get bitten by these tiny little bugs. It's annoying and ruined my stay. It's so horrible that businesses sell products to prevent them from biting you. The beaches are nice, but the water is dirty and murky. We stayed at a cottage across the street from the beach, it was a nice little walk. The cottages were decent with a flat-screen TV and Wi-Fi, but the outside shower didn't work and you have noseeums that come into the cottage at night. Most cottages have a little dock where you can park your boat, Jet-ski or kayak. Resort staff come in the morning to get your old towels and bring you new ones, and they take trash out of the bins. Another flaw of this cottage is that restaurants are 25 - 30 minutes away driving a max of 15 - 20 MPH. That's also the same distance to the local grocery store. They have everything you need on the island. If not, you have to across 3 bridges and pay $6 again to re-gain entry back on the island. Sanibel is a bit overrated, I heard people come here annually, but for me, it's not a place where I'll go again.

Tween Waters was our first-ever resort experience, and it set the bar high. We flew down from North…read moreIdaho/Washington in search of warm weather, and this place delivered in every way. The guys at the marina were some of our favorite staff--so helpful and genuinely friendly. They pointed out birds, gave us great tips on who to talk to for fishing trips, and even showed us a small barracuda swimming right in the Tween Waters area, which was such a cool experience. We used the shuttle quite a bit, and it was always fantastic. We also took full advantage of the kayaks and bicycles and loved having so many amenities right on-site. Our room overlooked the Gulf, which meant absolutely stunning sunsets every evening. Anytime we needed anything, the staff was happy to help. We would absolutely recommend Tween Waters and are already excited to come back again!

Though small inside this Ship Yard restaurant was full of bar life, music and very upbeat in…read moregeneral this sunday night in beautiful Captiva Island. Do not ask for tap please it taste like a very strong well water-really poor instead have the Italian Panna bottle you wont regret. I had the grilled grouper platter with pico & vegetables, another order were the fat breaded shrimp with fries and sauce. The she crab soup starter was creamy and delicious tasting as well a grouper reuben sandwich on Rye bread though it fell apart from the thousand island dressing and slaw inside. Finished off with a shared large brownie sundae, chocolate fudge, 2 scoops vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. 4-4.5 star rate.

You couldn't find a house closer to the water than this. This house was perfect for listening to…read morethe waves, watching the sunset and for collecting shells. The shells piled up on the beach right in front of the house. We saw porpoises swimming and fish being caught right in front of the house. The house had plenty of room for a large group. The beds were comfortable, bathrooms plentiful and the picture windows provided amazing views. The decks and screened in porch added to the living space so everyone could find some private space. The house isn't new but it was great for our group. The extra refrigerator was nice to have too. North Captiva is an amazing island and we'll definitely be back.

From the owner: We rent oceanfront vacation homes. Our customers love our locations and beautiful ocean views.read more

We have stayed here twice on vacations to Sanibel. Both condos have been spacious and comfortable…read more The pool and grilling areas are excellent. The staff is top notch. This trip the dryer in our condo was squeaking badly, but the office was quick to get in touch with the owners and get it fixed within a couple days. The path to the beach is beautiful and the beaches are excellent. It is right next door to a public beach that has a great playground for the kiddies. My only issue is a small one, but the condo owners seem to skimp on the internet. Not really in the condo during the day, but at night as soon as one kid hops on YouTube it takes any other device five minutes to load google. It is irritating, but there is no place I would rather stay in the island!

Stayed at E108 in Oct 2021. Everything was wonderful except be prepared to pay a lot of money to be…read moretreated like a child. They locked the thermostat at 72 degrees!! I guess 71 is too low! It was hot at night and you will sweat while you sleep!

We had a lovely stay for one night at Captiva Cottages and it was clean and well located…read more Unfortunately there are a few hidden costs that we were very surprised by, for ex $100 "processing fee". They said it's administrative but 100 for what? Advertised as $200/night ended up paying $400 plus 200 deposit.

We've been renting a home with American Realty for several years. They are very responsive and…read morehelpful, they always pick up the phone and resolve issues at a moments notice. Albert was very accommodating and patient, we'll be renting through them once again.

Cottages to Castles is an amazing locally owned boutique Sanibel business providing a full range of…read moreoptions for your stay on the island. The staff are knowledgeable and extremely helpful. The app provided everything we needed to ensure a relaxing vacation. Sandpiper is a lovely condo with quick access to the beach. All patios face the water. Everything inside the condo was labeled, and the storage unit provided everything we needed to enjoy the beach. Highly recommend!

Highly recommend Cottages to Castles for housing on Sanibel and Captiva. Currently, things are…read morestill being repaired but when up and running again, I will be contacting them to arrange our next stay. Contacted me with a refund notice and the refund appeared quickly. Contact before this was quick with responses to my questions and info needed to make our decision to stay in their property. Can't say enough about the integrity of this company.

I am here to update my review of South Seas Resort because last week my family and I were able to…read morestay for the first time since 2022 and Hurricane Ian as resort guests. South Seas is a resort, but has many buildings that are privately owned which is how we originally began staying here via Air BNB. As a family, a trip to Captiva has been something my parents started doing when they were dating, and now it is a family tradition that is 3 decades strong. We have been keeping an eye on the progress of the island after the devastation from hurricane Ian and we were THRILLED to see the resort reopen and the island making strides to welcome folks back. Our family of 7 booked a 3 bedroom beach villa which had ocean views with a quick walk to the beach. The villa featured a master bedroom, guest bedroom with a twin bed and two bunk beds, and a loft with a queen size bed. It also had three bathrooms. There are a ton of options when it comes to room sizes and villas, but we like ocean view for the ease of going to the beach. We were in the 2600 building which is right at the entrance. The kitchen was brand new, and looked out at the living room and screened in balcony. For a group this size it is a comfortable space, and the kitchen makes it easy for you to not have to eat out every meal. I will say one piece of feedback would be to have a sheet pan and chef's knife as part of the appliances, in the past with our Air BNB there were definitely more kitchen utensils included - however I know that they are just getting back on their feet so it was totally fine. Now onto the pro reason you should stay as a resort guest - the amenities. We got to enjoy the pool with access to their restaurant and bar, as well as the shell city burger food truck on the sand. Service at every venue was amazing and everyone was so friendly. If you are not a resort guest, you cannot enjoy these amenities as the charges are directly to the room and they don't take cash/card. They currently have Red Fish Grill which is a restaurant but also poolside bar, Shell City Burgers which is a food truck, and Harborside which is a fancy steakhouse. It goes without saying vacation is all about ease and relaxation - so opting to dine on property when we didn't feel like cooking was awesome. I also enjoyed the resort gym - the equipment is phenomenal. It is also very clean. Overall, you should note that as of right now they are still working to rebuild. You should expect some construction as South Seas 2.0 is being worked on, but it is all for the best for something truly special. In the works is new hotel rooms, a water park, and a beachfront restaurant. I am so happy to see Captiva Island rebuilding and open for folks to enjoy. It is such a special and beautiful place. Thank you to South Seas for continuing to make our family vacations so special.

Rooms are very dated and in need of repair. Toilet did not flush properly, shower fixtures loose,…read moremoldy grout. Just after taking a shower, and walking across the wood floor, noticed bottom of my feet were black as I was putting my shoes on. Floors were filthy. I don't think the sliding glass door locked either. With the room fee and taxes and all the other "fees" room was close to $700. Outrageous for the quality. View was the back of the pool house. Not appealing.

I've been staying at the Island Inn since before I could walk, as my mom and cousin have been…read morecoming since before I was born. We were so sad that the Inn was destroyed during the hurricane and are happy they've been able to rebuild. We stayed in the Matthews Lodge on the first floor. The room is beautiful and comfortable. The staff are friendly, helpful, and accommodating. We arrived after the front desk closed. They reached out to us in advance, sent us all the information we'd need by email, and had our room keys ready for us in a lock box. The location is great, with gorgeous views of the Gulf. We lucked out and saw a pod of dolphins one morning!

This was the best hotel ever to us. Beautiful views. Quiet. Wonderful staff. Comfortable room.read more

So much fun! We called them at noon on Saturday to find out if they had anything available that…read moreday. They said they could accommodate us at 1pm. Great! We headed over. Dalia met us and was very thorough over the phone and in person. We really lucked out because we were the only ones that day. We had 2 instructors for the SUP Eco Tour. One was in training as an instructor. So, we basically got a private SUP tour. We saw manatees, an eagle, and a dolphin. It was kind of windy, but we did good. And, the instructors were really nice and patient.

Great experience, fantastic tour of the natural beauty of Sanibel/Captiva back waters. Dalia and…read moreMark are truly good people!! Highly recommend - can't beat the private lesson and tour for the $!