In Episode 31, The Travel Brats interview the infamous, Jenny from the Boat. In this episode, Jenny shares her love for the relaxing vibes on Sanibel Island along with the best things to do, see, and explore. She talks about adventuring the island far and wide on bicycles to find hidden beaches, delicious restaurants, and gems off the main strip. A true must listen to.
EPISODE NOTES
Travel Brats ask: “What is Sanibel Island like? What’s it by?”
@Jennyfromtheboat said: “Sanibel has a relaxing vibe that is laid-back. It’s the place for outside activities such as biking, kayaking, Paddleboarding and exploring wildlife at Ding Darling. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/jn_ding_darling/ If you want an active day with outside activities Sanibel is the place. You also can go there and relax on the beautiful beaches. The sand is white, the water is clear and the beautiful turquoise color. There are many shells and I love to go shelling. Sometimes I like to go to the causeway and watch sunrise or sunset.
You can pay the toll which is $6 or do a u turn before the toll and hang out on the causeway. Or go to Bimini bait shack https://www.biminibaitshack.com for a fishbowl which is right next to the toll booth I usually pay the toll and I love the drive over the 3 bridges. It is the best view and it never gets old.”
Travel Brats asked: “How often do you go? Why do you like it so much?”
@Jennyfromtheboat said: “I have started going to Sanibel weekly. I love going there because my dream is to live somewhere where the primary mode of transportation is by bicycle. I love going out and exploring and discovering new hidden treasures that a lot of the locals only know about. I love being active and I love shelling. I usually go on Saturdays after I do yoga on the beach on FMB we drive to Sanibel rent bikes at Billy’s Bikes http://sanibelbike.com to go exploring, shopping, lunching, cocktailing, and shelling.”
Travel Brats asked: What’s the best way to get around Sanibel?
@Jennyfromtheboat said: “The best way to get around Sanibel is by bicycle. The paths are not right on the road so you’re a little bit further away from the traffic a lot of the paths are shaded. There are designated crosswalks for bikers. There is parking if you go to any of the restaurants or shops.
Travel Brats asked: Where is the best place to stay? What are the best resorts?
@Jennyfromtheboat said: “My favorite resort is Casaybell which is right on the beach. It is a resort where you can be in the pool you can order drinks and food and then just walk straight up the path to the beach. You can reserve chairs and you can rent kayaks and paddle boards.
I have stayed at Tween Waters which is considered Captiva but it’s I think right on the border. If you travel by boat, Tween Waters has a place to dock the boat. We have gone there and purchased day passes so we would dock the boat and then just pay a fee per person to use the facilities and spend some money on their drinks and food. We have also stayed at the resort it’s on the water but the beach is across the street.
Another place that we’ve gone to several times is Southseas Island Resort which I know for a fact is on Captiva. We’ve gone by boat and purchase day passesWe use the facilities have some drinks have some food and then go back by boat other times we have stayed there. In my opinion, Southseas is great but if you stay in the condos on the beach, the pool is pretty far where you would have to drive to it. If you stay near the pool, the beach is far. But the resort is fabulous with lots of activities.
Another resort that we have stayed at many times is Sanibel Harbor. An amazing resort with beautiful view and activities but no beach access or bike riding. We often go by boat and buy a day pass.
However my favorite place is Casybell because it is a resort right on the beach where you can do everything.
Travel Brats asked: What are your tips for Biking?
@Jennyfromtheboat said: “Biking is one of my favorite things to do. I have rented my bikes from Billy‘s bikes And that is the only place I will rent my bikes from. I like that the bikes have baskets so we pack a small bag some drinks beach towel etc. they are so nice and so helpful and very accommodating and very reasonably priced. If you stay at a resort and you want to rent a bike for a couple days or a week They will deliver bikes to your location and again they are very reasonable and good quality. they have different types of bikes as well such as a four seater bike, tandem bikes and all kinds of different things that you can rent. Biking on Sanibel enables you to discover different little hidden treasures. there are beaches that you can only get to by bike. There’s a nude beach Somewhere on the island but I have not stumbled upon it yet LOL. I like that the paths are shaded and So it’s not so hard to bike in the heat because it is shaded. I have learned that there are some area on the paths That gets very narrow and sometimes when they are winding it is difficult to see but so far so good I only had one minor incident and that was because somebody was riding on the wrong side of the path.”
The Travel Brats asked: What are some Must See’s / Must Do’s?
@Jennyfromtheboat said: “So in Sanabel as I mentioned there are bike paths and it is fun just to grow and explore there are lots of wildlife you’ll see lots of huge iguanas alligators. Ding darling is a fun adventure it has a path that you can ride all the way around I think it’s like 10 miles but there’s a shorter path to take as well it’s a lot of fun and there’s lots of lakes a lot of birds just a lot of wildlife in their natural habitat.
There is a shell museum that I’ve never been to but I believe is a popular spot for field trips. Another thing that I enjoy doing is going in all of that unique shops a favorite place that we always stop at is Gene‘s books and then Gene‘s books open another location across the street and it’s called Gene‘s books too. https://www.facebook.com/genesbooksfl/ One location carries certain genres of books and the other location carries different genres I’m not a huge reader but Ashley could go and spend hours and hours.
I absolutely love going to the beaches are usually go to Tarpon Beachl and they have bathroom facilities very very very clean and there’s parking and I believe it’s five dollars per hour. I love look for shells. One time when Ashley and I were in the water a manatee swim right past us we are only about waist deep water and it was a baby and it swam right past us we’ve also seen sting rays Or manta rays swimming around at our feet. A lot of people do fishing from the beach. You will see a lot of boats fishing underneath the bridges.
Travel Brats asked: What are the best places to eat at?
@Jennyfromtheboat said: For Breakfast, over easy café is a great breakfast. We have eaten at island cow https://sanibelislandcow.com for breakfast and for lunch and for dinner. Everything I’ve had that has been amazing. The menu is very good however I have learned that they have a limited menu due to Covid. I guess their menu is like a small magazine so obviously the choices that are offered on the smaller menu are their most popular or favorite items and I have loved everything I have gotten there.
Sanibel Bean is a great place to get coffee they serve breakfast and lunch however right now with Covid they are only doing breakfast but they have bagels and breakfast sandwiches and I am really very good.
For Lunch/Dinner: Matzaluna is amazing. http://matzaluna.net It is an Italian restaurant the first time we were it was recommended by a friend who actually lives on the island and we had gotten pizza and salad. Amazing. Then we went back for Marks birthday with the family and had Italian dinner and everybody was just amazing.
We have been to George and Wendy’s and that is awesome huge menu great service we can sit inside or outside.
Doc Fords is very good that’s a favorite place that we go to often. We love the Yucatán shrimp.
So as you get further into Sanibel/Captiva there is the Bubble Room which has the most amazing cakes orange crunch cake, Yum.
We like the Keylime bistro that’s in Captiva and I don’t know Captiva that well but restaurants that we have been to include the Green flash, the mucky duck, and an anniversary dinner that we had was at the Mad Hatter which I loved it’s a very small intimate romantic restaurant and very enjoyable.
Rosies is another restaurant it’s a little bit off the beaten path and I love it.
As you can see, Jenny loves Sanibel and so do we. If you have more questions or want to learn more, follow @thetravelbrats on IG!
