post cruise stay in Florida

[BarJen]

Hi all, we will have a few days post cruise (port of Miami) in April before we fly home. We are wanting to stay on or near the beach. We are thinking of heading to Sanibel Island. My question is are the beaches nicer in the Sanibel area, or the Miami area?

Any info, suggestion, or pics from your experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[Eileen G]

You are comparing apples with oranges. Maimi is big city. Lots of people, night life and it's on the ocean so you will have larger waves. Sanibel is a beautiful island with uncrowded beaches, little development and is on the gulf coast. Sanibel is all about nature. The sunsets are spectular. Maimi is all about beautiful people and night life. The choice should be easy.

[tomko2]

The gulf tends to be calmer than the Atlantic so is nicer for swimming. Hotel costs might be pretty high in April on Sanibel; it is a small island. Naples is a lovely spot (:rolleyes: OK so I am biased) with a number of beach front hotels and miles of lovely beaches. It is a 2 hour drive from Miami up 1-95 and straight over 1-75 (Alligator Alley) to Naples.

As the previous poster indicated; it really boils down to the type of vacation you have in mind.

Kathy:)

[AlaskaBound0507]

Hi all, we will have a few days post cruise (port of Miami) in April before we fly home. We are wanting to stay on or near the beach. We are thinking of heading to Sanibel Island. My question is are the beaches nicer in the Sanibel area, or the Miami area?

Any info, suggestion, or pics from your experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Beaches are definitely nicer in Sanibel - white sandy beaches that feel like cornstarch between your toes! Great shelling, not much in the way of night life or a party atmosphere. Most any beach on the west coast of Florida - Naples, Ft. Myers Beach, Bonita Beach is better than Miami any day. Just my opinion on that one. We live in Ft. Lauderdale & spent a long weekend in Ft. Myers Beach at the Outrigger Resort. It was great, there is a small restaurant, big tiki bar, pool and the big wide wonderful white sandy beach. Did I mention the sunsets? Don't see those too well in Miami. There is also a trolley that you can take that runs back & forth along the beach area so that you can hop on & off for shopping, restaurants etc.

[Bequia]

Sanibel is plagued with sand fleas and no-see-ums, be prepared to spray yourself frequently with OFF. No need to go to the west coast, one of the nicest beaches in all of South Florida is Hollywood Beach. If you do insist on driving head down to Bahia Honda, the nicest beach in Florida. ;)

77

[BarJen]

Sanibel is plagued with sand fleas and no-see-ums, be prepared to spray yourself frequently with OFF. No need to go to the west coast, one of the nicest beaches in all of South Florida is Hollywood Beach. If you do insist on driving head down to Bahia Honda, the nicest beach in Florida. ;)

 

 

 

 

77

 

Wow, I've not heard that about Sanibel before, is there a certain time of year that the bugs would be a problem? Or, is it all the time?

I was just about convinced that we were going to go there, I was thinking a more relaxing area would be nice post cruise.

[Eileen G]

We have been to Sanibel quite a few times and have never had a problem with the bugs. We even went camping one time. However we do have friends that went and did complain of the sand fleas. I don't know if it's the time of year or the area of beach but I would look into it more if I were you. Try going to Trip Advisor and go to the Florida boards where you can get to a board for Sanibel and ask about this problem.

[BarJen]

Thanks for the input Eileen, I will go check out Tripadvisor to see if I can find anything out there.

 

Boy, originally I was only thinking east or west coast for our post cruise stay.

Then Bequia posted about Bahia Honda. I looked it up and that looks very nice too!, the only problem is it would be kind of far for a day trip if we were to stay near Miami. So, now I am also considering Key Largo for our post cruise stay.

Does anyone have any input for Key Largo?

 

Thanks,

Barry

[BarJen]

OK, after much reading about Sanibel Island it seems that there is some truth to the no-see-ums. But primarily during the summer months from what I read.

However, in doing some searches about Key Largo and upper keys, that seems like it would be a good option for us as well. I really want to be in a more relaxed area post cruise plus it is closer to the Miami area for our flight home. And Bahia Honda is definitly calling my name! :)

 

So, would anyone have any suggestions for hotels/motels in either Key Largo or perhaps Islamorada? Not really looking for a posh resort type, mom and pop place is fine for us as long as they have clean rooms for sleeping and such.

Any advice would be appreciated. :D

 

Thanks,

Barry