This past week we went on a Babymoon to Captiva Island in sunny Florida! We weren’t planning on doing a Babymoon, but everything fell into place and we ended up booking it three days in advance! There were many reasons why we were hesitant to book a Babymoon! The rising number of Covid cases was concerning, and we were also hesitant to leave our 2 year old for very long. We decided on just three days (so that we wouldn’t be gone too long) and also spoke to my OB about all of our Covid concerns just days before we left. At the end of the day, both my husband and I felt comfortable going and knew that we would really benefit from the time away. See below for all of the details on our Babymoon in Captiva!
Why Florida?
First, we really wanted to go somewhere close. We wanted to keep our trip on the shorter side so that we wouldn’t be away from Rosie too long. A 3-4 hour flight was our goal! We briefly contemplated going to Mexico, but we weren’t comfortable with the possibility that we could get stuck in Mexico (away from Rosie) because of Covid. So… we were basically looking for a U.S. destination that would also be HOT. Our Babymoon was at the end of the December and there really aren’t that many places within the U.S. with hot weather. After looking at Arizona, California, Texas, and Florida, we decided that Florida was it! The weather was going to be high 70s (perfect!) and it was a short flight away.
Captiva Island
We ended up choosing Captiva Island because we wanted to check out somewhere new in Florida! Neither of us had spent much time on the gulf side of Florida, and we have heard so many great things about the whole area. We zeroed in on the islands of Captiva and Sanibel and went from there! Captiva and Sanibel islands are located near Fort Myers, Florida (the Fort Myers airport RSW is the best place to fly into). The islands are sister islands that are separated by a short pass. We spent our entire trip on Captiva, but have heard so many great things about Sanibel too!
Where We Stayed
I looked at hotels and resorts all over both Captiva and Sanibel. The week between Christmas and New Years is the busiest week of the year for this area so everything was booked or very expensive! I found some availability at Tween Waters Resort (and it wasn’t crazy expensive) so I jumped on it. The property is really nice and has lots of amenities. There are two pools, a marina, multiple restaurants, tennis courts, etc. Our actual room was just fine. It was essentially a motel (that needed lots of updating) but it worked and had a great view of the ocean and sunset!
The resort was not walking distance to anything (except the ocean of course!) and that was one thing we would do differently next time. Most of the restaurants on Captiva are in the same area and there were resorts and inns that were walking distance to those restaurants. It would have been really fun to walk to dinner! We did rent a car and took the car everywhere we needed to go. I would highly recommend renting a car to get around the islands and also to get to and from the airport.
Where to Eat
- Lazy Flamingo: Dive bar with great food! Get the grouper sandwich, peel and eat shrimp, and wings!
- Doc Ford’s: Great food and live music. Be sure to make a reservation ahead of time. Order the grouper sandwich!
- Mucky Duck: Restaurant that is right on the beach. The food was just okay, but it has a great view of the ocean and you can watch the sunset here.
- Key Lime Bistro: We stopped in here just for dessert and to listen to the live music. The menu looked great. It was Florida food with a little bit of a twist!
- Bubble Room: A must for dessert! The best pie and cake! If we went back with Rosie, I think we would eat dinner here too. It looked very fun for kids.
What To Do
It seemed like there was a lot to do on the islands of Captiva and Sanibel, but we were mostly interested in relaxing! We spent all of our time by the pool and at the beach! Here are some more activities that sounded like fun.
- Shelling: Sanibel and Captiva are world renowned for their shells!
- Fishing
- Rent a kayak or SUP
- Parasailing
- Biking the many miles of bike paths
- Shopping
For our first pregnancy, we went on a Babymoon to Kauai! See the post here!