Getting Your Bearings

Sanibel & Captiva Islands are located off the coast of southwest Florida, just west of Fort Myers, Florida.

Sanibel Island measures roughly 12 miles long and three miles across at its widest. Little sister Captiva Island has more compact measurements of approximately four miles long and ½ mile wide.

-- The toll to cross the Sanibel Causeway onto the island is $6 per car; there is no toll to return to the mainland. Frequent visitors may want to opt for the transponder program, which works on a debit account system and offers discounted tolls of $2 per trip (plus an upfront charge for the transponder). For more information, contact the LeeWay Service Center at 239-931-0100. For local Taxi service click here.

-- Make the Sanibel and Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center your first stop. You’ll find us in a colorful island-style building on your right-hand side immediately after you drive onto the island on Causeway Boulevard. Open 365 days a year, our staff is here to answer all of your questions and make you feel at home. For more information, call us at 239-472-1080.

-- Sanibel Island has two main roads that parallel each other. Periwinkle Way, located at the four-way stop immediately past the Visitor Center, is the main thoroughfare. West of the causeway, it leads to the island’s shopping and dining district. Follow it east and you’ll pass a quieter commercial section, ending up at the Sanibel Lighthouse and its beach. Gulf Drive, the other main route, roves past resorts, beaches, and homes at the water’s edge. It is segmented into East, Middle, and West Gulf Drive.

-- Periwinkle Way links, via Palm Ridge Road or Tarpon Bay Road, to Sanibel-Captiva Road, which continues on to Captiva Island. Known locally as “San-Cap,” the road passes by most of Sanibel’s natural attractions, including the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Center (SCCF), the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, and the Clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (C.R.O.W.) facility.

-- Captiva Island is connected to Sanibel by San-Cap Road. Once you cross the short bridge at scenic Blind Pass, the road becomes Captiva Drive. Follow it north and you’ll find two public beach accesses, plus restaurants, shops and resorts.