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Florida - Captiva, Sanibel or Marco Island

pacman

pacman

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SInce becoming HGVC members we have been to the Hilton Hawaiian Village 4 times and once to Waikoloa. We just love Hawaii!! We're thinking of switching it up by going to Florida next time. Either to Captiva, Sanibel or Marco Island. Does anyone have an opinion as to which one to go to and to which resort? How does the beach compare to Hawaii? I don't want to be disappointed. We are beach people and spend most of our day there. Also what's the weather like there in November? Wouldn't want to be there during hurricane season.

Thanks for any input
 
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Try asking your question on the Florida board.
 
Please be aware that the HGVC resorts on the gulf coast are all affiliate resorts, therefore the supply of available rooms is very linited as compared to the regular HGVC resorts.

I think you'll find better answers on the florida board too so I'm moving this question there.
 
pacman said:
We just love Hawaii!! We're thinking of switching it up by going to Florida next time. Either to Captiva, Sanibel or Marco Island. How does the beach compare to Hawaii? I don't want to be disappointed. We are beach people and spend most of our day there.

Thanks for any input
Click to expand...

The beaches at Sanibel are filled with seashells. If you want soft sand, keep lookin'.

Nothing is like Hawaii IMHO. So you can't get that in the mainland. :D
 
Pacman

Been to them all but for shells alone hands down Captiva and Sanibel. We loved Captiva South Seas Resort (prehurricane) All islands mentioned have really nice beaches.
 
West Coast Transplants

We moved from San Diego to the East 3 years ago....we've always been BIG Hawaii fans but felt we needed to start checking out East Coast beaches so last year we rented a house in Captiva.

We LOVED it!.....we went in October and hit unusually warm weather in the 90's all week. Luckily we had a house with a pool. We were right outside the South Seas Resort (one house from beachfront). We did alot of exploring in the area. We biked around Sanibel one day, took a wonderful boat tour of the harbour area (we netted & released a seahorse and so many other types of fish - there was a naturalist on board), went to the nature park, and of course we collected shells! Wow, what shells ! We saw soooo much wildlife - manatees (right at the dock in captiva), dolphins (everyday from the beach), aligators, birds, pelicans, hundreds of starfish (we'd walk along the beach in the morning just throwing them back into the ocean). The beaches were wonderful down at this end of the island. The sunsets were beautiful and there were NO crowds ever. We ususually walked toward the tip of South Seas resort along the water I have some great pictures if you want to see. We would have taken kayaks through the mangroves if we hadn't had little ones with us.

I think if you like Hawaii and the beach atmosphere you will really like Captiva. We did!

Judy
 
Bill4728 said:
Please be aware that the HGVC resorts on the gulf coast are all affiliate resorts, therefore the supply of available rooms is very linited as compared to the regular HGVC resorts.
Click to expand...

So does anyone have any experiences getting into these affiliates? How hard would it be to get an October or November week?

pacman
 
Judy - I agree with you 100%. I'll take the beaches of South Seas over most of the beaches in Hawaii any day of the week. As for Marco vs. Sanibel - I prefer the fact that Marco faces west and has the sunset views, versus Sanibel, which mostly faces south and does not have the same sunset views. The best thing about Marco is that there are so many uninhabited islands nearby, and the area is so much more secluded - especially if you have a boat and know where to go. Some people don't like the high rise condos on the beach, but if you get out on the water or walk the beach towards Tigertail, they quickly disappear. This is the area known as the 10,000 Islands for a very good reasons, and you will NEVER feel this level of seclusion in Hawaii, or anywhere else along the coast (any coast) for that matter, if you look at a map and understand just how secluded this area really is. If you have a problem with shells - they come with the territory at a real beach. You may not realize how many beaches in Hawaii are man-made. There are no sea critters at the man-made show-off Hotel paid for beaches for a reason.
 
pacman said:
So does anyone have any experiences getting into these affiliates? How hard would it be to get an October or November week?

pacman
Click to expand...

Since you're in the 9 month window, I suggest calling the HGVC Desk and asking about availability for October and November for each of the Florida affiliates that you're interested in.

Note most resorts are listed as having LIMITED AVAILABILITY in the HGVC Membership guide - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=474720&postcount=4

Please share what they tell you.

Good Luck
 
Sanibel would be my choice

As a Florida resident, Marco Island is nice, but Sanibel is better....great beaches, great shelling,
 
Fwiw....

pacman said:
We're thinking of switching it up by going to Florida next time. Either to Captiva, Sanibel or Marco Island.
Click to expand...

1. Can't tell your family makeup from your post, but I would advise against Captiva if you have children beyond early grade school age. While beautiful, it's far too much of a "snooze" area for kids (in my opinion). There is just plain not enough around there to amuse them for very long. Nice beach and sea shells goes only so far --- progressively more so the older the kids are.

2. There is a HGVC affiliate (called Seawatch) on Estero Blvd. in Fort Myers Beach, a geographic location which, although not in the locales you cite, is reasonably close to all of them. No "limited availability" --- I suspect you'd have no difficulty at all getting in there anytime in the month of November.

3. Technically, November is the tail end of hurricane season, generally regarded as being June 1 -- November 30. Statistically, however, the time to be most concerned about is the (approximately) ten week window comprising August through mid October.
 
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