Fort Myers with 4 kids, which resorts have water slides etc

[Ohbrenda33]

Hello all
I need your sage advice! Which resorts are right on the beach. ? Looking for someplace with a water slide. Just give my kids a water slide and they will hang out at the pool all day.
Also interested in Sanibel and Marco islands. Are they far from fort Myers? Would we need to rent a car or is there transportation? Is everything open ?
Thanks so much.

 

[rapmarks]

Hyatt coconut plantation has water slides snd lazy River but you need to take water shuttle to get to beach. If you stayed there you could probably get by without a car. That’s the only one I know with water slides. Marco about an hour from the airport and sanibel a half hour

 

[Paumavista]

Definitely need a car from Ft Myers to Marco or Sanibel. We were on Captiva for 3 weeks in December (the resort on Captiva does have a waterslide and was open most of December (although a bit chilly). Agree Hyatt Coconut is the only other one I can think of with lazy river & slide. I can't think of any resort on Marco with waterslides, etc.....(a beach is always kid-friendly!!....having said that.....I didn't notice much of SW Florida a particularly "kid" emphasized area).....If you're trying to entertain the kids there are SOOOO many wonderful resorts around Disney......(totally the other side of Florida......The Hammock Beach resort....has 3 or 4 pools, lazy river, water slides, huge indoor pool and is right on the ocean with a golf course.....I am not sure whether all the facilities are open....but it's Florida....so who knows....- this is NOT a time share)

 

[sfwilshire]

You'll definitely want a car unless you plan to never leave the beach.

Sheila

 

[Ohbrenda33]

We are looking into the Hyatt coconut plantation. So we will need a car. Good to know. We’ve done the Disney thing already but wanting to discover the gulf side as we have heard it is lovely. Thank you all!

 

[Ohbrenda33]

T

Definitely need a car from Ft Myers to Marco or Sanibel. We were on Captiva for 3 weeks in December (the resort on Captiva does have a waterslide and was open most of December (although a bit chilly). Agree Hyatt Coconut is the only other one I can think of with lazy river & slide. I can't think of any resort on Marco with waterslides, etc.....(a beach is always kid-friendly!!....having said that.....I didn't notice much of SW Florida a particularly "kid" emphasized area).....If you're trying to entertain the kids there are SOOOO many wonderful resorts around Disney......(totally the other side of Florida......The Hammock Beach resort....has 3 or 4 pools, lazy river, water slides, huge indoor pool and is right on the ocean with a golf course.....I am not sure whether all the facilities are open....but it's Florida....so who knows....- this is NOT a time share)

thanks so so much!

 

[Paumavista]

We are looking into the Hyatt coconut plantation. So we will need a car. Good to know. We’ve done the Disney thing already but wanting to discover the gulf side as we have heard it is lovely. Thank you all!

Some other notes: IF you decide to visit Sanibel Island... parking is in short supply but parking in Ding Darling is free & you can take the shuttle tour for a couple dollars. If you have bikes or want to rent for the day....Sanibel has wonderful bike paths! - I'm not sure if you drive & go to one of the bike rental places where you leave your car...but if you come to Sanibel bring a bag to collect shells!; The light house on Sanibel has parking (I think it's $5/hr). There are little beach parking areas along Bonita Beach and Naples (Drive along the beach road in Naples just to see the houses! We enjoyed exploring Lovers Key state park (you can bring or rent bikes or kayaks). After staying on Captiva South Seas we thought Marco was WAY too busy! (parking is limited....it's way down toward the end....goggle ahead of time if you decide to go).

 

[Ohbrenda33]

Some other notes: IF you decide to visit Sanibel Island... parking is in short supply but parking in Ding Darling is free & you can take the shuttle tour for a couple dollars. If you have bikes or want to rent for the day....Sanibel has wonderful bike paths! - I'm not sure if you drive & go to one of the bike rental places where you leave your car...but if you come to Sanibel bring a bag to collect shells!; The light house on Sanibel has parking (I think it's $5/hr). There are little beach parking areas along Bonita Beach and Naples (Drive along the beach road in Naples just to see the houses! We enjoyed exploring Lovers Key state park (you can bring or rent bikes or kayaks). After staying on Captiva South Seas we thought Marco was WAY too busy! (parking is limited....it's way down toward the end....goggle ahead of time if you decide to go).

Oh great tips. Thank you so much. For sure we need parking tips!!

 

[rapmarks]

If staying at the Hyatt you can do without a car and Uber to coconut point mall if you want to eat somewhere else

 

[tschwa2]

But if you are staying at the Hyatt without a car, you aren't exploring the area, you might as well be staying in Orlando if you just want to stay onsite at a resort with slides and a nice pool.

 

[Ohbrenda33]

Definitely need a car from Ft Myers to Marco or Sanibel. We were on Captiva for 3 weeks in December (the resort on Captiva does have a waterslide and was open most of December (although a bit chilly). Agree Hyatt Coconut is the only other one I can think of with lazy river & slide. I can't think of any resort on Marco with waterslides, etc.....(a beach is always kid-friendly!!....having said that.....I didn't notice much of SW Florida a particularly "kid" emphasized area).....If you're trying to entertain the kids there are SOOOO many wonderful resorts around Disney......(totally the other side of Florida......The Hammock Beach resort....has 3 or 4 pools, lazy river, water slides, huge indoor pool and is right on the ocean with a golf course.....I am not sure whether all the facilities are open....but it's Florida....so who knows....- this is NOT a time share)

Which resort on captiva had the water slide if you dont mind my asking? Recommend for kids?
Thanks

 

[Paumavista]

Which resort on captiva had the water slide if you dont mind my asking? Recommend for kids?
Thanks

Southseas Resort. If you stay at "most" of the Southseas Resort timeshares (i.e. Harbour villas, Southseas Club, The Cottages, etc) they include the amenities (including the pool with a slide).....the timeshare plantation beach club condo's do not include amenities (we stayed at the beach club where an amenity add on was like $20/day p/p.....the regular pool at the beach club was fine for us (and we were isolating and preferred to be directly beachfront)). You can google the pools and slides - - at the Hyatt Coconut (I think you can use the main resort pools/slides etc in addition to the lazy river at the timeshare); there's only one slide at the Southseas Resort (they have a pretty bayfront pool and next to it (nicely shaded) is the pool with the slide. We walked or biked around the pool area/marina almost daily....there are so many dolphins and manatees.

 

[Paumavista]

While we were at the Plantation Beach Club (a couple of plain rectangle pools.....but all nice & warm! and pretty deserted most days) there was a gentleman saying he thought it was too quiet at Southseas (we LOVED/Preferred it)...but he said he was looking forward to his next week at Eagles Nest on Marco Island where they had activities every day. We drove to Marco one day - because I'd read so much about the pretty resorts & wanted to see for ourselves; we got a picnic lunch and walked the beach - it was crowded....we prefer quiet, deserted beaches and low rise condos.......But I'm glad we don't all like the same things!

 

[Ohbrenda33]

Southseas Resort. If you stay at "most" of the Southseas Resort timeshares (i.e. Harbour villas, Southseas Club, The Cottages, etc) they include the amenities (including the pool with a slide).....the timeshare plantation beach club condo's do not include amenities (we stayed at the beach club where an amenity add on was like $20/day p/p.....the regular pool at the beach club was fine for us (and we were isolating and preferred to be directly beachfront)). You can google the pools and slides - - at the Hyatt Coconut (I think you can use the main resort pools/slides etc in addition to the lazy river at the timeshare); there's only one slide at the Southseas Resort (they have a pretty bayfront pool and next to it (nicely shaded) is the pool with the slide. We walked or biked around the pool area/marina almost daily....there are so many dolphins and manatees.

Thank you so much. They dont allow use of the water slides for the hyatt Regency at peak times. But the southseas sounds really nice. Thanks so much