By Dorothy Strauss
The Fort Myers/Lee County area of Florida has eye-popping beach scenery in addition to outstanding lodging, dining and recreational activities available to visitors.
To find out what’s happening on the Lee County VCB tourism scene and see how the VCB is promoting the area. View the most recent media releases, search the media release archive, and review the monthly Tourism Happenings e-newsletter for industry news from the VCB, Southwest Florida International Airport and local tourism businesses. Plus, get the latest information on legislative updates that affect tourism visit online here.
Another great resource for the area is the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce.
Amongst the shell-drenched beaches, wildlife and the sparkling Gulf of Mexico, the destination offers lots of new experiences for return guests and first-time visitors. For the latest vacation information, visit FortMyers-Sanibel.com.
According to The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel, the destination is known for its wildlife and turtle nesting season is special to those who live here as well as to the visitors who travel from all over the world to experience it. This ritual is one of nature’s miracles. Most common to the area is the loggerhead sea turtle, which lives to be 40-60 years old. These fascinating creatures are big – they weigh 250-400 pounds. Like the visitors, who return year after year to enjoy our beautiful beaches, loggerheads return to the same beach time after time to deposit their eggs.
Be sure to observe a nesting turtle from a distance. Do not shine lights on or around her or she may abandon her effort to nest. Forgo taking photos or using cell phones and stay far away where she cannot see you as she crawls back to the water.
Lee County has a Sea Turtle Conservation Code. For more information, contact the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation at sccf.org/our-work/sea-turtles or Turtle Time, Inc. at turtletime.org
The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is a great place to visit when you’re visiting the area. The museum devoted to every aspect of seashells including the paleontological and archeological/anthropological aspects of the study of shells. The museum is located in the city of Sanibel on Sanibel Island on the Gulf of Mexico coast of Southwest Florida.
According to its website, the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is the only accredited museum in the United States devoted solely to shells and mollusks. The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is a natural history museum that educates, inspires, builds community, and connects people through their love of shells, the diverse animals that create them, and the natural environment. The museum’s mission is to use exceptional collections, aquariums, programs, experiences, and science to be the nation’s leading museum in the conservation, preservation, interpretation, and celebration of shells, the mollusks that create them, and their ecosystems.
Clise's Cornucopia 