We rented the White Pelican Watch and got a nice off season rate ($3,400) for the week. The house itself is fabulous, 100 feet from the beach. Ah, the beach. I've been to many (see my profile), but this was lovely. Many miles of perfect sand covered with numerous shells, replete with dolphins, spotted eagle rays and hammerhead sharks swimming by at reasonably close range. You could count the other people strolling the beach on one hand. The weather was perfect.

The Pelican watch is pretty new and pretty nicely furnished in a crate and barrel kind of way. 4 bedroooms down and big living area with lots of wide open sliders and two big screened in porchs. Small heated pool and hot tub round out the ameneties. Very nice.

The Club itself is OK. The staff wasn't exactly unfriendly, but not particularly welcoming either. There are tennis courts, two pools, kayaks (falling apart), bikes (more so) and a very off season feel. I guess mid Feb - to mid July is the hot season. The restaurants were either closed or so slow as to not inspire. Renting a boat is a great full day activity.

I wouldn't book based on the resort, but would instead make sure you like your rental house and bring your own entertainment. Replenishing food and booze on island is expensive. I recomend the island whole heartedly.

Bill

We travelled from England via a 5 day stay in Orlando and Tampa doing the parks. we wanted a quiet week and we found we had arrived at a paradise island and a a magnificent accomodation (Hidden Harmony) my wife daughter and her friend were blown away by the size and luxury of the house.

We plan to book again next year. With the £/$ echange rate a four bed house can comfortably accomodate 4 couples or 8 people at a bargain cost in the summer season which is good for Brits.

If you have a large family I would recommend paying that little extra for a private water taxi to the island as we had an enormous amount of luggage and shopping.

Be prepared to bring everything you can think of for the week as the ferry/ taxi to the mainland is expensive. The small store on the island could do with enlarging to hold more goods but that is our only gripe.

The fishing, beachcombing, boating anf views were fantastic.

Try the frozen cocktails at the pool bar that the lovely gal form Georgia makes to her own recipes. We had a couple at arounf 5pm every evening. Great after a long day in the sun.

the holiday was topped off by a friendly dolphin who popped its head up mere feet off the stern of our rented boat as we fished and spent a good few minutes looking us over!

Truly an island paradise

We stayed on North Captiva for 2 weeks. At first we thought we would get bored by being restrained to a small island (only 550 acres), but after a few days slowed down our pace to match that of the island. There are miles of beaches, 2 pools at the Club, and some homes have their own pool.

One of the best aspects of the island is that the kids can't escape or get into to much trouble (where can they go?). There are no cars so it is quiet, and you can get about the island by bike or golf cart (which the club provides).

We rented the Crews Nest that was rated a 5 star property. It was huge and had a large outdoor pool. Since it was July, we were treated to some rather spectular thunderstorms most evenings. Although some may question Florida in the summer, it is half the cost of renting somewhere like Cape Cod for an equivalent property.

The only drawbacks is that you need to shop ahead for you entire stay (The local store has almost nothing other than beer). Just fax an order to the Publix store and pick it up on the way to the Island.

The only issues where that we lost some bags of groceries when we arrived (they were delivered to someone elses house I assume). So count you bags when you arrive. Also we rented a boat from the company on the Island and it broke down. We were not offered any refund so paid almost $400 for a 1 hour charter..

If you are looking for a fast paced vacation with lots of nightlife, then North Captiva is not the spot. If you are looking for a place to relax, give it a try.

One of the best vacations ever!! We stayed at the Green Lizard and the house was great! Island Girl Charters was great!! The staff at North Captiva Island Club was great!

Island Girl Charters took us on a dolphin tour and the dolphins were practically on the boat. I got up every morning and went to the airstrip and watched the dolphins. They came within 10 feet of the shore and they were there all day every day for a week.

I loved the fact that the only way around the island was in a golf cart. We couldn't believe that we were acutally in FL and not on a tropical island.

I would recommend kayaking. My kids loved it.

I wish I lived closer so we could go back again this year