Carefree in Captiva

The Captiva Island Inn is right in the middle of the Captiva Village area, surrounded by bistros, shops, and highly recommended seafood restaurants. It is one of the more moderately priced places to stay in the area but also very nice and convenient in every way. There was a great pool and spa, two bistros right next door, and it was a 1-minute walk from the beach and fishing docks.

We stayed in a two-bedroom apartment called the "Gardenia Suite". It was just perfect for me, my brother, and his wife. The suite also included a kitchen, living room, and a gated padio where we could sit and drink margaritas and watch all the action.

This was actually my favorite dining experience on our Captiva trip, even though The Mucky Duck had a better reputation in Captiva Village. The atmosphere was just really fun. The Bubble Room was completely decked out with antique junk that had a theme of old Hollywood stuff and Christmas stuff. It was very busy every night, so you did have to get on the list and just wait for about 45 minutes. But it was worth it.

They make really strong margaritas, so just get bombed while you wait and have a good time. As soon as we were seated, they brought out some really special garlic bread (and fresh cinnamon rolls too--kinda strange). Then you can order from what looked like an excellent choice of seafood dishes. The most affordable option they had, which I thought was great, was an option to get a salad, a choice from their really great appetizers, and a very special dessert choice. Since I noticed that they have these really fancy-looking desserts, I got this option. It was actually a ton of food and was really great. I had the scallops with mushrooms and an enormous piece of cake. I would recommend it for sure.

We loved The Mucky Duck. The food and atmosphere were great. I had salmon with some kind of fruit salsa, and it was very tasty. I guess the only downside here is that there is always quite a wait. We put our names on the list and waited an hour, but they give you a little beeper, so you can take a stroll and come back when they're ready for you.

Also, they don't have a liquor license here, apparently. Maybe it's because they are right on the beach. But they have beer and some kind of wine-based margaritas. The waiters were really funny and nice. Actually, a funny story--another customer was having a birthday, so the waiters got the whole restaurant to sing happy birthday to them and then shoved a pie in this girl's face. I couldn't believe it! They must've asked if it was okay beforehand. I have no idea. It was the funniest thing.

At Captiva Cruises, there are many options for boating--there are cruises for dolphin-watching, fishing, shelling, sunset-watching, and others. My group took the Dolphin Watching Cruise and the Beach and Shelling Cruise.

The Dolphin Cruise was great. It was a pretty big boat where one could sit in the sun or on a covered deck, in case you were getting too much sun. The captain said that they see dolphins about 98% of the time, so you're not likely to be disappointed. And sure enough, in about 5 minutes, they were swimming right alongside our boat. When the boat is moving, it creates these waves on the sides, and the dolphins will just surf along in these waves--perfect for viewing. The captain explained that dolphin have the perfect lives--they spend 8 hours eating, 8 hours playing, and 8 hours sleeping. Also, it was funny, because our captain told us to scream and clap when we see the dolphins because they will apparently swim along with the boat longer if they find us amusing, and I guess they're known to respond to a bunch of hollering and yelping.

The next day, we went on the Shelling Cruise. This was a nicely paced little boat trip for my family--we can't have too much excitement, you know. Browsing for the prettiest seashells in mint condition on the beach provided a good couple of hours of amusement for us. There were wild pigs on this island that would come right up to you, but they didn't seem to be mean or aggresive in any way (but the captain of our boat did warn us not to feed them). Much of the island looked really strange, with dried-up, dead, and mangled trees from the last hurricane. It was really cool-looking, actually. We found quite a lot of good shells for our collection and thought the island was pretty cool. There is absolutely no shade on this island, so bring your sunscreen--but if you get too hot, you can always hop back on the boat for awhile and drink some soda on the covered deck.

Captiva didn't seem to have much of a nightlife when we were there. Things seemed to get pretty quiet around 11pm. But this seemed to be the main bar that stayed open late for the island drinkers. So, naturally, we were there every night. The waitstaff was very friendly and shared a lot of island information with us. They showed us a scrapbook of the hurricane before/after photos and filled us in about life on Captiva.

There were different musicians that played on every night of the week. They all had the same basic style--guitar players that would sing all the hit songs you might expect in a tropical vacation spot (lots of Van Morrison and James Taylor). I thought they were all pretty good, although I probably heard "Wasting Away In Margaritaville" a few too many times. They made great mixed drinks, and the food was pretty good as well...

This Wildlife Refuge is one of the most common tourist activities on Captiva, aside from the usual beach and boating activities. I would recommend this for bird enthusiasts and adults who just want some peaceful and pretty scenery. In my experience, teenagers will think this is a bit of a snooze, however. But I enjoyed it.

We saw quite a few cool birds. Others saw some alligators, which would have been pretty cool, but we had no such luck. We did see a raccoon walk right by us though--it didn't seem to even notice us. In terms of the scenery--you'll see a lot of very beautiful mangrove trees and cool brackish marsh-like areas. We drove our van through the refuge, but you can also take a tram or bike.