Cape Coral, Florida for vacation?

[Fermion]

Just scouting out places that might be interesting to rent a waterfront home for a week or so and was looking at Cape Coral, Florida. It looks like, from Google Earth, that it has a VAST maze of canals. We would have our 17 foot Montgomery sailboat (2 foot draft with centerboard up) and also a 7 foot Portland Pudgy. We use a 3hp equivalent Torqeedo electric motor on the Pudgy and it is a blast to silently cruise up and down the fingers of extensive canals. We did this at a VRBO home rental in the Cape Canaveral area about 4 years ago (we didn't have the sailboat with us at that time though).

I figure someone here has to know this area...its Florida after all, and you guys are all retired there

Some of the canals:

 

[CardsFan]

We stayed in Cape Coral for a month in the spring of 2021. Had a VRBO with a heated pool on a canal. We did not have a boat, but it was pleasant sitting on the dock in the evening.

The Yacht Club Beach and the Boathouse Tiki Bar are a nice way to spend the day near water. Parking is free, but does fill up. The beach is on the river, so it is brackish, and has a slight orange tinge to it, but is fine to swim in.

Lots of good eateries in town, but I highly recommend Deep Lagoon across the bridge in Fort Meyers. Absolutely the best fried oysters I have ever had, anywhere. Usually get the oyster app and a Caesar salad.

We drove through Fort Meyer beach last year after the hurricane, and it was devastating to see. But we hear from some friends that live there that things are getting better. Not sure about Sanibel Island, but they boat regularly to Captiva.

To give you another thought, we just got back from Jensen Island. Lots of canals on the Indian River side and sailing on the river looks like it would be fun.

Not an expert on the area, but feel free to ask more questions.

 

[bigcmagor]

We live in Cape Coral for 7 months each year. There are 400 miles of canals, so if you're into cruising canals, you'll have plenty to choose from. The quality of the water is dependent on the amount of discharge from Lake O coming down the Caloosahatchee. The river is as much as a mile wide and there are many sailboats making use of it, although there are many shallows near shore that pose hazard. The rental market seems to have softened up since hurricane Ian, so you should have no problem finding something nice to rent.

 

[Fermion]

It does look like an interesting place to sail. I will have to dig around some more and see. We could drive further south if the water gets better/clearer. Looks like about halfway to the Keys...