Tortuga Beach Club on Sanibel Island

[TheTimeTraveler]

Hello Florida Forum Folks;

I have the opportunity thru an Interval International exchange to visit the Tortuga Beach Club on Sanibel Island.

I've never been there and was wondering what the owners thought of this resort?

Do all the units have washer/dryers?

Is it located right on the beach or do I have to cross the street to reach the beach?

Any traffic issues reaching it?

Any other juicy tidbits?

Thank you for any information you can provide!







.

 

[Sea Six]

I'm not a fan of those older resorts down by the lighthouse. Mainly because your view is of Ft Myers Beach, not sunsets on the Gulf of Mexico. It's like being on a bay rather than the ocean. If you want a good sunset you'll have to drive somewhere else. I much prefer something a bit farther north, especially Captiva rather than Sanibel.

 

[tpdgfmt]

Tortuga is highly regarded. Take a look at the TUG reviews as well as TripAdvisor. It has a "5" rating from TripAdvisor.

All units have washers and dryers.

it is right on the beach (after walking through the buffer zone). You do not have to walk across a street, and there are no real traffic issues. The street in front is not very busy.

 

[Sea Six]

We stayed in one of these "lighthouse beach" resorts several years ago. We were assigned a 2nd floor unit. Turns out the ground level is mostly storage because the units are built on pilings. The first floor is actually what you would normally call the second floor. So, the 2nd floor unit was on the 3rd floor, but the master was over the living area, so we were actually hiking up four stories to get to the bedroom. I'm not sure if Tortuga is built like this, but if it matters it's something to ask them about.

 

[OldGuy]

A bad day anywhere on Sanibel is better than a good day just about anywhere else.

 

[Sea Six]

Another thing that concerns me about this lower end is it is where the Caloosahatchee River dumps into the Gulf, so if there are green algae issues from the Lake O discharges, this area gets the worst of it.

 

[sfwilshire]

We stayed in one of these "lighthouse beach" resorts several years ago. We were assigned a 2nd floor unit. Turns out the ground level is mostly storage because the units are built on pilings. The first floor is actually what you would normally call the second floor. So, the 2nd floor unit was on the 3rd floor, but the master was over the living area, so we were actually hiking up four stories to get to the bedroom. I'm not sure if Tortuga is built like this, but if it matters it's something to ask them about.

We did the same. In the summer. It was crazy hot and exhausting to get our things to the unit. I wouldn't even try it these days.

Sheila

 

[B2big37]

Beautiful resort with a boardwalk to the beach to get through the mangrove areas. Stack washer and dryer unit in the room, worked fine. Nice resort layout, many activities, great staff, security is there - but has never been needed that I can remember!! My building has an elevator, but the others do not. Bottom floor is parking and storage, so you WILL be walking up stairs to get to your unit. Well maintained and on the Gulf. I have never seen any issues with water quality at this resort.

 

[OldGuy]

It's been awhile, but we really enjoyed our January week at Lighthouse.

HUGE unit, virtually a 3-bedroom, except one was called a den.

Interesting history, if I can remember it. First, look at the layout, the two condo sections to the right:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/L...77b!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d26.452598!4d-82.0189172

We were told it was all going to be condos, but the builder/developer was cash-strapped, so he timeshared out 1/3 of it. Most of those there when we were there, Snowbird Season, were long-time owners.

Great setting for a full-moon-rise. No, no sunset, but nice moonrise.

 

[OldGuy]

Speaking of water quality, here's the Red Tide map. It's looking good now (knock on wood).

https://myfwc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=87162eec3eb846218cec711d16462a72

 

[Sea Six]

Speaking of water quality, here's the Red Tide map. It's looking good now (knock on wood).

https://myfwc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=87162eec3eb846218cec711d16462a72

It's not just the red tide, which comes along the coast from the Gulf. I'm talking about the blue-green algae and black water that gets released from Lake Okeechobee and flows down the Caloosahatchee River right to this lower Sanibel area. It's a mess. I've seen aerial photos of this beach when the black water pushed out the beautiful aqua water of the Gulf. It's like swimming in tea.

 

[OldGuy]

It's not just the red tide, which comes along the coast from the Gulf. I'm talking about the blue-green algae and black water that gets released from Lake Okeechobee and flows down the Caloosahatchee River right to this lower Sanibel area. It's a mess. I've seen aerial photos of this beach when the black water pushed out the beautiful aqua water of the Gulf. It's like swimming in tea.

Duh!

No need preaching to this choir; I know the stink of which you speak.

I know the guy who heads WCIND, and he told me there's a very long-range plan to reverse mans' blunders, even before that became more public recently.

 

[Sofie]

Hello Florida Forum Folks;

I have the opportunity thru an Interval International exchange to visit the Tortuga Beach Club on Sanibel Island.

I've never been there and was wondering what the owners thought of this resort?

Do all the units have washer/dryers?

Is it located right on the beach or do I have to cross the street to reach the beach?

Any traffic issues reaching it?

Any other juicy tidbits?

Thank you for any information you can provide!







.

I have stayed at Tortuga Beach Club. There are washer & dryers in every unit. We were very close to the beach. We did not have to cross the street. I love Sanibel!