(12) Check the current availability of each home by month.
(13) Check our rates page for our 4-week rates for each home.
(14) Competitive Rental rates and rate matching.
(15) Contact us to begin the rental process.
(16) 10 day courtesy hold while arranging reservation payment.
(17) Payment methods: personal check, bank wire, money order, traveller's check.
(18) Your reservation booking is finalized by our receipt of your deposit.
(19) Rentals are booked on a first-come, first-serve basis.
(20) Security deposit is refundable within 30 days of departure.
(21) Final Rental Payment at 90 days.
(22) Cancellation Policy: 90 days.
(23) Check-in is 3 PM and Check-out is 10 AM.
(24) We Hope You Enjoy Your Sanibel Vacation!
(1) Minimum Rental is 28 days for private homes on Sanibel Island.
Private homes on Sanibel are required by the City of Sanibel zoning law to rent for a minimum of 28 days (4 weeks).
Condos, motels, hotels, and Captiva homes can rent for shorter times. Condos usually have at least a one week minimum.
If you wish to rent for less than 28 days, please check the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce
website for accommodations, or check our short-term rental listings.
(2) Sanibel's High Season is from Thanksgiving in November through April.
February and March are the most popular months, while November is a "swing" or "hump" month. The highest peak visits are
during winter school breaks as well as spring and holiday breaks. Most rentals are on a Saturday to Saturday basis.
(3) For high season (Nov-April), many Sanibel rentals are booked ahead a full year in advance,
particularly for private homes. Renting a full year in advance has become the custom because there is so
much demand for good rental accomodations. Thus, many guests generally make their plans and reservations
for their next visit in the following year during their current Island visit. Off-season rentals (May-Oct)
are sometimes rented for a year in advance, but not always, as there are generally plenty of homes
available during off-season. We always offer our current guests first option at renting their same time
of year for the following season.
(4) Sanibel has a toll bridge, which is currently a $6.00 toll for entry onto the Island.
There are a total of 3 bridge spans between the mainland and Sanibel, including a drawbridge and
two small "spoiler" Islands (because they spoil the flow of the Caloosahatchee River, similar to a car spoiler).
There is no toll for leaving the Island. There is currently a large construction project to build replacement bridges,
just to the right and left of the current 2 bridges with a plan to replace the drawbridge with a fixed span bridge.
If you wish, you can buy a transponder and discounted toll program for the Sanibel bridge at
LeeWay. The Service Center is located at:
LeeWay Service Center
1366 Colonial Blvd (SE corner near Colonial/McGregor overpass; also near shopping mall).
Fort Myers, Florida 33907
Phone: (239) 931-0100 Fax: (239) 278-7854
(5) Stay clear of alligators and be considerate of other wildlife.
Do not feed or approach an alligator, as it is against the law. Do not feed or approach
wild animals of any kind. On Sanibel, letting the wildlife alone includes birds, raccoons, snakes, turtles, frogs, armadillos,
manatees, and of course, alligators. Sanibel now has the same alligator policy as the rest of the state of Florida -
"harvesting" any alligator larger than 4 feet that is deemed a nuisance to humans or in public areas.
Loggerhead turtles are protected and Sanibel has a no-lights-on-the-beach policy from May to
November to protect the turtle nests and young hatchlings. Live shelling or taking any seashells with an animal
in them or live sanddollars is prohibited by Sanibel law and is a fineable offense, $50 for each offense.
To report a hurt animal (do not approach any animal), please call C.R.O.W. at: (239) 472-3644.
To report a nuisance alligator, call the Sanibel police at: (239) 472-3111.
(6) Our residential neighborhood is quieter and the beach is less crowded than the Eastern "condo" part of Sanibel.
Weekly accomodations (condominiums, hotels, motels and cottages) are located mainly on the Eastern part
of the Island, with the majority located East of Tarpon Bay Road. Our area, just west of
Rabbit Road, near East Rocks and West Gulf Drive has no condominiums or motels and has only 3 small cottage motels,
so the beaches are usually far less crowded, and the residential neighborhood is much quieter.
(7) We offer free beach parking for our guests.
at home #4, across from the beach on West Gulf Drive, for anyone who would rather park than walk the short
distance from their rental home. People with kids and/or lots of gear for fishing etc, or those with health
issues have all parked in the large yard and enjoyed the almost private beach. Because we live in Sanibel home #4, within walking distance from all of our rental homes, we will generally be around
to greet our guests and to take care of any problems right away. We do all of the yard maintenance and most home maintenance ourselves.
(8) Maximum number of people.
Please include the number and ages of all members of your party as a part of the rental information, as each home
accomodates a maximum number, from 6-10 persons, depending on the home. We can add some sleeping arrangements
for 1-2 persons, at most homes, if requested in advance.
(9) No smoking and no pets, please.
The interior of our homes is a non-smoking environment. If you wish to smoke, please do it outside.
(10) All you need to bring are your personal items, clothing, and food.
Each rental home has central heating and air conditioning and is fully equipped with linens,
towels, cable TVs/DVDs/VCRs, CD player/stereo, portable phone with answering machine, washer/dryer,
gas BBQ grill, fully equipped kitchen, microwave, dishwasher, beach stuff like umbrellas, small ice chest,
chairs, and some beach toys as well as pool toys. High speed internet access is available upon request.
We also have a "loaner" computer for use at our rentals. And we will help you with any computer problems
and with networking as well. Finally, we have a library of approximately 500 movies for our guests.
(11) We are Members of Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce and Lee County Chamber of Commerce.
The website and contact information for both Chambers of Commerce is as follows:
• Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce - (239) 472-1080
• Lee County Chamber of Commerce - (239) 931-0931
(12) Please check our availability page for the current availability of each home by month.
The availability calendar includes all finalized bookings, but may not include pending bookings, or bookings that
have a courtesy hold on them. Most Sanibel rentals, including ours, are generally rented on a Saturday-to-Saturday basis.
In addition, our 4 week dates are usually tied to the calendar month as much as possible, either starting with the first
Saturday of the month, or the first full week of the month, if the prior month ended near a Saturday.
Additional dates may be available, particularly during off-season or for longer visits. Rental dates can be more flexible during off-season (May-Oct), depending on the rental home.
(13) Please check our rates page for our 4-week rates for each home.
Please note that posted web rates may be subject to change until confirmed via email.
As with all rentals in Lee County and
the State of Florida, we are required to charge 9%
tax for any rental less than 6 months. Please email or call for current pricing, because sales,
last minute pricing, or multi-month discounts may apply.
(14) Competitive Rental rates and rate matching.
We try to keep our rental rates competitive, so if you find a lesser rate for a comparable home
on Sanibel, please let us know. We will make every effort to match the lowest price and provide
you with the best value for your vacation. For rental rate price matching on a comparable home,
we need the address and terms offered on the comparable home in order to try to match the lower rate.
Note that "comparable" includes things like home size, pool, hot tub or spa, lake views, and most importantly,
walking distance to the beach. A community pool (or no pool) home is not comparable to our homes with private,
heated pools, 3 with hot tubs. When comparing rates, please compare on the same basis, that is, including
the 9% Florida tax or not, as many Sanibel rentals are quoted without it, but add it on later. In addition,
when comparing home rentals, be sure to ask about the heating type and the rules about pool heating as some owners will
not heat their pools (no heater) or lock their guests out of raising the pool temperature of their heat pumps.
Our guests are allowed to heat the pool to whatever temperature they choose, but guests are expected to
reimburse us as agreed upon, in advance, for heating costs above a certain minimum (see security deposit
info for full detail). You will find that our rates are the lowest on the Island for our gold-rated, very near beach homes. You can certainly find less expensive homes, but they wouldn't be comparable!
(15) Contact us to begin the rental process.
To rent one of our homes, simply email or contact us and tell us which home and which dates and the
number of adults and children in your guest party, that is, you could say "we'd like to rent
home #__ for 4 weeks, from (your Sat arrival date) to (your Sat departure date) for ___ adults,
___children, ages __,__ and__".
(16) 10 day courtesy hold while arranging reservation payment.
We offer a 10 day courtesy hold on a home when someone indicates that they wish to rent one of our homes, to
allow time for payment arrangements. Please be sure to tell us that you want a courtesy hold and that
you wish to rent home #__ from (your Sat arrival date) to (your Sat departure date).
(17) Payment methods accepted: personal check, bank wire, money order, or traveller's checks.
We can accept only US$ payments via personal check, money order or bank wire; we do not accept credit cards
due to the transaction expense. In order to accept a personal check as rent payment, we must have the check
in hand at least 30 days prior to the rental, otherwise only a money order or cashier's check can be accepted.
We cannot accept third party checks.
(18) Your reservation booking is finalized by our receipt of your reservation deposit,
at which time we will send a quick email as well as mail a confirmation letter to you.
(19) Rentals are booked on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Please note that we rent on a first-come, first-serve basis, so availability may change quickly.
If you wish to rent a home or condo from us, please be sure that we understand that, and that we put your intended
dates and home on a courtesy 10 day hold while you mail your reservation deposit.
(20) The security deposit is refundable within 30 days of departure,
upon finding all in good order at the home, less pool heating costs over allowance, if any.
For homes with an electric pool heater (homes #1, 3 or 6) or a propane pool heater (home #2),
payment for electric or propane usage over the allowance will be deducted from the security deposit.
At home #2, we provide one propane tank per 4 weeks, additional propane requirements are the
responsibility of the guests. At homes #1, 3 or 6 any electric usage over $200 per month
will be the responsibility of the guests. The normal electric bill averages less than $150 per
month, so additional electric payments are not usually the norm unless Sanibel has unusually cold
winter weather, or if guests wish to heat the pool above 80 degrees. Home #5 has solar heating only.
(21) Final Rental Payment at 90 days.
The final payment for a rental is due at 90 days prior to the beginning of the rental visit.
(22) Cancellation Policy: 90 days.
We have found that a 90-day cancellation policy is necessary to allow enough time to re-rent the home.
Our cancellation policy (from our rental confirmation letter) is as follows:
If you cancel your reservation more than 90 days prior to the visit, all money will be refunded in full.
If you cancel less than 90 days prior to your visit, we will refund any rental money we receive, if the home is re-rented for all or part of the same rental period.
If you might need to change your plans or cancel your visit, then we recommend purchase of travel insurance from an outside insurance agency.
(23) Check-in is at 3 PM and Check-out is at 10 AM.
Please plan to arrive after 3 PM on the first date of your visit, since we work hard to have our home
cleaned thorougly between guests, which takes place between departure and arrival.
If you plan to depart earlier than 10 AM, please let us know, as we can certainly put that extra time
to good use by starting the home cleaning early. If you plan to arrive after dark,
please let us know so that we can leave the exterior lights on for you. Key pickup is by prior arrangement with us.
(24) We Hope You Enjoy Your Sanibel Vacation!
We hope that you enjoy your vacation on Sanibel, where ever you stay. We would welcome you as our
guests in any of our beach getaway homes. You can hear the ocean waves carried by the ocean
breeze to all of our homes. Home #1 has the best sunset views from the lanai and pool deck area. There are wonderful lake views at both home #1 and home #6, with birds aplenty. Three homes have hot tubs -- homes #3, #6, and #7. If you wish to rent adjacent homes, then we may be able to arrange that as well, because home #2 and home #5 back onto each other. We live on the Island within walking distance of all of our homes. We try to make sure that your vacation is enjoyable. If you have any questions about our rental process or about Sanibel, please feel free to ask us!