All right, all right—we know that no matter how tempting the sports scene in Florida may be for some Hideaways members, a substantial number of you just can't get beyond the beaches. And why should you? Those wide swaths of white sand, the aquamarine waters, the endless sunny days—all make for beaches that are beyond compare.

But to start, we offer a word of warning: If you've got to have sand between your toes to make your vacation complete, avoid the Keys. While Key West has plenty to offer, the grainy stuff is not high on the list.

Some of our favorite Florida beaches are to be found on North Captiva Island. As on its sister islands to the south, Captiva and Sanibel, the shelling here is fabulous. But since the island is accessible only by plane or by boat—albeit a short ride, just 15 minutes from Pine Island—there are fewer people to compete with, and you have better odds of snaring a really good memento of your trip. In fact, it is North Capptiva's very isolation that has left it unspoiled, virtually untouched by T-shirt shacks or developers' bulldozers. And so the island's five miles of beaches are wide and white and wonderful. Two-thirds of them border a 700-acre preserve, meaning that chances are you will have them all to yourself—and the loggerhead turtles, manatees, and more than a hundred species of birds that reside there.

Fall/Winter 2001