Outstanding Outfitters and Unusual Tours

Take a tour: Sail alongside dolphins and manatees, kayak or canoe into the Calusa Indian past, hike by the full moon and pedal among big pink birds.

By Chelle Koster Walton

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Fort Myers Beach

Babcock Ranch

Paddling near Matlacha

Loggerhead sea turtle babies

Edison & Ford Winter Estates, Fort Myers

Paddle Power

The most intimate way to experience the area’s good-natured water personality is at sea level in a kayak or canoe. Local outfitters cover the map and lead you to the quiet spots wildlife loves: Captiva Kayak Company in Captiva Island waters, Tarpon Bay Explorers in Sanibel’s J.N. “Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Gulf Coast Kayak in Matlacha Pass Aquatic Preserve and GAEA Guides along the Great Calusa Blueway paddling trail. Ask about sunset and moonlight excursions.

Going Native

Artist John Paeno authentically reproduces Calusa crafts and feels the spirit of the long-lost native tribe in his work and in the mounds and waters around Pineland. His Calusa Ghost Tours walk the Calusa Heritage Trail and explore the waters by kayak or canoe.

See Life, Feel Life

To get to know our critters hands-on, check out Adventures in Paradise’s Sealife Encounter Excursion into Pine Island Sound, where naturalists take you out in a power catamaran. Using a seine net and on-board aquarium, they introduce you to some of the locals, such as seahorses, puffer fish and blue crabs. Along the way, you’re likely to see a pod of dolphins following in the boat’s wake.

Dolphins & More

Sailing from Matanzas Pass on Fort Myers Beach, the double-deck Fort Myers Princess sails into the Gulf of Mexico for its popular afternoon dolphin tour. Sailing from Captiva Island, Captiva Cruises teams up with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation for a narrated quest to spot dolphins and other wildlife in Pine Island Sound.

The Swamp Thing

Babcock Wilderness Adventures plunges into the swamp – and the region’s ranching heritage – aboard a school bus converted into a big swamp buggy.

Wheels & Feathers

On the Refuge Bike Tour, follow a naturalist along J.N. “Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge’s Wildlife Drive and hard-packed, shell-paved Indigo Trail to get a pedal-paced look at the refuge’s world-famous bird populations, from white pelicans and roseate spoonbills to warblers and mangrove cuckoos.

Walk This Way

Take beaching to a new level of understanding on the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s Turtle Tracks: Shoreline Discovery walking tour of Sanibel Island’s Gulfside Park. Learn about sea turtles, shorebirds and a world of minutiae most beachcombers overlook.

Walk Back in Time

Botanical tours at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers take you back to the 1880s, when Thomas Edison and his wife planted gardens of exotic plants for experiments and sheer aesthetics.

Walk Under the Moon

Nighttime brings a new host of wildlife into the open. Explore on the CREW Marsh Trail Full Moon Hike near Estero, where you climb an observation tower for night visions, and Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve Full Moon Walk in Fort Myers, which takes you along a boardwalk into wetlands.

For information on local tour operators committed to preserving the environment, visit the website for the Society of Ethical Ecotourism Certified Providers at www.seeswfla.org.

Walk This Way
Walk Back in Time
Walk Under the Moon

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POINTS OF INTEREST (mentioned in this article)

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1. Adventures in Paradise, Inc.

2. Babcock Wilderness Adventures

3. Calusa Ghost Tours

4. Captiva Cruises

5. Captiva Kayak Company

6. CREW Land and Water Trust

7. Edison & Ford Winter Estates

8. Fort Myers Princess

9. GAEA Guides - Guided Kayak Nature Tours

10. Gulf Coast Kayak

11. J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

12. SCCF (Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation)

13. Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

14. Tarpon Bay Explorers

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