Casa Ybel Resort

Casa Ybel Resort is on the amazing Sanibel Island, in sunny Florida. I love Florida. If it was not for having family in Virginia, I would live in Florida year-round. So, any excuse to get in the car, or on a flight to the sunshine state, I make my way down.

Video by Casa Ybel Resort

Day One Travel and Arrival at Casa Ybel Resort

Sanibel Island is on the West coast of Florida across from West Palm Beach, near Fort Myers. If you have not been to the area, you are missing out.

My journey to Florida often involves a bit of a long drive. You can drive it all in a single day, or you can break the trip into a 2-day drive. Now in my 50s, I choose to often break the drive into 2 days. It just takes the pressure off the drive and works better if I have not had a perfect night’s sleep the day before.

For myself, the drive to is about 14 hours to Sanibel, which by any standard is a long drive. It is about 9-10 hours depending on traffic to Jacksonville, Florida at the top of the State. So, when I feel good, I often start a trip to Florida down interstate 95 and stop at Jacksonville. I do not stay near the beach, but rather near the airport because the hotels there are cheaper, clean, and right off the interstate. This makes it easy.

I then wake up the next morning enjoy breakfast at the hotel or near it and hit the road fresh for the last 4 hours or so to my destination. That is what I did on this trip as well. For this trip, the journey is over 900 miles. That is a bit of a haul. I take the extra time to check my tire pressure, and oil and do a quick review of the car top to bottom a day or two before my trip. I do this ahead of the trip to give me time to address any issues that I might find on my inspection. On more than one occasion, I have chosen to get the oil changed prior to my trip, and I often put more air in the tires.

These two checks not only help my safety on the roads, but I think I save on gas as well.

On this trip, I woke up fairly early and just decided to get on the road after some orange juice from one of those hotel machines. I did not brave the little hockey pucks of egg product.

I was on my way before 8 AM. This would put me at the resort too early for check-in if traffic was light to normal, so I planned to stop along the way and see some tourist things, and maybe have some lunch.

If you make the drive, you can take Interstate 95 all the way down, then just cross over from Miami to Fort Myers. I chose to take a path that used 95 most of the way, then cut across the state in Orlando. If it is Spring Break or Summer Season, this would not be wise because of traffic. As this was the late Spring after Spring Break I thought the traffic would be manageable and I was right.

With hours to burn before checking in, I stopped and played a little in Orlando. Instead of starting some massive amusement park adventure, I chose to stop and have lunch at top golf in Orlando. If you have not been, it is fun. They have set up a huge 300-yard plus driving range area. In front of that, they have many custom driving areas where they serve food and drinks. They provide clubs if you did not bring your own, and have a menu and service that will bring you the food and drinks you choose. Since I still had a few hours to go on my drive, I opted out of the drinks and instead fueled up on caffeine, nachos, and a burger. I played and ate for about 2 hours, which was perfect and a great break from being in the driver’s seat. I love my convertible, but those cars are not great comfort on long drives, even with the top down.

Recent Reviews

We have been coming to Casa Ybel for years now. The food and drinks at Coconuts are great. Amazing beach views in each unit. There is a pool for everyone too: a nice hot tub, a 1.5 to the 2-foot heated kiddie pool, and a deep swimming pool with lanes. A must stay in Sanibel.

This place is beautiful and right off the beach. The staff was friendly. Lunch was great, and the beach was amazing, with fine sand and lots of shells.

This may be the most beautiful spot in Florida! The condo was clean, opens right up onto the beach and the views of the ocean were amazing! My husband and I wanted a 4-night getaway, and this place did not disappoint! The property is superbly maintained with lush tropical plants and large palms. The Coconuts bar is right next to the huge pool and easy access from the beach. We were welcomed with beach chairs and an umbrella set up every morning by 9 am. The 1 restaurant on the property has excellent seafood. We will definitely be back next year. Thank you to all the staff at Casa Ybel for making this trip so special for us!

We’ve been spending a week there for years and just love our stay. The pool is fabulous; the beach is clean and wonderful for walking, shelling, swimming, and fishing. We like spending time looking for and photographing wildlife. The resort itself has everything we need within biking distance. This years remodel of our unit was a very nice change! It is also great to just kick back and relax.

Overall a great experience. Nice clean rooms and a great screened-in porch overlooking the ocean. Friendly staff and many activities are available. We rented bikes and beach loungers and walked for miles in the sand.
We came right at the transition from high to lower season in mid-April so there was a bit of staff shortage resulting in the pool/beach bar being closed for a couple of days, but the main restaurant/bar was open.
We will be back!

Well located, well-appointed, and brilliantly decorated. The rooms were very spacious and comfortable. All units have laundry, kitchenette, and very large living area.. trash chutes were very convenient. Decorations are mostly island fare. Very close proximity to the beach, approximately 100 yds from most rooms. Highly recommend.

Great location and proximity to the beach. Loved waking up every morning and watching the waves while sitting on the screened-in porch.
The AC when it’s on blasts like crazy, particularly in the bedroom, but you can open and close the vents as needed.
The full kitchen was great. The TVs had some reception problems but worked for the most part. Loved the pool and the Shell washing stations. Would visit again!

My Experience

I had booked myself for a 1 bedroom villa. The resort also offers 2-bedroom villas as well. 1 was great for me and a very nice size. I am not sure about the square footage since it is not published, but the villa felt like it was close to 1,000 sq ft and was equipped well. This resort also offers room service which is an added benefit and extravagance that is nice when it is offered.

Villa Amenities

Then the resort itself offers all of these options.

Resort Amenities

Each room has a view of the Gulf and the lovely grounds. Your room just varies the angle to the Gulf for your view. If I had been around for the naming of this island I would have used the word sunset in it because they are simply wonderful here.

Since I was transferring from another local resort on this trip (Club Regency follow my adventure at that resort here) check-in was a breeze and I was wide awake and full of energy to play tonight.

I headed for Turtles Tiki Bar. Hours on the island of restaurants, bars, and almost everything reflect the older crowd that tends to visit the island. So closing time was 7 PM for this spot as it is for most locations on the island. This is fine for older adults and families alike. The 30-somethings and 20-somethings would likely find this crazy. This bar is a great spot for drinks and food. They had a frozen lime colada here that was well worth ordering. Another good drink was the SANIBEL SUNSET.

Day Two A Slow Beach Day

I woke later than one would imagine for a guy that had made several sunrises on this trip. What can I say? The SANIBEL SUNSETs went down easy. Between all the fruit juices, and frozen somethings the alcohol had my head tap dancing just when I needed silence.

This called for as little human activity as possible for the day. I would start slowly and carefully on the beach then never really speed up. I felt OK, but I would not enter any race, or charge out to do anything particularly active today.

After a while on the beach in the sun, I determined that a little hair from the dog was required. While not aiming for a frozen anything at the moment I thought a few adult beverages with lunch would not hurt me.

I chose The Island Cow for lunch they had a nice menu and I landed with a Boom Boom Shrimp Tacos that were great. I love that spicy sauce on the boom boom shrimp it is a winner and goes well with any leafy green.

After a late lunch or early dinner it was time for a nap. In part from being full and in part from licking my wounds a little still.

Day Three Sunrise and Sunset Day

My nap turned out to last the night. So, today I woke up early. I mean I was up before dawn.

Lucky for me I found Sanibel Cafe which opened at 7 AM for breakfast. They have everything here from great sources. Fresh ingredients and it shows in the taste.

This place has a 4.6-star rating on Google and it should be a 5. Not sure who could have a bad meal here ever.

So I have fueled up for a great last day in the area. One that could include anything. Luckily, I match the slow pace of this island paradise very well these days. While I still might go get on a boat, I do not party like it is 1999 now, and I also do not play as hard as I used to. This meant my grand plan was to hang out and truly relax for the day. No cheating and doing some work back in the room, no taking a phone or anything more than a book to the beach.

I just wanted to stare out at the Gulf of Mexico and count the waves as they came in, stopping often and starting again because the number did not matter. This is kind of like counting sheep. It also had a similar hypnotic effect like driving at night on the interstate and getting pulled in by the dotted line flashing up into your eyes. Except here there was no risk of anything other than a sunburn and after getting a mild one while going out on a jet ski, I had stayed covered by SPF 30 ever since. That and a nice beach umbrella were my protection from overcooking in the sun.

After midday, I returned to the room to shower change and eat something small before I returned to see the sunset again and watch the fire dancers one more time. I said to myself on this night’s trip I wished the fire dancers were hula dancers instead but still it was a neat thing to see for free on your vacation. I like that Marco Island feels timeless. As if some part of it is stuck in the 60s of its birth as a vacation destination, and part is new and fresh.

If you too want the best island getaway to check out this resort for your stay, just make sure you save with TZort.