Plantation Beach Club at South Seas Island Resort

Plantation Beach Club at South Seas Island Resort is on the lovely Captiva Island. I am transferring from a sister resort on the island so this trip did not even include the normal vacation drive or flight. To me that makes it nearly perfect from the start.

Video by Tidy Island

Day One Arrival at Plantation Beach Club at South Seas Island Resort

Again, today was just a matter of putting the bags in the car for a few hours going out having fun then moving them to the new resort at check-in time. I love that I get to do this to compare different resorts on the same trip so that the features are fresh in my mind. Also, when they are on the same island as these are, I can finish things I wanted to make sure I did while on vacation. A real win-win.

One thing I regrated not doing earlier was fishing so today I booked a fishing trip for myself and one of my friends. If you read my last resort review on the island (read it here) I had two friends join me from Miami. Today the two friends were going down to one since one pal needed to return to work. That may be accurate or it may be that she just did not want to fish.

Who knows maybe even they planned this together so that I would end up solo with the one friend, just to see if sparks would fly. Never trust women and their plans (I am joking).

For our fishing trip, there are so many options to choose from when it comes to fishing charters on the island. A look online will likely lead you to over 20 options. We chose Captiva Island Charters since their reviews looked good, and their website was helpful. We did an inshore or backwater fishing trip since I was not sure how deep sea-worthy my friend was.

If you have not been deep sea fishing there is a roll of the boat as it just barely moves forward in the water that gets most people. If you want to learn if you get seasick this is the way to find out. The roll of the waves gets a lot of folks. For me, I am resistant unless I am hung over from too much fun the night before.

But just in case my friend had any inclination to romance on her mind, the last thing I wanted to do was get her seasick. So the 4-hour inshore fishing trip seemed ideal for fun.

The rates for these trips seem high to me but that is just because I grew up on the water and understand the costs. There is some wear and tear on the boat, but the majority of the cost is fuel and time for the crew. If you have just a boat captain the pricing seemed high, but when you add a paid member of the crew it seemed more reasonable once I thought about it.

Also, I could see the pricing for offshore runs that are longer and include more guests. I think their standard packages included up to 4 fishers onboard.

It is funny to me still how oddly I look at things financially. I spend tons of money on things and never think about them. Then when I am too close to the knowledge of something, I tend to overthink it.

Interestingly one of the pickup locations for the charter provider was our previous resort, so during our time of transfer this worked very well.

The fishing was great, clearly, this provider knew his area and where the fish was this time of year. I also loved that the crew cleaned our fish for us as a part of the package. It is a simple thing, but it was nice not to have to arrange for a knife and all the tools on vacation. They also provided ice and a cooler for our drinks as well as coolers for the fish.

We caught several Tarpon on the trip and they were keepers. They are fun fish to catch since they like to fight but they are not too large or strong when compared to offshore fish. Still while not strapped into a chair you can get your fight on with these and have a ton of fun.

Now many might not cook them and keep them. Since these are essentially bonefish that mimic catfish in salt water. But when cooked right they seem like a cross between salmon and trout. I could see also salting them if you lived in the area. Just cooking salted fish is an ordeal you would not want to go through on vacation. Not to mention you would have a very short salting period.

Check-In Time

This resort offers 2-bedroom villas. Which is a nice option for a family, two friends, or couples on a vacation. The villas are 850 sq ft in size which is a nice 2-bedroom size overall. The fully equipped kitchen and the nice small living room are nice to have as well.

The villa does not have a washer in the dryer in room but there are laundry facilities on site. Since I was leaving a resort that had a washer and dryer in the room I just cleaned everything I had and made life easier for myself. But for long stays at least having good machines available on-site is a great option.

Villa Amenities

Then the resort itself offers all of these options.

Resort Amenities

The interior living room furniture was redone. Bathrooms updated. Great shower heads. Two coffee makers. Full kitchen. A nice screened-in patio that looks out into the gulf of Mexico. The master bedroom has a great view. Glass table for meals (get glass cleaner or always looks messy). Beautiful pool area with laundry room, bathroom, ice maker, and gas grills.

Great place to go to get away from everybody especially in the Winter Time as Summer is pretty busy. I prefer the Winter time around Christmas as they have all sorts of activities near Christmas and it’s nice to hit the favorite places I enjoyed over the years.

Beautiful property, directly on the beautiful beach, swimming pool, tennis courts, shaded parking, upgraded furnishings, trolley stop… Paradise!

Very well maintained interval ownership community with a private swimming pool and private beach. Been coming for 20 years.

Beautiful sandy beach, crystal clear water, and a paradise for everyone.

Dinner Time

Every day while on Captiva we ate some in our villa and then enjoyed at least 1 meal out. Today it was going to be dinner. We both showered and worked hard to remove any lasting fish smell from ourselves. Likely the sense of one was only subconscious.

I have been to Doc Ford’s before and I was happy to take my friend for dinner.

We both enjoyed some fresh steamed shrimp and then had fish tacos for dinner, along with enough drinks to remember to arrange transportation and not drive.

Several of the house drinks here are amazing. Most offer some form of rum and coconut combo that you will love. My favorites were Doc’s Cure and the Sanibel Sunset. Doc’s Bumbu Colada caught me by surprise and in the best way. When you are having fun choosing a place that has a drink menu the size of food menu is a good way to go.

A nice thing about this location is that you can walk to the resort and back so easily. So, even having a little extra fun at the bar only leads to a walk instead of an Uber.

Day Two Beach Time

The beach here is long, semi-private, and uncrowded. You can find shells here, especially after a storm that will be keepers for that home project or personal collection. I think if I owned a resort in the area I would set up a simple shell washing station or two and link it to the pool filtration system.

We started the day with breakfast at Key Lime Bistro. I have been here before but my friend had not, so breakfast was what was on the menu. With some Key Lime Pie to go to the secure back at the resort for later.

After a great breakfast, we went for a walk on the beach each looking for a single perfect shell as a memento of the vacation. Years ago I took a small rock home from a cruise to St. Croix. It just seemed unique and something fun to have on a shelf at home as a reminder of that spot, and little memory of that time. Since then I have taken a rock or shell from many locations for the same reason. They cover 5 small shelves in my home and when I hold one I can transport myself back to a special time and place. I do not choose large items just small ones that look special and unique so I can link them in my mind’s eye to a place and time.

We took our time walking looking and talking. Spending a few hours ultimately just walking up and down the beach. Occasionally, we would stop and play in the water even going in for a swim a few times to cool down as the sun rose higher in the sky.

Our walk went on as high tide turned to low, and more shells were revealed as the water retreated. I found a remarkable little shell and handed it to my friend for review. It would be 30 more minutes before I found one that I liked myself.

As a side note: it is interesting that on the islands I never seem to find sea glass. Maybe that is an East Coastal thing.

Dinner Time

For dinner, we cooked the fish from our trip. It had spent enough time marinating in the resort fridge. Do not worry I covered it well and also sealed it in a plastic container. No reason to fish up a fridge used by so many others.

It was good with a nice salad, and some rice as the focal point of the meal. I made a marinade from local Key Limes, lemon, and orange juices all freshly squeezed. It partially cooked the fish so that a quick pan fry finish brought it to a tasty life.

Day Three Island Fun

Captiva Island is not a wild adventure location, nor something that is over-commercialized. It is the beach, you, your resort, and some water sports-related activities by local providers. Sailing, Fishing, Ski Jets, and the like are all options for fun. You can also step over to Fort Myers if you want more options.

Me, I like the lack of crowds, and the private feeling of the local beach here. You can seemingly always find a private spot on the beach at almost any time of the year. Spring Break or 3 prime weeks in summer might prevent that, especially at Sunset.

The sunsets here on the gulf are very special. Given your perspective, you can see the sun drop below the ocean and that is a special view and feeling.

I would recommend this resort for small families or pairs of couples traveling together. Just make sure you book through TZort.