The Cottages at South Seas Island Resort

The Cottages at South Seas Island Resort is a Captiva Island, Florida resort. I enjoy Captiva Island and the surrounding area because it feels so different and unique from so many other Florida beaches and gulf towns.

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Day One Travel & Arrival at The Cottages at South Seas Island Resort

Today I have again flown into the area at the Fort Myers airport. It just makes travel from whatever climate you are into sunny South Florida seem almost instant. During the winter and late fall, it seems like you are fast forwarding to summer, and I love that. There are few things better during a cold month like February than escaping the snow and flying down to fun in the sun.

Some say that if you move to Florida, the lack of the change of seasons is something that you will miss in time. That may be true, but each time I travel down for a vacation I wonder how. If you are above 12 for me there is little value in snow. Yes, my niece, who is a ski instructor, does not agree with that assessment, and millions of skiers say I am wrong. I get it, I truly do. I just prefer a beach, a warm ocean, and seeing others in bathing suits over stay puff marshmallow man outfits just to stay warm.

Checking in was a breeze after I drove from the airport. I made it right on time for check-in. I love it when a plan comes together. This resort has huge 2-bedroom villas that are 1,900 square feet. If they would sell me one, I might move in. That is larger than the 2 bedroom home I live in now. They say the rooms will sleep 8 and I believe them. The sheer scale of these accommodations is impressive.

These villas or suites also have something unique, which is an upstairs loft area. The living room boasts a sleeper sofa. You see, the sleeper sofas in other vacation properties are not often queen size and you do not have that bonus loft area that is perfect for teens, or older children.

I have stayed at this resort before and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to come back and rent a cottage and invite friends for the stay. The larger size and the bonus loft area make it a great fit for a larger family or group.

These 2-bedroom suites are over 1,900 sq ft in size, so plenty large for a family or several couples. The resort says the rooms are sized for 8 guests and that seems fair given the sofa bed in the living room in addition to the 2 bedrooms and baths.

Villa Amenities

Then the resort itself offers all of these options.

Resort Amenities

The cottages are part of the larger resort here. The entire resort is built for vacation fun and pleasure and is very well laid out and designed for fun.

The resort itself is 330 private acres, including the beachfront access. Golf, Tennis, Boating, Fishing, Beach Fun, and much more await you as a guest.

Tomorrow I have golf planned as long as the wind stays calm. On an island, the wind can make golf much more of a challenge than any typical hazard or distraction on the golf course.

Today I am getting checked in and settled and later tonight my guests will arrive. I am picking them up from the airport and we will all come back to the resort and chill out for the night.

Since this is about 1 hour from the airport, it is not a bad commute. The only reason I came to the resort ahead of time was to get settled shop for some groceries and make sure everything was perfect for my guests. Most people would have gotten flights as close together as they could and just drove over together. But I had the time today, so I came early.

Day Two Beach Time at The Cottages at South Seas Island Resort

Everyone agreed that since the location was perfect, we all wanted to just chill on the beach and at the resort today. I had a round of golf planned on the resort’s own 9-hole golf course but 1 hour before tee time the wind picked up to 25mph so I canceled. They were nice about the cancelation and did not charge me anything. It never hurts if you are kind and also cancel as soon as you know so they can rebook the time with someone else.

We played on the beach all morning and then I took the group for lunch at Doc Ford’s on the resort. Everyone at the table ordered some form of seafood. Why not? Here it is fresh right from the local waterways. Sometimes when you travel, you are not eating local seafood. Here, most of the menu items at the local restaurants are fresh. Many local spots will also prepare your fresh catch if you have been fishing for a modest fee. Since all the charter boats clean the fish for you, it makes the whole process seamless and amazing. I did that on my last trip down to this area and highly recommend it. Unless you are mounting your fish, it is better to eat it as fresh as possible and this way makes it easy.

The water was rough today as that wind picked up. At one point, I took off on a run and I thought my group was going to pass out. I have not run in a long time folks. But I was the first one to see a little guy who got hit hard by a wave in shallow water, but he was knocked down and I did not see him come back up. Some instinct kicked in and my fat butt just started running.

The mother did not even see it happening until I was to the child and out of breath. But I am like a giant flotation device, so I knew as long as I could get to the boy fast he would be OK even if I was out of energy to do much.

I got to the little guy, and he was out cold. I think the wave just knocked him for a loop. But I fell down into the water on my back and just pulled him on top of my chest until I caught my breath, then I took him to shore and to his mom. He was now wide awake and calm. I think he was in shock because a giant Santa-like guy had a hold of him, not because of the wave.

The mother looked at me funny at first because she had not processed what happened yet. I just told her I think he is alright mam, but he got hit hard by a wave out there. So, he might be done in the ocean for the day. By then my friends came and I think the mother was relieved to see several women with me. The single guy, even the old guy thing, is a tough sell these days.

After my run and scare, I went back and collapsed on my beach towel until I had the strength to return to the room to shower and then rest. It was not the run that did me in, it was the worry and excitement. Adrenaline and I are not tight like we used to be.

Day Three Going Boating

I have done many things down here in the area. Including jet skiing. The area is great. However, after seeing a gator on my last jet ski run down here, I think I have switched to boat rentals for the most part instead. One’s odds of becoming dinner are very low, but that just makes you think about it when you see them hanging out on the little islands nearby.

Between gators and sharks, I think gators are much more aggressive toward humans. It is just a guess more than experienced-based concern. I have had sharks check me out in the water, but gators seem to want to do more than look when they are around.

Today we rented a 21-foot center console for the day. One of my friends with me has not been on the water much so I thought I would take everyone out. Maybe we would stop and fish some, but most of the time, just cruise around and enjoy the waterways in the area.

I grew up in the water and am very comfortable in general around small watercraft. I never went and obtained my captain’s license but I know left leaving, right returning, and how to handle a boat. I used to know about 20 boat knots as well, but my memory fails me on those and I am stuck with a good cleat knot and a slip not for the dock in my functional memory. But my knowledge is enough for boat rental places to feel at ease.

It was still windy today, so we would stay close to the 10,000 island area to avoid the roughest of the Gulf waters today. There was a small craft advisory due to the wind, which also meant a by-the-book kind of guy like me was not headed offshore for risk or to be beaten up by the Gulf waves.

When we got back in, I was tired from the effort, but I think everyone had a good day on the water, and where we were, it was not too rough to make it a bad experience. Had it been a warning, I would not have gone out, and if the waves had started getting large or the wind picked up, I would have brought the boat and my crew back in.

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