Sanibel Causeway
After 9 weeks of being parked, today was moving day. We had been on site 99C at San Carlos RV Park for 9 weeks and it was time to move our RV over to site 33 for our final two weeks. Moving day meant we had to pack up and find a place to hang out for a few hours until our new site was available. What better place to hang out on a sunny day than the Sanibel Causeway Islands Park in the bay over to Sanibel Island.
Causeway Island Time
Sanibel Island is connected to the mainland by a road that goes over three bridge spans and two causeway islands out in the middle of San Carlos Bay. The small thin causeway islands are public parks that have free parking spots, picnic sites, and restrooms. While most folks drive right by on their way to Sanibel’s great ocean front beaches and shelling, many use the parks for fishing and picnicking.
For me, it’s some of the best waterfront parking you’ll find. Having been over to Sanibel numerous times, my favorite Sanibel pastime is to park my RV (for free) at the Causeway Islands and spend the day hanging out by the water. Island B is the larger of the two islands and provides water front parking on both sides. I like to park on the bay side, which is less windy and has the best afternoon sun.
On this particular Sunday, while most of my friends and family were dealing with freezing temps, our weather was perfect – sunny, mid 70’s with a light breeze. We got the RV packing done and were rolling by 10 am. We made a quick stop to get sandwiches for lunch and were on the Causeway Islands within 30 minutes of our departure. I found a great spot on Island B right by the water. We got the chairs out, unhitched the bikes, and just parked ourselves for the day.
Parked at Causeway Island B
I spent the day sitting by the water, reading, smoking a cigar, sitting by the water, taking pictures, eating, puttering around the RV, and sitting by the water. It was so relaxing. I wasn’t on the move, didn’t have to fight traffic, and had no agenda or place I had to be. I just enjoyed the sun and staring out on the water. Here’s some of the pictures to show what it was like.
J. Dawg sitting by the water
Anne did some of the same. She got the urge to go shelling, so she biked over to Sanibel and went to Lighthouse Beach. The beach is on the southern end of the island. It’s an easy 3.3 mile ride from the Causeway to the Lighthouse. The Causeway and bridges have wide bike lanes and there’s a bike path to the Lighthouse once you get on the island.
The Big Ole Osprey
The highlight of my day was getting a up close picture of an osprey. While doing my sitting by the water activity, I noticed a large osprey in a tree by the water near my RV. I grabbed my camera and slowly worked my way around the RV to see if I could get a close up picture without spooking this huge bird. I got my self positioned so I was directly under the tree limb that the bird was sitting on. I tried a couple of shots and was waiting for the bird to turn so I could get a profile shot with my telephoto lens.
The bird suddenly jumped turned and looked like it was about to take off. It was giving me a nice profile shot. But before I could focus the camera, the bird dove straight down into the water about 25 ft in front of me. It came down with a big loud crashing splash that startled me. I missed seeing the quick descent as I had my eye in the viewfinder and quickly swung my camera down to the bird in the water.
The osprey had obviously seen a fish and went after it. I quickly tried to refocus the camera on the splash spot. The bird had submerged and just as it came out of the water I got the shot. Wow! Huge wings pushing down lifting the bird out of the water. An incredible shot right in front of me. Right place, right time, right lens! It all happened with 2-3 seconds just 25 ft away. And the bird got the fish as it flew off with it clutched in its talons.
After 5 hours on the Causeway it was time to head back. It was another nice Sunday spent on Sanibel and another example of our snowbird lifestyle
Back at the RV park we found our new site to be a little more spacious. It was easy to back in and we quickly got our stuff unloaded before sunset. And the best part is that it was also on the water.
Site 33 on Hurricane Bay
We have two more weeks here in Fort Myers Beach and then start to migrate north to the Florida panhandle.
PS. You can read about last years visit to Sanibel Island at this link – Sanibel Sunday
Ahghh! You’re killing me J. Dawg! So envious. 20’s and 30’s here in Tidewater VA with snow, sleet and cold, cold rain today!
How exciting to get that shot of the osprey the way you did. All your pics are beautiful, but that one is very special.
We usually spend most of our beach time a little further south at the Delnor Wiggens State Park in North Naples. Love that place. We are very familiar with that causeway though. Have travelled it many times on our way to Sanibel and back. Like you said, we’ve never stopped to enjoy the beautiful spots there. Looking forward to our next trip. This will definitely be on our list.
Thanks for your most excellent post today. After watching the weather around here for several days, you provided a ray of sunshine to us today!
Thanks, Roger. I’ll have to check out that state park.
J. Dawg
It’s a beautiful beach with walking trails in the trees up and down the length of the beach. Unfortunately, it’s just a day park. No camping, but we’ve seen people park Views in the regular spots right near the beach. They also have a dedicated RV parking area about a quarter mile away where the boat ramp is.
Your posts are pushing us towards a 24G purchase. Haven’t found anything better for our tastes. By wife wants a dinghy but I’m not sold on the idea. Don’t worry, I do understand that if she wants it, she gets it.
Thanks for reading, Will. The View is a great size to go anywhere and also park for the winter. We don’t tow, but it’s mostly due to where we stay when we’re in FL.