Beach Within Reach

By Chelle Koster Walton
Published: April 2, 2009
Last Updated On: March 10, 2011

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Beaches

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Fort Myers

Water Sports

Fort Myers Beach makes a family beach vacation doable in any economic climate.

We were looking for a Fourth of July beach getaway that wouldn’t leave a noticeable bruise on our bank account. Holiday weekends are at a premium at most beach destinations. That was the first reason we settled on Fort Myers Beach: affordability.

The second? A wide and gently sloping beach, tot-sized waves and lots of action mean kids from knee-high on up find happiness here. We were SO happy there that Fourth of July weekend, when my son was 8 years old, that we’ve returned on and off through the years to applaud the fireworks and play in all the ways Fort Myers Beach has to offer.

No taller than a palm tree, the Outrigger Beach Resort is one of those barefoot, tiki bar places that has remained a bastion of classic Florida vacationing. It immediately brings back memories of entire days spent in a swimsuit, running wild in the waves and not caring what time it is.

That first holiday weekend, we spilled into an efficiency at the Outrigger Beach Resort and invited another family to spend Independence Day with us. No taller than a palm tree, Outrigger Beach Resort is one of those barefoot, tiki bar places that has remained a bastion of classic Florida vacationing. It immediately brings back memories of entire days spent in a swimsuit, running wild in the waves and not caring what time it is.

No Clock to Watch

The Outrigger Beach Resort doesn’t schedule, so you don’t have to either. No pool games precisely at 10 a.m. and sing-alongs at 5 p.m. You can race your brother across the pool any old time you want and sing along with your family to the live music on the deck bar whenever the urge hits.

Traditional family beach vacationing takes the place of programming: mornings on the beach with a cabana headquarters, cooling dips in the Gulf or the pool, siestas on the deck or in your room off the beach. When it’s time to eat, there are two family-accommodating restaurants, or you can cook your own food in your efficiency or at the picnic area.

Then it’s back to the beach for kayaking, sandcastle-building or simply melting into the soft sand as the sun sinks into the warm, soothing waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Location, Location

Fort Myers Beach has a reputation for its lively nightlife, especially around a hub known as Times Square. By day, this pedestrian-only plaza of boutiques, galleries, ice cream and pizza joints, sidewalk cafes, fishing pier and beach park churns with activity and bronzed bodies. In the evening, the nightlife heats up.

Older kids especially love the scene, where water sports activities from jet skis to parasailing are readily available and sunset celebrations happen nightly. A short trolley ride takes them the distance north from The Outrigger Beach Resort, which sits on a quieter section of beach. The trolley also travels south to the main entrance of Lovers Key State Park. Once inside the park, older kids can hook up for a fishing or birding tour with a ranger (check tour schedules ahead of time), and young ones can meet the playground challenge or hit the natural beach. Other activities at the park include biking, hiking, kayaking, canoeing and shelling.

That’s the beauty of The Outrigger Beach Resort, poised as it is halfway between Fort Myers Beach’s highest pitched bustle and most kicked-back natural – it’s far enough from popular attractions, but only a trolley ride away.

Beach, Boats & Beyond

A handful of attractions enlighten families about Fort Myers Beach’s past and seagoing heritage. Ostego Bay Foundation’s Marine Science Center does a high-five job of introducing local critters and the town’s vaulted reputation for shrimp. On Wednesdays, it conducts walking tours of the San Carlos Island Working Waterfront Trail, where you can see the shrimp fleet bobbing in port and watch the processing of local sweet pink shrimp.

Follow that up with lunch at one of the town’s many seafood houses, where freshness is guaranteed. Shrimp is so important to Fort Myers Beach’s economy and identity that the town throws a Shrimp Festival every March. Fort Myers Beach knows how to party, and the town boils up more than a thousand pounds of shrimp to prove it! In October, things take a swashbuckling turn with the Pirate Festival.

Then there’s the Fourth of July, a longtime tradition. Besides fireworks at the town’s landmark 560-foot fishing pier, the entire island lights up with action for all ages. With kids in the single digits, we contented ourselves on our first holiday stay with good friends, burgers and watermelon, late-afternoon chicken fights in the pool, tropical drinks at the tiki bar and oohs and ahs as the rain of pyrotechnics ended the evening with a bang, the way only Fort Myers Beach does it.

This article is brought to you by the Outrigger Beach Resort. To plan your own family getaway, call 800-655-8997 or visit www.outriggerfmb.com.