On the dock at Captiva's 'Tween Waters Inn, I waited for the sun to rise. All was still, except for the shimmering bay and a fishing boat that skimmed across it. Bands of blue, orange, yellow and pink formed in the sky. And then, behind trees across the bay, the sun appeared and dawn turned to day.
Captiva is tropical and relaxing and reminds me of Jimmy Buffett songs. Among the brightly-colored houses, sea grape trees, palms and bougainvillea spring up.

Over on Captiva Beach, shell-seekers strolled near the edge of the clear, light-green water, their eyes cast downward, searching for that perfect, unbroken souvenir. Later, I lounged lazily in one of the 'Tween Waters' chaise lounges, complete with a covering for a break from the sun. A young boy, no more than six, snorkeled near the shoreline and brought his mother the prettiest of the shells he plucked from the bottom. It was late November and warm enough to swim.

Captiva is tropical and relaxing and reminds me of Jimmy Buffett songs. Among the brightly-colored houses, sea grape trees, palms and bougainvillea spring up. On Andy Rosse Lane, shops and art galleries are interspersed with restaurants and bars. At the Keylime Bistro's outdoor patio, my lunch - succulent crab cakes with key lime aioli and a salad made of baby greens, asparagus, hearts of palm and artichoke, and a crown of tomatoes - was set to a soundtrack of soft music by a guitar player seated near me. The bistro's signature Key lime pie had a sinful cream cheese layer on top and a granola-graham cracker crust.

At Turner Beach, Captiva and Sanibel islands meet. I watched anglers fish from the rock jetty and shellers study the ground strewn with countless former homes of scallops and conch. At the water's edge, thousands of small, white shells moved with the waves, in and out, tumbling over one another. I sat in the soft sand, continually sifting through handfuls of sand and shells.

At the opposite end of Sanibel Island is Lighthouse Park Beach, where you can follow a boardwalk to the Sanibel Lighthouse on the bay. Then you can stroll on the sand, around Sanibel's tip, to the Gulf, where the dark water gets greener and the shells more plentiful.

At one of Sanibel's most elegant restaurants, Thistle Lodge, I dined on jumbo shrimp scampi with red bell peppers and mushrooms, and a fluffy tiramisu for dessert. From the gazebo-shaped room, there was a magnificent view of the Gulf. On each table was a pinkish-purple orchid in a vase; the hostess gave me a larger bloom on the way out, as a keepsake.

I spent the next morning on the shores of lively Fort Myers Beach, which contains every beach activity under the sun, from parasailing to jet skiing. In places, the beach is hard-packed, allowing even for bike-riding. Off the beaten path a bit is Lovers Key State Park, with a beach that's only accessed by a tram that winds through verdant island roads. The tram dropped me off at a bridge that crosses a mangrove-filled lagoon to a startlingly white, expansive beach that made me feel as if I was on a desert island. Kids body-surfed in the small waves and I swam out in the clear, greenish-blue water. Birds flew close to my head, squawking as I floated.

To the south lies the last and southernmost beach I visited, Bonita Beach Park, where the dunes are filled with sea oats and are bordered by palms. There, on a slope of fine, white sand and shells, I waited for the sunset, a show that draws folks back to the beach each evening. In the dusk, it was hard to tell if the sand was white, golden or silver.

Beachgoers sat or stood expectantly. Some had just arrived, toting beach chairs and take-out dinners. Cameras all over the beach were at the ready. Only children wearing masks and fins and flipping around in the blue-green water seemed not to notice.

All around the sun was orangey-pink, as it sank below the watery, metallic-blue horizon. When it was over, the beach erupted in applause. As I left, I glanced over my shoulder, noticing the sky had filled with a soft pink glow. From sunrise to sunset, the Lee Island Coast beaches do not disappoint.

For information on the above beaches, restaurants and accommodations, or for more information on planning your own beach getaway, visit www.FortMyers-Sanibel.com.