Southwest

Southwest Florida covers the Gulf-coast country from Manatee County south to the edge of the Everglades, a stretch of barrier-island beaches, mangrove estuaries, and inland sugarcane country running east toward Lake Okeechobee. The Gulf coast holds white-sand beaches and shelling-rich barrier islands; the inland counties carry working agriculture and ranchland; mangrove and cypress wetlands fill most of the southern coastal edge. Sarasota County holds Sarasota and Siesta Key; Manatee holds Bradenton, Anna Maria Island, and Longboat Key; Charlotte holds Punta Gorda; Lee holds Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel, and Captiva; Collier holds Naples, Marco Island, and the western edge of the Everglades; DeSoto, Glades, and Hendry cover the inland tier. Anchor cities include Sarasota, Bradenton, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Sanibel, Naples, and Marco Island. Myakka River State Park, the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, and Big Cypress National Preserve carry the major public-land scenery. Most trips are barrier-island and shelling driven. Sanibel and Captiva pull the most serious shell collectors; Siesta Key handles the white-sand swimming; Naples runs the upscale resort-and-restaurant itinerary; Sarasota’s Ringling Museum and arts scene fill cultural days. Winter is peak; summer is hot and stormy.