Condé Nast Traveler online recommends southwest Florida’s Cayo Costa

Among top ‘hidden beaches’ worldwide

LEE COUNTY, FL – Cayo Costa Island Preserve’s virtually deserted yet alluring beach has been named among the world’s best “hidden beaches” on the online home of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler magazine, Concierge.com, recently.  

According to the Web site, “There was a time, before Florida and beachfront and development evolved almost into one word, when just about all of the Sunshine State’s beaches looked like Cayo Costa’s – soft white sand, chill-out serenity, and nary a high-rise at the tide line.”  

The barrier island was purchased by the state in 1985 and is reachable only by private boat or a public ferry, operated by Tropic Star of Pine Island, the official concessionaire ( www.tropicstarcruises.com ).  Cayo Costa is mainly a state park; pristine coastal Florida at its best – wide, unspoiled white-sand beaches, rustic cabins and tent campsites, along with outstanding bird and other wildlife to watch.    

The award-winning Web site, with 2 million average unique users per month, continues its accolades about Cayo Costa, “Once you arrive, though, count on having at least some of its nine miles of soft white sand all to yourself . . . that’s our idea of heaven.”    

The Florida Department of Natural Resources maintains 12 primitive cabins and 18 tent campsites on the northern portion of the island.  The Web site states that if you score one of these accommodations, “ . . . you can be among the first to head for the south end of the island at sunrise, where the best shells wash up, especially during the winter months.”

Cayo Costa’s beach was the only Florida beach to rank on this coveted list.  Other beaches named are located in Hawaii, Australia, Mexico, Morocco, Greece, Venezuela,  California, and Antigua and Barbuda.

For details on Cayo Costa and other award-winning destinations that comprise The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel, log onto www.FortMyersSanibel.com .  

NOTE:  The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel include:  Sanibel Island,  Captiva Island, Fort Myers Beach, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Estero, Cape Coral, Pine Island, Boca Grande & Outer Islands, North Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres.  Images of Cayo Costa available upon request.