Jason Ferguson - Moon Sarasota & Naples: With Sanibel Island & the Everglades

a swampy forest in the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

Close your eyes and picture soft, white sand merging into calm, blue waters. Welcome to the Paradise Coast, offering pleasures unlike anywhere else in Florida. This slice of heaven along the Gulf of Mexico doesnt boast theme-park attractions, spring-break bacchanalia, or glitz and glamourand thats what makes it so great.

Even the little-known beaches here are idyllic, providing remote pastoral beauty, in-city access, oramazinglya combination of the two. The secret islands of Sanibel and Captiva are not so secret anymorethe bigger names like Siesta Key and Cayo Costa State Park routinely rank among the top choices of experts with the envious task of ranking beaches for awesomeness.

But the beaches are just the beginning. There are vast, open wildernesses here, ranging from rivers and forests ripe for exploration to undeveloped nature preserves ideal for bird-watching and hiking. And then you have the Everglades. Floridas most precious natural resource is made up of marshes, hardwood hammocks, mangrove copses, and a slow-moving River of Grass that provides a home to diverse wildlife and adventure to human visitors.

Marie Selby Botanical Garden

Fort Myers Beach

Big Cypress National Preserve

The gateways to the Paradise Coast offer their own attractions. Sarasota is an intimate city with a magnetism that makes all visitors potential future residents. It sustains a flourishing arts community of local creative types, moneyed snowbirds, and casual aficionados. Nearby, Naples similarly lays claim to a vibrant arts calendar and row of galleries that inspire envy in cities of similar size, as well as quirkier activities that will surprise you (swamp buggy races, anyone?).

Head for the Paradise Coast and make this vision of Florida your own.

Caspersen Beach Park

Unconditional Surrender, by sculptor J. Seward Johnson II, on the Sarasota Bayfront.

sunset on the pier at Fort Myers Beach

A Day at the Beach: Relax, play, or just admire the view at some of the best beaches in America (

Wilderness Walks: Both well-manicured boardwalks and robust hiking trails are plentiful in the wildlife-rich parks of the Paradise Coast ().

Go Fish: Whether in rivers, lakes, or the Gulf of Mexico, the waters of southwest Florida are prime fishing destinations year-round ().

Edison & Ford Winter Estates: Get a glimpse into the lives of these legendary inventors, both of whom spent winters in the warmth of Fort Myers ().

Canoeing & Kayaking in the Everglades: The wide-open wetlands and hemmed-in waterways of the Everglades make an ideal environment for paddling ().

Art: Visit renowned museums ().

Bird-Watching: Spot migratory birds at Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park ().

Seafood: The southwest coast of Florida offers an abundance of great seafood, from juicy gulf shrimp to fresh, wild-caught fish ().

Where to Go

The cities and sights of southwest Florida are in fairly close proximity; you can drive from southernmost Naples to northernmost Sarasota in less than three hours. However, despite the fact that I-75 and the Tamiami Trail make all the cities a short drive from each other, youll seldom travel in a straight line between destinations. The Paradise Coast is full of nooks and crannies, with outlying wilderness areas, hard-to-access barrier islands, and communities that may be separated by just 20 miles as the crow flies but nonetheless require an hour or more of navigation to connect.