South west Florida's beaches are lovely.  The sand is fine & white, and the water is warm for most of the year.  The shells are spectacular too.  We think the best shelling beaches are Lovers Key and Lighthouse Beach, especially after a storm out in the the Gulf.

Our favourite beaches are Lighthouse, on the southernmost tip of Sanibel island;  the beach at the end of Captiva (just drive as far as you can!), and Lovers Key at the bottom of Estero Island (beyond Fort Myers beach).  Barefoot Beach at the southern end of Bonita Beach is great too.  These are wild beaches, with no organised activities, many of them with little or no development around them.  But great for building sand castles, swimming, bodyboarding or just hanging out.  There are beach umbrellas, chairs, a cool box and lots of beach toys / games in the house for you to use.

If you want something more lively, perhaps with more organised activities, then Fort Myers Beach may be more for you.  It has all sorts of things going on at holiday & vacation times: volleyball, sand castle building contests, parasailing, windsurfing, etc.  Just about any form of water-based activity is catered for. 

You get great sunsets from almost any beach in the area, but our favourite is Bunche Beach, at the end of John Morris Road on the way to Sanibel.   The sun sets over the tip of Sanibel, with the lighthouse and Fort Myers Beach in view.  And if you go at high tide, you'll have some spectacular seabirds for company.