Due to easy causeway access, Sanibel is a popular tourist destination known for its shell beaches and wildlife refuges.

[6] The Calusa were a powerful Indian nation who came to dominate most of Southwest Florida through trade via their elaborate system of canals and waterways.

During the 1700s, Cuban fishermen seasonally traveled from their homes and set up fishing camps along the Gulf Coast, called ranchos, including on Sanibel Island.

Another attributes the name to Roderigo Lopez, the first mate of José Gaspar (Gasparilla), after his beautiful lover Sanibel whom he had left behind in Spain.

But like most of the lore surrounding Gasparilla, this story is apocryphal, as the above references to recognizable variants of the name predate the buccaneer's supposed reign.

Sanibel is not the only island in the area to figure prominently in the legends of Gaspar; Captiva, Useppa, and Gasparilla are also connected.

[citation needed] In 1832, the Florida Peninsular Land Company established a settlement on Sanibel (then spelled "Sanybel"), but the colony never took off, and was abandoned by 1849.

A new causeway was completed in 2007; it replaced the worn-out 1963 spans, which were not designed to carry heavy loads or large numbers of vehicles.

The original bridge was demolished and its remains were sunk into the water to create artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico.

The city was formed in 1974,[1] as a direct result of the main causeway being built in 1963 to replace the ferry, and the rampant construction and development that followed.

Visitors can drive, walk, bike, or kayak through the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge [10] The island's most famous landmark, the Sanibel Lighthouse, is at its eastern end, adjacent to the fishing pier.

The main thoroughfare, Periwinkle Way, is where most of Sanibel's stores and restaurants are, while the Gulf Drives (East, Middle and West) have most of the accommodations.

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has been a key player in curbing commercial growth and development on the island.

Since 1967, SCCF has been dedicated to preserving natural resources on and around Sanibel and Captiva and has led efforts to acquire and preserve environmentally sensitive land on the islands, including critical wildlife habitats, rare and unique subtropical plant communities, tidal wetlands, and freshwater wetlands along the Sanibel River.

Sanibel Island, in southern Florida, has a "tropical and humid" climate, with daily high temperatures ranging from 75 °F (24 °C) in midwinter to around 90 °F (32 °C) in the summer.

A temporary city hall for Sanibel was set up in a Fort Myers hotel until utilities and transport could be restored to the island.

The Sanibel Causeway partially collapsed during the storm, leaving no road access to the island or nearby Captiva, Florida.

It is linked to the mainland by the Sanibel Causeway, which runs across two small manmade islets and the Intracoastal Waterway.

The Gulf-side beaches are excellent on both Sanibel and Captiva, and are world-renowned for their variety of seashells, which include coquinas, scallops, whelks, sand dollars, and many other species of both shallow-water and deeper-water mollusks, primarily bivalves and gastropods.

Sanibel Island is home to a significant variety of birds, including the roseate spoonbill and several nesting pairs of bald eagles.

Birds can be seen on the beaches, the causeway islands, and the reserves, including J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

A lone rare American crocodile had been seen at the Wildlife Refuge for over 30 years, but she died in 2010 of unseasonably cold winters or old age.

The Australian pine is an introduced species that has spread throughout the island, to some extent overpowering native vegetation and trees.

The local form of the marsh rice rat has been recognized in some classifications as a separate subspecies, Oryzomys palustris sanibeli.

"[33] Sanibel's beaches attract visitors from all around the world, partly because of the large quantities of seashells that wash up there.

"[34] People lucky enough to find the elegant brown-spotted shell of a Junonia on a Sanibel beach often get their picture in the local newspapers.

Junonia volutes are reasonably common living in deep water but only rarely wash up; a beach find of a whole shell is greatly prized.

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