Gasparilla Island, one of a string of barrier islands along the southwest Gulf Coast of Florida, is located between Fort Myers and Tampa. The island takes its name from the legendary Spanish pirate Jose Gaspar, who is said to have plundered the surrounding waters in the 18th century. Travellers may well be more familiar with the name Boca Grande, w...

There is, in all honesty, not a great deal to do on Sanibel and Captiva. But then that's the whole point - and the great joy - of taking a break on these two, linked Floridian islands. As I drove across the causeway from Fort Myers to Sanibel, an osprey soared in front of me, cormorants and gulls were plunging into the waters on either side of me a...