Sanibel Island
Island · Sanibel, Florida
A barrier island that runs east to west rather than north to south, which turns it into a shelf that catches shells off the Gulf shelf and makes it one of the great shelling beaches on Earth. The posture it produces has a name — the Sanibel Stoop — and the island has protected itself fiercely: no building rises above the palms and more than half of it is wildlife refuge.
Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, Florida, 33957, United States
A public island, open always. Beaches are open dawn to dusk; the refuge, museum and businesses keep their own hours.