Sanibel, Florida

 Sanibel is a city in Lee County, Florida, United States, on Sanibel Island. The population was 6,064 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2006 population of 6,066. It is part of the Cape Coral–Fort Myers Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sanibel is a barrier island – a collection of sand on the leeward side of the more solid coral-rock of Pine Island.

The city incorporates the entire island, with most of the city proper at the east end of the island. After the Sanibel causeway was built to replace the ferry in May 1963, the residents asserted control over development by establishing the Sanibel Comprehensive Land Use Plan in 1974 helping to maintain a balance between development and preservation of the island's ecology. A new, higher bridge, permitting passage without a bascule of tall boats and sailboats, was completed in late 2007.

Thanks to easy causeway access, Sanibel is a popular tourist destination known for its shell beaches and wildlife refuges. More than half of the island is made up of wildlife refuges, the largest being J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The Island also hosts the Sanibel Historical Village and a variety of other museums and theaters. In August 2004, Hurricane Charley hit the island causing mandatory evacuation for the residents and resulting in the most storm damage to the island in 44 years.

Sanibel Island, located in southern Florida, has a climate that is "subtropical and humid" with daily high temperatures ranging from 75 °F  in midwinter to around 90 °F in the summer. The months of January through April  have the coolest temperatures, ranging from 75 °F  during the day to a cool 55 °F  at night, and there is very little rainfall on the island during those months. The summer heat and humidity on the island, which has been recorded as high as 100 °F, is cooled by the ocean seabreezes from the Gulf of Mexico, and by almost daily afternoon and evening rain showers, which are responsible for much of the island's rainfall. June is when the Island gets most of its rainfall. The area is prone to being hit by tropical cyclones and hurricanes; the hurricane season starts in June, but most of the activity occurs in September and October. However, local communities have "adapted to cope with these occasional storm threats."

A new three-part causeway bridge to Sanibel was completed during the Summer of 2007, and the high-span section replaced the original drawbridge.

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