New air service at Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
Breeze Airways: nonstop to Las Vegas (LAS) and Charleston, South Carolina (CHS), twice weekly, beginning June 11.
Eurowings Discover: Frankfurt, Germany (FRA), weekly, year-round service
Alaska Airlines: Seattle (SEA) weekly, year-round service.
As of May 18, sea turtle nesting activity had started to pick up with a total of 62 loggerhead nests on the islands’ beaches, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation reported. Staff and volunteers have been working each morning to survey the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva for signs in the sand of sea turtles that have come ashore.
Four teams monitor different stretches of beach every morning at dawn, collecting data from turtle nests and false crawls. If it is determined that the area is a nesting site, it is then marked off with yellow stakes, a screen to discourage predation and informative signage.
Volunteers Gwenda Hiett-Clements and Nancy Riley, who is a designated east end permittee, marked the first nest on the east end of Sanibel on May 4. As permittee, Riley documents crawls and nests reported by walkers on the east end, from Tarpon Bay Road Beach to the Sanibel Lighthouse.
As of May 18, Sanibel and Captiva had collectively logged 62 loggerhead sea turtle nests, compared to 76 reported nests on the same date last year. Forty-four had been laid on the west end of Sanibel, seven on the east end of Sanibel, and 11 on Captiva.
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On July 4, starting at noon, the 42nd annual Road Rally begins outside Timbers Restaurant & Fish Market on Sanibel. This year’s proceeds will be donated to Community Housing and Resources. The event has been managed by the Sanibel Captiva Optimist Club until this year, when it was transferred to a new organization called The Friends of Randy of Sanibel.
Interested participants are encouraged to sign up early; registration will be limited to 50 vehicles.
In addition, past and potential new sponsors are invited to pitch in with donations. The registration form for participants is available at the Sanibel Cafe and Bailey’s General Store. For early or preferred start time, contact Randy at 239-699-8739 or [email protected]. For more information or to donate, call Randy, Tim at 941-626-2943, or Allen at 239-699-9474.
The 14th Annual 10K Race 4 F.I.S.H. will be held in conjunction with the Fort Myers Track Club on Sunday, Oct. 22. Due to concerns about the pandemic, the event was held virtually the last two years.
Participating runners will receive a race tank with the F.I.S.H. logo on the front. In addition, F.I.S.H. is hoping to add a kids run, business expo and other opportunities to make this year’s 10K an extra special event focused on the organization’s 40th anniversary.
For information on sponsorships, as well as 10K Days — opportunities for island businesses to showcase their establishments and support F.I.S.H. — visit https://www.fishofsancap.org/.
For more information, contact Cortese at [email protected] or Race Committee Chair Nicole McHale at [email protected]
The Ocean Tribe Paddling Club will host a Coastal Kayaking Basic Rescue Skills course on May 5 from 1 to 3 p.m.; meet on the Causeway Island A — closest to the toll booth — at 12:45 p.m.
The course is for paddlers who want to learn basic fundamentals of rescuing their selves and others while kayaking. When paddling, one never knows the dangers that could be in the waters ahead. Learn how to get back in a kayak and help someone else if necessary.
Participants can bring their own vessel. Club members can reserve a loaner vessel in advance by contacting [email protected]. For more membership information, visit https://oceantribeoutfitters.org/.
To attend, RSVP at https://oceantribeoutfitters.org/eventsandregistration.
The Sanibel-Captiva Kiwanis Club’s 2022 Diner’s Delight coupon book is now valid through Dec. 16. It contains two-for-one coupons for many island eateries, for a possible savings of over $500. The books are available for a $40 contribution. Proceeds from the fundraiser are used by the club to support its Scholarship Fund for local students and grants to island youth recreation and education programs. The books can be obtained from Kiwanis members or at Bailey’s General Store, Bank of the Islands, Big Red Q Printing, Island Pharmacy, Island Winds Coiffures, Periwinkle Park office, SanCap Pak-N-Ship, and Sanibel Captiva Community Bank.
The “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge, announced that admission fees will remain the same after the season ends for Wildlife Drive at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, located at 1 Wildlife Drive, Sanibel.
The $10 vehicle entry fee is valid for three consecutive days of admission, starting annually on May 1 and running through September. Keep your receipt to show at the entrance fee booth upon returning. Cyclists and pedestrians ages 16 and older pay $1 per visit.
The recreational harvest of greater amberjack will open in Gulf state and federal waters from May 1-31. Following a June-July closure, recreational harvest is scheduled to reopen again from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31.
If you plan to fish for greater amberjack or certain other reef fish species in Gulf or Atlantic state or federal waters from a private recreational vessel (includes anglers over 65 years of age), you must sign up as a State Reef Fish Angler prior to your fishing trip. It is a no-cost designation that must be renewed annually. Sign up at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com and visit MyFWC.com/SRFS to learn more.
First sea turtle nest of the season found on Sanibel’s west end.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation has recorded its first sea turtle nest of the season.
On April 27, a loggerhead nest was discovered on the west end of Sanibel.
“Today marks the same day as the first nest in 2021. Our sea turtle team was excited to get sandy knees again as they put up the vivid yellow stakes that protect nests on our islands,” it reported at the time.
The SCCF also recorded the first false crawl of the season on the west end on April 27.
Sea turtle monitoring originally began on Sanibel in the 1950s with Charles LeBuff and Caretta Research Inc., making it one of the longest-running monitoring programs in the country. When Caretta Research disbanded in 1992, the SCCF took over the program and continues to manage it today.
Loggerhead is the most common marine turtle species to nest on the islands, followed by the green sea turtle. Leatherbacks and Kemp’s ridleys are rarer, but they have nested on Sanibel-Captiva before.
Closed Sales
Closed sales for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2022 were up 3.19% from the preceding 12-months, from 35,264 to 36,390. The 3,171 closed sales during the month of March were only exceeded by March of 2021 when 4,593 sales were posted.
Listing Inventory / New Listings
2,456 properties were available as of March 31, 2022, down 12.82% from the same date in 2021 but up 22% from the 2,008 properties posted at the end of February. Months of supply, at .81, was down 15.51% from the year prior. New listings during the twelve months ending March 31, 2022 were down 3.22%, from 37,049 to 35,857. New listings for February were down 7.37% compared to the same month last year, but reflected the highest number of monthly new listings since January of 2020.
Average Selling Price
The average selling price for the 12-month period through March 31, 2022 was $670,785, up 20.95% from the preceding 12-month period when the average selling price was $554,574.
Summary
Although the pace of sales has slowed since their peak in 2021, the 3,171 closed sales for March 2022 exceeded any month preceding the pandemic-induced surge we experienced from mid-2020 through 2021. The increase in new listings in March were welcomed by buyers and, although the 4,106 new listings for the month were the most we’ve seen for any month since early 2020, they are directly in line with the rate at which listings entered for March in the years preceding the pandemic. With new listings entering the market at a more normal pace, and with sales having cooled down somewhat from their earlier feverish pace, listing inventory has posted slow but steady increases in recent months. However, with 2,456 properties available at the end of March, we are a long way from the pre-pandemic level of just under 13,000 properties posted in January of 2020, a number which was considered to have reflected a slight undersupply at the time.
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