Time for a relaxing getaway? Imagine your definition of paradise -- "A timeless place of ideal beauty and delight--" an island with breezy, warm tropical temperatures year round... natural vegetation such as gumbo limbo trees, towering coconut palms, and lush sea grapes rustling in the breeze...a protected wildlife sanctuary for manatees, loggerhead turtles and over one hundred species of raptors and tropical birds.

Surround this island with miles of beautiful white sandy beaches and the most diverse and productive sport fishing grounds in Florida...add seclusion by taking away bridges to the mainland and eliminate cars, traffic and pollution...make the main modes of transportation electric golf cart, riding a bicycle or just strolling with your loved ones down sandy paths.

Now situate your paradise a thrilling 15 minute ride on a water-taxi away from the mainland and other islands...add restaurants, sea kayaks, marinas and shopping so that there's lots to do ...or nothing...a place of delight safe for adults and children to wander and explore. Congratuations, you have imagined a place that actually exists in the Gulf of Mexico off the southwest coast of Florida.

For a thousand years home to the mysterious Calusa Indians, the island was named Captiva - La Isla de las Captivas (The Island of the Captive Women) by the 18th century pirate Jose Gaspar. According to legend, Gaspar held kidnapped young women captive here while awaiting ransom from their wealthy families.

Separated by a hurricane in 1921 from Sanibel and Captiva, its sister islands to the south, in the 1960s North Captiva became a tomato plantation and home to the Punta Gorda Fish Company. By the 1970s there were a few dozen self-contained homesites. In 1975 the State of Florida acquired six parcels of land totaling over three hundred and fifty acres, more than half of North Captiva's total land area. The State acquired the land under their Environmentally endangered Land program to protect this vanishing coastal resource.

Today the island is home to two full service resorts with marinas, the Safety Harbor Club and the North Captiva Island Club, three restaurants, and three hundred homes. The island's infrastructure is maintained by underwater electricity cables from the mainland, fresh water wells, environmentally safe septic systems, cell phone service, andthe Lee County Fire and Rescue Service. When build out is complete in the next 3-5 years, the island will support approximately four hundred and fifty home, each with its own unique personality, concealed in the lush vegetation on the island's north end.

Thanks to new zoning and recent acquisitions under this program, North Captiva and its sister barrier island to the north, Cayo Costa, will forever remain unspoiled natural habitats and perpetual island paradises.