A Slice of Island Paradise: Gulf, Beaches, Wildlife, Sunsets!

My husband and I spent 12 days in Carl and Jen's home and loved every minute! We are always looking for a sunny, warm, low-key and relaxing get-away from Michigan winter in February/March and that's exactly what we found on Pine Island. Everything you need is within minutes, yet far away from the crowded touristy areas of Florida. WE LOVE IT HERE! We are already trying to figure out when we can return next year! We were also so grateful for the well-stocked home...we needed to buy very little for the house, which was wonderful. Thank you Carl and Jen for sharing your home. We will be in contact to book our next vacation!

We stayed there for a week in early March. Pine Island has about 60 homes and a wonderful small beach park about 100 yards from the house on the gulf. If you're looking for a relaxing, quiet, out of the way vacation this is it. It's about a 7 mile drive to shopping, most restaurants, pharmacy etc. There is a small fast food shack at the park and the Bayport Inn is about a 3 mile drive. Both were very good with especially large portions served at the Bayport. BeckyJack food shack is another mile or so from the house. We didn't try it, but based on the crowds as we drove by, it appears very popular, if a bit unusual.

The house and furnishings were nice .... very much as advertised. The house was clean. Met the housekeeper on day one. Nice, helpful young lady. The beds were very comfortable. Towels and linens were in good condition. The TV and WIFI operated well. All appliances and HVAC were in working order. Plenty of hot water. Nice view of the gulf from the MB balcony.

Three bikes were available but not used because of the lack of bike lanes to/from the Island. The island itself is too small for biking and there's more traffic than you'd expect because of the beach park. Five very nice kayaks were also available but we choose instead to rent one at the Kayak shack for a great trip on the Weeki Watchi river where we paddled along next to a couple large manatees. If we had a way to transport the bikes and kayaks they would have been Very useful.

The house and amenities were really nice and clean and well maintained. My wife got an upper respiratory infection after the first week and that plus the -40 degree weather kept us from enjoying the beach and other outdoor activities. We loved the food at the Bayport Inn and it was very conveniently located. The $13 each that we paid to go to Weeki Wachee State Park was an outstanding bargain!

The Mermaid show is a MUST see while staying here and we enjoyed a couple of the restaurants at Hernando Beach

We had a wonderful time at Pine Island and were very appreciative of all the "extras" the homeowners made available to us (kayaks, bikes, beach toys, etc...) We did have an issue with ants during our stay. I left a closed box of Dunkin Donuts on the counter and when I got a donut out of the box a couple of hours later the donuts were covered in ants. I would also recommend that the description of the master bedroom includes the fact that it is an open loft with no door.

I can’t speak highly enough about the amazing stay we had at this property!! We routinely travel to FLA to visit/stay with family. On this occasion, we flew in for my father-in-law’s 80th birthday. Since there were so many visitors in town, we decided to find our own place and came across this gem! It was perfect to have family come visit (all of whom were very jealous!). We took advantage of the bicycles to ride over to the beach and adventure to the adjoining peninsula off of Bayou Drive. The clear bottom kayaks were so much fun to take onto both sides of the island and see crabs, horseshoe crab, birds and all sorts of fish. The house is an absolutely perfect beach house with beautiful surroundings, lots of tropical flowers and amazing views out every window. There was a huge binder full of details that were incredibly useful. Wifi helped us stay connected and the TV was perfect for watching the World Cup matches, too. :-)

The water was 87 degrees and from the private beach, you could wade/swim for what seemed forever on the soft sandy bottom. We used the provided folding chairs and coolers to bring some cocktails to the private beach and get lost in beauty. It was the absolute perfect place to watch sunsets. If you come out after dark with a flashlight – the crabs will play hide & seek with you. :-)

This place has everything you would need to have a perfect vacation. It’s so close to all Florida has to offer, yet off the path so you feel like it’s your own personal paradise. Thank you so much Jen and Carl for your flexibility to accommodate our 5:00am arrival :-) and sharing your beautiful home with us. We will absolutely stay here again!