Protect yourself under the hot Florida sun with our commercial grade umbrellas, rented from Ocean’s Reach and with Reef Safe Suncare, available at Jerry’s and Bailey’s grocery stores.
Reef Safe Suncare offers skin care and protection that is biodegradable in oceans and non-toxic to sea life. Wear yours and be worry free in the gulf waters and out on the beach!

Afterglow at Ocean’s Reach

View from the Lanai

Egret

Sunset

Thanks once again to Al Johnson for sharing his wonderful photographic memories. We will look forward to your return next winter!

King of the Roost

Spreading his wings

Larry-Curly-Moe

The following photos are from Al Johnson, a Sanibel guest who hoped we would post them on Ocean’s Reach blog, as he wanted to share them with the management and all of our blog followers.

So our “thanks” today goes out to Al, for so kindly sharing his beautiful photos. There will be a few more tomorrow also, but these three shown today, make me feel as if I can almost see the pelicans move! Great shots!!

The pelicans are widely seen in the Florida area, and it is hard to believe that these beautiful birds were almost in extinction in the ’60′s, thanks to the widespread use of DDT used to control the mosquito population in Florida. The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the seven species and the only one that dives to catch its prey. Stop and take a few minutes to watch the process and I think you will find it amazing!

Bring the whole family to the beach! Bake in the sand at 90 degrees or cool off in warm 80 degree gulf waters.
View the water temperature here at this website to help plan your day!

Bowman’s Beach is Sanibel’s largest public beach!

Frank Mason, who has been spending winters at Ocean’s Reach for several years, has made cards from his paintings and photographs. There are several to choose from and they have proven to be very popular with our guests. A selection of his Ocean’s Reach Art, is available for sale in the office.

Frank is standing in front of the design he displayed at BIG Arts two years ago, titled “Knife, Fork Spoonbill”.

Thanks for sharing your special talent with all the Ocean’s Reach family!

Hi! I am Roxanne and a frequent guest at Ocean’s Reach, which I love! I thought I would share one of my recent blog posts with you, as I’ve mentioned the beauty of and care of Ocean’s Reach a few times in my blog ( which I just started a couple of months ago ). Anyway, I think the photos are pretty and I hope you enjoy!

“Always Dreaming……(the name of the blog as I am always dreaming of Sanibel!)

I will share more photos of my beloved Sanibel Island and Ocean’s Reach.

This one is the pathway to the beach again. I just think they have the prettiest walkways. You have the soft peach of the building, the greens of the bushes and tress and then the vibrant colors of the flowers blooming mixed with the white of the pool gate and the turquoise of the ocean on the horizon…sigh….can you tell where I want to be….LOL!

Heaven on earth…can you hear the gentle lapping of the waves and feel the soft ocean breezes?

That’s my umbrella you see in the distance. One of these days I will have a permanent umbrella perched on this island beach somewhere. Until then I have my vacations and my photos to tide me over…….hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Roxanne Reinhart”

Wow! Great blog post Roxanne! Thank from all of us at Ocean’s Reach sharing.

A big thanks to Dale Chilcote for this incredible close-up of one of the Ospreys feeding a chick! He says he took this particular photo on or around Feb. 20th.

For all of us that have been missing the webcam, this is a real treat to see! If anyone else has any current photos they would like to share, please feel free to send them our way. Thanks!!

It is a wonderful time of the year to be in Sanibel. So many plants and shrubs are in full bloom causing a riot of color all over the island!

Pictured is our Clerodendrum, which is exceptionally beautiful and in its full glory, right in front of our office.

One of our favorite European guests, Laura Gheradi writes:

Hello to you all,
While wating to be back at Ocean’s Reach in April, your European guest sends you a picture she took on Sanibel last December, during an early morning stroll on the beach in front of OR.

Have a great week,
Laura

For the past week a Pied-billed Grebe and a Lesser Scaup have been enjoying each others company in our pond. They stay very close to each other and I will need to research if this type of behavior is extremely unusual. The pairing of these birds have made for great bird watching and speculation! If anyone out there knows anything about this friendship that has developed between two Sanibel birds, we would all be interested!

Andy