We love this place! We found the island in 2005 and stayed somewhere other than Chateau le Mer - never again. After a few busy years with teenage kids in sports and other activities, things have now settled down and we go back every time we can now – there is no other place we want to vacation - and even though we just returned from a perfect week long getaway at the end of January it already feels like it is way past time to plan another trip. Bill and Kay are wonderful hosts – responsive to any question we’ve ever had. The house is gorgeous, clean and comfortable – you just have to see it - every detail is there, from the beautiful moldings to the gorgeous bathrooms, both with tiled showers and one with a wonderful separate soaking tub, the two floor to ceiling sliding glass doors on the first floor that give you an amazing ocean view, two magnificent stain glass windows, two bedrooms upstairs with sliders onto a balcony overlooking the ocean. Everything you need except food and your swimsuit. Lots of towels, beach towels, dishes, pans, kickboards, noodles, umbrellas, etc. Add in the gopher tortoises living in the yard, the dolphins and manatees swimming down the shoreline, the chameleons everywhere, for my husband the fishing off the beach and off the dock on the bay side, more shells than you can imagine - paradise found! We enjoy it as a couple and there is also plenty of room when our adult children are able join us. We’ve spent five weeks there since May 2011, and haven’t found a time of year yet that we don’t love. This time we were greeted with all new appliances, right down to the washer and dryer. We sleep upstairs and wake to the view of the ocean every morning and the lounges on the screen porch are perfect for napping after a hard day at the beach.

Little Gasparilla Island is a jewel – the only place I’ve ever been that I truly would not mind never going home from. We sometimes rent a boat when we are there and really enjoy exploring the intercoastal – and the water taxi is easy and prompt if we want to go somewhere and don’t have a boat – but for the most part we really just don’t want to leave the island once we’re there.

Some folks do breathing to calm themselves when they are stressed out – me – I just close my eyes and think of the water swirling around my ankles as I shell at the south point of the island. In fact, I can hear the ocean calling me now…

Thanks for allowing us to share your island home!