Though one hasn’t been spotted in years, there was once a time when the surrounding land of the Painted Tortuga was “decorated” with multicolored painted turtles. Decades ago, the neighboring children would capture the local turtles and paint their shells before releasing them back into the wild. These gopher turtles, which are endangered and whose descendants still live in and around the sandy, palm-tree covered lot on Mound Road, are just one of a variety of tropical animals that call this place home. Lizards hop around the back porch; ospreys fly trough the fig trees and palms. Next door, on the 15-acre church grounds, birds quietly float along the pond. The Painted Tortuga is a castaway’s secluded home, where no one would ever know that you are just 50 yards away from Fort Myers Beach’s main street, Estero Boulevard. And then it's just a few steps to the Gulf of Mexico!
Walk outside through the French doors of either bedroom. If not to the beach, with white sands that span for miles and offer a seemingly new and different sunset each day, then stroll down the street to the plaza, where there are shops and restaurants to visit. Or hop on the trolley for free, which will pick you up at the corner and take you downtown to Times Square. There, tourists can partake in a variety of vacation activities and fun - from shopping and dining and nightlife, to laying out in the sun at the public beach or fishing out on the pier. There’s boat rentals, scooter rentals, casino cruises, and even a boat that will take you to Key West! There are golf courses all around, including miniature ones, and Lover's Key State park just down the street.
For those who have a vehicle (or a boat), cruise on down to Naples or Bonita Beach. Or hop on over to the neighboring islands of Sanibel and Captiva, where the rich and famous drink daiquiris on their yachts at the South Seas Plantation, and the Parrotheads eat “cheeseburgers in paradise” at Cabbage Key. The Everglades are just a day-drive south; Miami is just several hours east through Alligator Alley, and Disney World is only three hours away!
A hideaway in the middle of paradise, The Painted Tortuga offers visitors all of what tropical South Florida is so sought after for, yet uniquely lets them escape from it all - at the drop of your panama-jack hat.
"Sometimes, when I need to get away from it all - when I don’t want to be bothered by all my fans, and all of my white-bearded lookalikes that can swarm through Key West - I just hop on the shuttle boat over to Ft. Myers Beach and stay at my favorite little retreat in the Painted Tortuga. No one bothers me there, and I find the peace and tranquility allow for some of my best writing yet!"
- Ernest Hemingway
