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Cape Coral Rental CarsThinking to save some money by taking taxis rather than Cape Coral rental cars during your visit? Think again. Cape Coral has more canals than Venice, Italy - over 400 miles of canals. This means that navigating the city can be a bit of a puzzle. It also means that biking and walking are not the most convenient means of transportation. Boats and rental cars are. If you plan to do any activities off the water, I recommend that you rent a car. The canals criss-cross the city in such a fashion that walking and biking are leisure activities rather than practical modes of transportation to sights, activities and events. If you look at this map of Cape Coral Florida, you can see that there are not very many roads that traverse the entire city. With so many canals, north/south and east/west travel is limited to these few main roads. These roads also tend to be where the shopping and services are located - with Cape Coral Parkway and Del Prado being the most commercial roads. While there are a few shops on side streets, your proximity to these main roads will determine how accessible things are by bike and foot. Cape Coral rental cars may be obtained from all major agencies at the local Fort Myers airport (airport code: RSW). Other Florida airports within 3 hours of Cape Coral you may consider flying into include Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), Miami (MIA - but I hate the crowds and rudeness at this airport so never recommend it), or Tampa (TPA). All of these offer Cape Coral rental cars. Another option would be to take a taxi to one of the Cape Coral offices of Enterprise Rental Car. I have had very good experiences with the friendly neighborhood branch at 4806 Cape Coral Parkway. They can be reached at 1 (239) 549-3187. Another Cape Coral Enterprise office I have not personally used is located at 1516 Del Prado Blvd S, 1 (239) 772-5565. Still want to avoid the expense of Cape Coral rental cars? Here's what you can expect. TAXIS: A taxi ride from the Ft. Myers airport to our Cape Coral yacht club area vacation rental, is over $40 for one passenger and over $60 for our family of five (priced May, 2008).
BOAT RENTAL: If you plan to stay in a Cape Coral vacation rental which includes boat rental, you may be able to get by without a car. To be honest, on our first visit to Cape Coral we only left via the front door one time - to get groceries. The rest of the time we were simply enjoying the pool or going out to dinner by boat. If you hope to go this route, make sure your Cape Coral vacation rental or your boat rental Cape Coral includes use of the local on-the-water dining chart. Note that groceries may still be an issue. GROCERIES: You may want to contact the grocery store nearest to where you will be staying to see if they will pull your groceries together in advance. The Publix on Santa Barbara and Veteran's Memorial Parkway used to do this for $10, but it is no longer a standard practice. I suggest you get the zip code of your vacation rental and then do a search on Yahoo Yellow Pages for the closest grocery stores. Call the main number (not the pharmacy) and tell them you are coming into town for vacation and wonder if they would put together your groceries for you in advance if you faxed them a list. If the first person you talk to says no, don't give up! Call again at different times on different days until you get a kind hearted customer service rep who agrees to do this for you - be patient and ever so polite and they may say yes on your first call! Note that at our Bayside property there is a grocery store within walking distance of the free boat dock at the Bimini Basin - but groceries by boat is a bit inconvenient for most people.
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