Things to Do

ManateePoints of interest

Explore the downtown district with the Bonita Springs Historical Society and learn about our city and area's history. The BSHS offers seven differently themed history walks, including Downtown Landmarks, Places of Wonderment, How Bonita Got its Name, Cruisin' Down the River, Ghost Walks from the Past, Monuments, Arts & Culture and the Land of the Calusa. The Society also offers visits to their historic facilities and can arrange private socials. Visit the Liles Hotel History Center in Riverside Park for displays, M – F, 9 – 5, and see the website for current happenings at Bonita Springs Historical Society

  • Center for the Arts – An arts organization that hosts both local and traveling art exhibitions, arts classes and other community events.
  • CREW Flint Pen Strand Hiking Trail - This trail system allows the public to enjoy part of the 60,000-acre Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW). These lands help protect and preserve one of our most valuable natural resources - water. The trails wind through many ecosystems, including pine flatwoods and may be seasonably wet. Flint Pen Strand offers a variety of habitats for wildlife including fox squirrels, white-tailed deer, bobcats, otters, swallow-tailed kites, and bald eagles.
    CREWtrust.org https://crewtrust.org/flint-pen-strand-2/
  • Bonita Beach Parka 2.5-acre (10,000 m2) beachfront park that features a boardwalk and swimming area. Sand dunes and coastal vegetation surround a gazebo and 8 picnic shelters.  Please note that dogs are not permitted at this beach.
  • Riverside ParkThe Bonita Springs Riverside Park is located on Old US 41 Road in Bonita Springs and sits on the Imperial River. The park is used for holiday celebrations, art shows, festivals, Movies in the Park, and the Celebrate Bonita Festival. Also in the park is our band shell. Amenities include sheltered picnic tables, park benches, and restrooms.  The historic Liles Hotel, built in 1926, offers exhibits in the public areas of the hotel.   The Imperial River cottages, recently restored fishing bungalows, now offer an enchanting selection of handmade jewelry, paintings, sculptures and more.  Artist Cottages are open to the public on Sundays during season and offer Art Nights the fourth Wednesday of each month.
  • Bonita Disc Golf Course You just need to know how to throw a frisbee. Same rules as traditional Golf. The scenic 18-hole course wraps around a seven acre lake and provides amateur tee pads for the beginner and pro pads for the more advanced player. There is no charge to play.
  • Bonita Nature Place Bonita Nature Place (BNP) provides a local place for learning experiences, volunteerism, and outdoor family activities that strengthens the environmental stewardship commitment within the community while fostering an awareness of old Southwest Florida in its unique, natural setting. 
  • Bonita Springs Recreation Center The City of Bonita Springs Recreation Center sits on 41.9 acres of land which is located at 26740 Pine Avenue off of West Terry Street and has something for everyone. Our facility includes a full-sized gymnasium, a cardiovascular/fitness room, community pool, softball fields, public tennis courts, disc golf course, picnic areas and a playground. 
  • Bonita Springs Community Pool Our twenty-five yard Community Outdoor Pool is located at 26890 Pine Avenue, just off West Terry Street. The facility offers a number of classes year round. The pool has eight lap lanes and ranges from three feet nine inches to six feet deep, and is kept at a nice temperature controlled eighty-four to eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit. 
  • Bonita Springs Soccer Complex The Bonita Springs Soccer Complex is located at 27100 Kent Road just off East Terry Street.  The soccer complex consists of three regulation sized fields, concessions stand, meeting rooms, restroom and and playground.  Adult games are played on Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday.  The youth league games are played on Saturday and Sunday.
  • Bonita Springs Dog Park The Bonita Springs Bark-N-Play Park is a wooded, spacious park that covers approximately six acres. There are three fenced areas for small, medium, and large dog breeds. It also features a covered pavillion, dog washing station, picnic tables, benches, and an asphalt multi-use path. Leitner Creek runs through it with a bridge going over it, adding to the park‘s serenity and beauty.  There are three fenced areas for large, medium and small dogs, a dog wash station, and a picnic pavilion.  The park is located at the light on E. Terry Street and Matheson Ave and is open from dawn to dusk.

  • Barefoot Beach Preserve Parkis 342 acres (1.38 km2) of natural land and one of the last undeveloped barrier islands on Florida's southwest coast. It is located on the border of Collier and Lee Counties and accessible by Bonita Beach Road. 
  • Little Hickory Island Beach Park – Also know as Access #10, Little Hickory Island Park is an isolated location just off Little Hickory Island with public restrooms, shelters, picnic tables and a great view of the gulf.  Accessible parking is available.  Parking fee is $2 per hour.  Lee County parking stickers are accepted at this access.

  • There are also 10 beach accesses with public parking located up and down Bonita Beach.

  • The Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track is located in Bonita Springs.
  • Everglades Wonder Garden- Established in 1936 during Florida's Golden Age of roadside attractions, Everglades Wonder Gardens is a recently updated 3.5-acre lush botanical jungle featuring tropical birds such as flamingos and parrots along with reptiles, including 40 alligators. They're all nestled among the shade of old growth trees and many new plantings. Butterfly garden, orchid trail, picnic grove, gift shop, John Brady Art Gallery. Open daily 9-5 in downtown Bonita Springs.

BeachNearby is the home of the Fort Myers Miracle baseball club of the Florida State League, and is the spring training locale for the Boston Red Sox. The Minnesota Twins hold their spring training in suburban South Fort Myers.

For the golfing enthusiast, the Fort Myers Area (Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero, Lehigh Acres, Sanibel Island and Venice) is home to over 50 of Southwest Florida's renowned 130 public and private golf courses. Florida's climate combined with the scenic and nature of these courses makes the area a perfect stop for the vacationing or retiring golfer.

The Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium is a private, not for profit, environmental education organization. Set on a 105 acre site has a museum, three nature trails, a Planetarium, butterfly and bird aviaries, a gift shop and meeting and picnic areas

Edison-Ford Winter Estates
, Fort Myers

Tours include the museum, which has Edison's phonographs, electric lights, and some of his other inventions.
Attraction type: Garden; Historic home

Other Points of Interest:

Manatee Park, Fort Myers
Look for the West Indian manatee.
Attraction type: Nature reserve; Park

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Nature reserve

Seminole Gulf Railway's Dinner Train Theater, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Dinner theater

The Schoolhouse Theater Sanibel
Attraction type: Theater

Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall Fort Myers
Attraction type: Theater, Headline Entertainment

Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, Fort Myers
Center promotes education and awareness of the natural systems of Southwest Florida, and to foster a deeper understanding of earth and space sciences.
Attraction type: Nature center; Observatory/planetarium

Imaginarium Hands-On Museum, Fort Myers
Hands on exhibits and 3D theater make this aquarium fun for the whole family.
Attraction type: Aquarium; Children's museum

McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Street

Centennial Park, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Park; Urban park

Manatee World, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Nature center; Tour

Fort Myers Historical Museum, Fort Myers
Attraction type: History museum

Burroughs Home, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Historic home

Edison Park, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Neighborhood; Historic home

Sun Harvest Citrus, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Factory tour

Lee County Sports Complex Hammond Stadium, Fort Myers
Attraction type: Arena/stadium/field