Located less than half an hour drive from the center of Fort Myers, this town of 435 people is built slightly to the east of Pine Island. How do you build to the east of an island? That’s easy when the water is shallow enough to build pilings and dredge sand and earth up to make your own land. That’s why this collection of homes has a street in the front and a dock in the back for every house.

This is a place made for fishing and place is full of sea side cottages, galleries and seasonal life. During heavy storms the folks here who stick around have made their homes and businesses conform to, and more often exceed, building codes for Florida’s temperamental relationship with the Atlantic. When looking for a home with a water front view, you can’t get much more water front than Matlacha without growing gills.