One of a handful of waterfront cottages with their own dockage for rent at Cabbage Key, off the coast of Fort Myers. (Courtesy of Terry Ward)

In a world where escapism constantly comes calling, a trip of a lifetime to the other side of the planet to do something extraordinary has its appeal and place. But you don’t have to travel far from Tampa Bay to find yourself someplace completely transporting in its own right.

According to Allianz Partners USA’s 2025 Vacation Confidence Index, “micro-cations” closer to home — vacations for four nights or fewer — are trending as travelers look to strike an equilibrium between time spent away, cost and the overall value of what you actually get out of a trip.

Did you know you can do some whale watching as rewarding as anything in the South Pacific far closer to home in the Caribbean? Or that a private island adventure — complete with a cottage and your own dock surrounded by pristine Florida nature — awaits just a few hours south of Tampa, off the coast of Fort Myers?

Read on for surprising micro-adventures to consider when the point is to get away with family and friends, spend quality time together — and make sure it counts.

Cabbage Key Inn & Restaurant Pineland, Florida

Boaters in Southwest Florida have long had Cabbage Key — a 100-acre tropical island in Pine Island Sound, just north of Captiva — on their marine GPS. The historic inn here and adjoining restaurant, with dollar bills plastered on nearly every surface inside and an outdoor patio overlooking the water that Jimmy Buffett would have loved (in fact, the location is rumored by some to have inspired “Cheeseburger in Paradise”), might be Lee County’s favorite boat-up watering hole. Tow your own vessel down from Tampa to reach it, or arrive via an eco-tour led by a Florida master naturalist with Captain Brian On the Water (with a stop to go shelling at undeveloped Cayo Costa State Park along the way).

It’s dollar bill-mayhem on nearly every surface inside the restaurant at Cabbage Key Inn, a favorite stop for boat drinks and burgers for weekend boaters.(Courtesy of Terry Ward)

You can spend the night on Cabbage Key with just a few other guests at one of a handful of individual cottages with their own private docks fronting the sound. At night, with limited light pollution, stars fill the sky overhead, and the restaurant stays open to serve cold beers and cocktails, the catch of the day and fresh stone crab claws, in season.

This is an excerpt of a post by Terry Ward originally published on tampamagazines.com