Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Matlacha, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Matlacha and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Matlacha

• Astronomy & Satellites ...
  • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
  • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Matlacha:
  • 26.629698, -82.070566
  • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Matlacha

• Bird Watching ...
  • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
  • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
  • Since Matlacha is near Charlotte County and also Collier County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlotte County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Collier County

• Waymarking ...
  • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Matlacha

Curious and Interesting Names Near Matlacha ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

• Biggar
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Biggar is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggar
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Biggar <1>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Biggar
  • From Matlacha to Biggar
• Cypress Lake
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Cypress Lake is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Lake
• Flamingo Bay
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Flamingo Bay is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flamingo Bay
• Lakeville
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lakeville is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville
• Page Park
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Page Park is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page Park
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Page Park
  • From Matlacha to Page Park
• Palm and Pine Park
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Palm and Pine Park is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm and Pine Park
• Pirate Harbor
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Pirate Harbor is located in Charlotte County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pirate Harbor
• Samville ‑ Historic
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Samville is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samville
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Samville
  • From Matlacha to Samville
• Shell Point Village
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Shell Point Village is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Point Village
• Truckland ‑ Historic
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Truckland is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truckland
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Truckland
  • From Matlacha to Truckland
• Whiskey Creek
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Whiskey Creek is located in Lee County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Creek

How Far From Matlacha to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Matlacha to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Matlacha and extending to:

• Fort Myers, which is the Seat of Lee County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Matlacha to Fort Myers, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
• Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 295 miles [474.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 895 miles [1,440.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,660 miles [10,718.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,320 miles [11,780.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,227 miles [8,412 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'