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#3 Cape Coral,
Florida

Population: 165,744 (city); 623,725 (county)

Percentage over 55: 39

Median Home Price: $87,000

State Income Tax: None

No. of Clubs: 1

Cape Coral Rowing Club

Three corporate teams go for the gold at the 1st Annual Realmark Corporate Rowing Challenge in Cape Coral.

Types of Water: Ten miles along the Cape Coral Spreader Waterway, access to more than 400 miles of Cape Coral canal system, and the Caloosahatchee River.

No. of Rowers in Area: More than 200

Retirement and Cape Coral could easily be synonyms for one another. More than two-thirds of Cape Coral residents are over 55, the median home price is a very affordable $87,000 and the area averages more than 330 days of Florida sunshine each year.

This balmy weather, along with excellent rowing on the Cape Coral Spreader Waterway and the Caloosahatchee River, makes the Cape an ideal retirement spot for rowers. The Cape Coral Rowing Club in Cape Harbour is the center of the scene, offering coaching, as well as hosting both university and regional team events. The city is literally built on the canal system; it’s a kind of subtropical Venice in which just about everyone has waterfront access.

The Cape Coral Rowing Club men’s eight on a sunset row along the mangroves.

So launch from your own home or from the rowing club, where you’ll take your strokes on the Spreader Waterway. This rower’s paradise is well protected, and flanked on either side by nature preserves. The mangroves in the surrounding wetlands even play an ecological role, keeping the waterway clean. Local rowers consider themselves spoiled by the almost limitless protected water.

A crew launches from the Cape Coral Rowing Club dock to race in the 2nd Annual Realmark Corporate Rowing Challenge.

For a change of scenery, rowers can explore the Great Calusa Blueway, one of North America’s newest designated water trails. On calm days, 38 river miles are available on the Caloosahatchee River, along with more than 150 miles of protected coastal trail once the river enters the ocean. And rowing is far from the only water sport available in Cape Coral. Try your hand at surfing at nearby Fort Myers Beach (rentals available at Ron Jon Surf Shop).

Having fun off the water is easy with some 600 bars and eateries within a 15-mile radius of downtown Cape Coral. The downtown area is very walkable, so park the car at home if you’re headed out.

The Cape Harbour is one of the best places to get all your eatables in one place: Rumrunners serves up mean surf and turf, The Joint specializes in stone-fired pizza, Longboards Cabana Bar delivers stiff Caribbean cocktails and Run Agrounds provides the morning pick-me-up in the form of coffee and pastries.

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