By Janet Groene with Gordon Groene

Florida’s map is dotted with places that call themselves islands, but most are connected to the mainland by bridges and causeways. A true island getaway means leaving your car and taking a boat or seaplane to your destination. It means a total Robinson Crusoe vacation, a Gilligan getaway. The boat ride may be only a few minutes across a canal-size waterway or a voyage lasting an hour or more. You may have to bring everything with you, including tent and food, or you could laze in the lap of luxury at a premium-priced resort. Here are some choices to consider. All are accessible by ferry or water taxi.

Useppa Island
For centuries before Ponce de Leon visited Pine Island Sound in 1513, Calusa Indians had a thriving village on the island we now call Useppa. It’s so small, you can walk from one end to the other, yet it was a major settlement for the Spanish, for Civil War troops, and for the rich and famous at the turn of the century. It was even a training center for troops that fought at the Bay of Pigs. Why, then, does Useppa Island remain such a deep, delicious secret? The Useppa Island Club has been so private that cruising guidebooks warn boaters not to dinghy ashore. Until recently, the only strangers who could be accommodated were guests of members. Now the welcome mat is out. The original mansion, built by Barron Collier in 1912, has been transformed into the charming Collier Inn, where a lavish continental breakfast is included in the rates; lunch and dinner are available by reservation. The rambling mansion has a cozy library, a pubby bar with grand piano, and several dining rooms.

Cabbage Key
It’s another island in Pine Island Sound, just a stone’s skip from Useppa. Like Useppa, Cabbage Key has a long history dating to pre-Columbian times and into the millionaire era, when mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart built a home here in 1938. The key’s modern claim to fame is that Jimmy Buffett was inspired here to write “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Walk the beaches and nature trail, climb the water tower for a view of the sound, or rent a boat for fishing or sightseeing.

Little Palm Island Resort
The resort has been a retreat for the rich and famous since it was Harry Truman’s private fishing club. Park at the welcome center on Little Torch Key, and take a launch to the island. Lose yourself among the rustling palms, sandy beaches and palm-thatched cottages, each cleverly screened by shrubs and flowers.

The (very expensive) restaurant is popular with day-trippers, so the exclusivity slips a bit when another boatload of tourists unloads on the island for lunch. Take a meal plan. There’s no TV or radio to invade your privacy.

Safety Harbor Club
Don’t confuse North Captiva Island with its sister island, Captiva, which can be reached by car. This one is reached only by a launch from Pine Island. The Club is an upscale village rather than a full-service resort. Units have everything needed for housekeeping, including a full kitchen, linens, cleaning supplies, paper products and laundry, but bring everything else–food, drinks and toiletries.

The Club has a freshwater fishing lake, heated swimming pool, three miles of Gulf beach, tennis courts, and a clubhouse with books and videos.

Greyfield Inn
Cumberland Island National Seashore is just across the state line in Georgia, but the Greyfield Inn’s launches pick up guests at the waterfront in Fernandina Beach in northeast Florida. Built as a home for a daughter of Lucy and Thomas Carnegie in 1900, the mansion is now a plush inn. Luxurious accommodations are heated and air conditioned, but guests are asked not to use the radio-phone except for emergencies. Only one piece of luggage per person is allowed, no smoking, nor children under age 6.

Palm Island Resort
Palm Island Resort off Cape Haze (west of Punta Gorda) is exotically remote, yet surprisingly affordable for a couple or family. Every villa has a kitchen, one bath per bedroom, washer and dryer, screened porch or terrace, private telephone line and at least two TV sets. Dining at the resort’s restaurant is so good that locals come over on the ferry for the evening.
The resort has one of the longest, widest, sandiest beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, plus shelling, fishing, wildlife watching and streaky red sunsets. Swim in the five heated pools. Rent a boat. Play tennis.

Pelican Inn
The incomparably fine, white sands of the Florida Panhandle surround Dog Island, which lies four miles off Carrabelle, an hour southwest of Tallahassee. Rooms sleep up to four and have a kitchenette. Sliding doors open onto a private deck or balcony. The island has drinking water and linens are provided, but bring everything else you’ll want to eat and drink. Arrive by ferry, seaplane, charter boat or airplane, or in your own airplane to land on the grass strip. Most of the island is in trust for the Nature Conservancy.

Fisher Island
More than 500 families live an island idyll on Fisher Island, in the shadow of Miami’s skyscrapers. In 1925, Miami Beach developer Carl Fisher traded the island to William Vanderbilt in exchange for a 220-foot yacht.

Even by millionaire standards, the mansion that Vanderbilt built in 1926 was an eye-popper. Restored, it’s the centerpiece of an exclusive club that has six restaurants, a par-35 championship golf course, 18 lighted tennis courts, a marina, European-style spa, and a commercial center with a gourmet market, bank and a few shops.

Banana Bay Resort
The resort itself is an idyllic hideaway on Marathon Key midway down the Florida Keys, but it has its own island, Pretty Boy Rock, where you can be the lone castaways. Just a few hundred yards off the resort’s marina, the island has a two-bedroom, two-bath “conch” cottage with air conditioning, ceiling fans, South Seas decor and a master suite with sunken Jacuzzi tub and a walk-in, double-head shower. One or two adult couples can be accommodated and you must arrive during daylight hours or stay the first night in the resort. Bring your own supplies or submit a provisioning list. No maids will invade your solitude, and you’ll do your own cooking in the complete kitchen.

Islands to Camp
Hontoon Island State Park
Timucuan Indians and their Amerin-
dian ancestors recognized it as a superb campground as early as 10,000 years ago. Today, their shell middens and a replica of the totem they left can still be seen on this island in the St. Johns River.

One-room cabins have four or six bunk beds with vinyl-covered mattresses (no bedding), a screened porch, outdoor grill, ceiling fan and one electrical outlet. Hot showers and flush toilets are provided. Bring everything except drinking water.

Cayo Costa State Park
This barrier island was a home to the Calusa Indians. It has miles of beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, acres of pine forest filled with skittering wildlife, oak hammocks, mangrove swamps and a wealth of bird activity.
Bring a tent or sleep in one of the cabins, which have three bunks with plastic-covered mattresses and nothing else except an outdoor grill. The island has no electricity, but drinking water is available. Arrive in your own boat.

Caladesi Island State Park
One of the few large Gulf of Mexico barrier islands that has escaped development, Caladesi Island is reached by scheduled ferry service from Honeymoon Island State Recreation Area.

Boat, fish, sun and swim on the picture-postcard beaches, walk the nature trails, and hunt for seashells. If you arrive by boat, anchor offshore or dock at the 99-slip marina. A snack bar and bathrooms with showers are available.

Fort Jefferson National Monument
A seaplane or fast catamaran takes you to the Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of where U.S. 1 ends at Key West. Primitive camping is available, but you have to bring everything with you, including drinking water.

The fort is a showplace of brick geometry, as well as a botanical wonderland filled with bird life.

Cumberland Island National Seashore
See Greyfield Inn, above. Campers bound for the campgrounds arrive on the ferry out of St. Marys, GA. Bring everything with you except drinking water. Well water is found in the backcountry campsites, which have no facilities, but it’s recommended that the water be boiled or treated. Inn facilities aren’t available to campers, although, meals can sometimes be reserved well in advance. Phone before you leave the mainland.