Commuting and living info please. (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: transplants, renting, purchasing)

[Mt.SNOW]

My family and I are looking at a possible relocation in the Fort Myers area we are in our mid 40's, one daughter will be out of school and looking to attend college, but our son will be a sophomore so schools are important, loved that Cape Coral has a TV production class and is into helping the kids with real life positions, this is something my son loves to do and is considering in the future, we are used to a small town and smaller school and we know we are moving to a bigger school and bigger city but its important for him to have a decent education, and this is by choice, we love bigger city living, we have been coming to the ocean (Florida) as long as I can remember, we love the outdoors, and anything to do with water. Cape Coral vs Fort Myers, their are so many conflicting posts about both, I guess the biggest thing is we would like to be closer to the ocean. Hubby is interviewing with a company and it's in N. Fort Myers (I work from home, so no issues for me commuting but do like to get out and about daily), how far would a commute from there be to the ocean, would eventually like be close enough to walk or ride bikes to the beach, will be in the future purchasing a boat and paddle boards/kayaks. Have been researching Florida for awhile now, so I do have some dibs and info on some things. Will be renting for a few months just to get the feel of all of the areas around. Any further info would be awesome. Promise to be respectful to Florida and plan on volunteering to help with wildlife and the beaches as it is beyond frustrating to see people not take care of it. When we are down I take always bring something with me to pick up trash, seriously no respect and a huge pet peeve. How many other transplants on here, would love to hear your experiences.

Thanks in advance..

Amy