Tourist in your own town: Collier contains plenty of beautiful beaches

By ELIZABETH WENDT-KELLAR
ehwendt@naplesnews.com
June 21, 2004

Editor's note: With season over and gas prices high, now is a great time to rediscover attractions right here in Southwest Florida. This is one in a series of stories that will run Mondays on being a tourist in your own town.

To live in Naples is to be in danger of becoming blasé about beaches.

In the winter season, visitors flock to them. Parking can be painful, and finding a deserted spot to deposit a towel or chair can be impossible. And no one seems to know not to feed the seagulls.

But summer can be a chance for locals to rediscover Naples' coastal delights, a time to sample the sunshine and the sand in a slightly more civilized setting.

Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park

Poised at Collier County's northern end, Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park bills itself as an entrance to "the real Florida."

With its naturally lush landscape, it's easy to see the truth of that claim.

Delnor-Wiggins commands a small entry fee, but it is well worth the price to reap the practically pristine park's many recreational offerings and sights. A boat ramp grants access to inland waterways and the Gulf of Mexico. A concession stand rents beach equipment and snorkeling gear to the adventurous and sells refreshments to the sunshine-soaked.

OTHER BEACHES

For those seeking a beach experience outside the Naples area, Southwest Florida has other beaches:

Tigertail Beach: Located at 400 Hernando Drive on Marco Island, Tigertail Beach is 31 acres of natural beauty. Facilities include parking, bathhouse, boardwalks, a newly renovated concession stand, picnic area with grills, playground, sand volleyball court, butterfly garden and restrooms. Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset. A Collier County Parks and Recreation parking permit is required, or there is a $4 fee.

Barefoot Beach Preserve County Park: Located at 2 Barefoot Beach Blvd. just south of Bonita Springs, Barefoot Beach park is over 300 acres. In the preserve, there are five habitats: the beach zone, dune zone, coastal strand, maritime hammock, and estuarine mangrove forest. Facilities include restrooms and showers. Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset. A parking permit is required, or there is $3 fee.

Bonita Beach Park: Located between Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs on State Road 865, Bonita Beach is four acres. Facilities include a boardwalk, gazebo, grills and picnic shelters, bathrooms, changing rooms and outdoor shows. Hours: Sunrise to sunset. Parking is 75 cents per hour.

Lovers Key State Park: Located at 8700 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach, this beach is regarded as one of the area's most beautiful and diverse. Facilities include bathhouses, restrooms and showers, picnic shelters, hiking, canoeing and kayaking opportunities and remote beaches. Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset. Admission is $2 per one-occupant vehicle, $4 per vehicle up to eight occupants and $1 for walk-ins.

Turner Beach: Located between Sanibel and Captiva islands, the beach is known for its shelling and sunsets. Facilities include foot showers and restaurants. Parking is $2 an hour.

Lighthouse Park Beach: Located at 1 Periwinkle Way, on Sanibel's southern end. Facilies include concessions, restrooms, picnic area and pier. Parking is $2 an hour.

At the park's north end, beachgoers can lazily dangle a hook-and-line in the pass.

As they do, they can also expect to brush feathers with some of the area's more majestic shorebirds, another show of the beach's undeveloped appeal. At the Naples Pier, fishermen may meet begging pelicans and seagulls; at Delnor-Wiggins, they'll contend with egrets and herons.

Edith and Greg Good of Naples buy a yearly pass to Delnor-Wiggins, and visit it once or twice a week. The park affords them plenty of cool shade, they said. Also, cooking is permitted, another plus for picnickers, they said. And summer, when the park is less crowded and the water temperatures rise, is the ideal season to visit it, they agreed.

Delnor-Wiggins is also a prime seashell-picking property, and the ranger station has a handy guide for visitors. But live shelling is not permitted, nor is the collection of starfish and sand dollars. Those who wish to explore beyond the beach can also climb to the top of the park's observation tower, or wander the park's boardwalk and trail system.

Admission to Delnor-Wiggins is $3 per single occupant vehicle, $5 for vehicles carrying up to eight people and $1 for walkers/bikers. Children under 5 enter the park for free. The park also offers pavilion rental, showers, bathhouses and restrooms.

Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park, 11100 Gulf Shore Drive, is open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset. Phone: 597-6196.

Vanderbilt Beach

A short trip south on Gulf Shore Drive brings off-season sunbathers at Vanderbilt Beach, a sandy swirl of activity on one of Collier County's more developed stretches of coast.

The beach buzzes with young people; some of the deepest tans in Naples can be glimpsed on Vanderbilt's sparkling white sand. Vanderbilt draws families, too. It's this flutter of noise and life that makes the beach attractive to Kathy and Marty Clifford of North Naples.

"If you want, you can get cabanas and that sort of thing," Marty Clifford said. "You go to Naples Pier and there's nothing there."

Their friend, Cheryl Gomez of Naples Park, also likes the friendliness of Vanderbilt regulars, she said.

Cabana Dan's, a concession stand located on the beach, rents cabanas and beach chairs for a fee; the shop also sells small beach essentials, such as water and sunscreen. The upscale Ritz-Carlton of Naples is one of the hotels on the beach that rents watercrafts, including Hobie Cat sailboats and kayaks, although hotel guests have first rental rights.

The hotel also holds a concession for parasailing, and reservations are suggested.

Frank and Geri Zimmerman of North Naples like Vanderbilt and Delnor-Wiggins beaches. Delnor-Wiggins is never disappointing — there's always something to see, they said — but Vanderbilt is better for swimming, they agreed. It's becoming a more popular beach, they believe.

"You came here eight years ago, it was nowhere near as crowded," Frank said. "Now it's mobbed."

Parking for Vanderbilt is available off Vanderbilt Drive. A Collier County Parks and Recreation Department sticker is required, or a $4 parking pass must be purchased. Facilities include showers, bathhouses and restrooms. Phone: 597-6196.

Clam Pass Park/Beach

One word best describes Clam Pass beach: Nestled.

Reached by way of a boardwalk, Clam Pass is the hidden treat of Naples' beaches.

A tram operated by the Registry Resort and Club transports beachgoers and hotel guests along a wide boardwalk to the shore, a trip that takes about 3 minutes. Along the way, riders can peer over the edge of the boardwalk, catching sight of the way Florida's mangrove forests filter water through their roots. Unfortunately, they may also spy an occasional bottle or can, reminders to remove their trash from the park.

At the end of this six-tenth of a mile trip is the entrance to Clam Pass and the Paradise Cafe, also operated by the Registry. The cafe serves culinary beach fare from conch chowder to cheeseburgers.

Like Delnor-Wiggins, Clam Pass beach enjoys a natural backdrop with shady spots and a shell-scattered sands. But unlike Delnor-Wiggins' pass, which is full of currents and treacherous for swimming, Clam Pass' pass is shallower and more manageable. Barbara Rice of North Naples, who moved to Naples in 1969 with her parents, brings her children to Clam Pass to swim and play.

"It's a great little find," Rice said of Clam Pass. "It's a great place because there's a lot of different things for the kids to do."

They can explore the mangroves, she said, or swim in the pass. They can look for crabs in the shallow water or ride their rafts. And because the beach is small, the children stay within her sight.

"They're busy for hours and hours and hours," added friend Vicky Smith, also of North Naples, who also brings her children to the beach.

As at Vanderbilt, a parks and recreation parking permit is required at Clam Pass, or a $4 parking permit must be purchased. From the parking lot, beachgoers can catch the tram, which runs constantly from 8 a.m. to sunset.

A concession run by the Registry also offers beach and water craft rentals, including Hobie Cat sailboats and aqua bikes. Cabana and chair rentals are available.

Clam Pass is located at the end of Seagate Drive, near the Registry.

Lowdermilk Park/Beach and the City of Naples beaches

For convenience and ease, the sun never sets on the City of Naples' beaches.

They provide immediate access to the Gulf of Mexico and the sights that make Naples a tourist hotspot: sand, sunsets and all those spectacular shacks by the sea that prompt fingerpointing on Gulf Shore Boulevard during the season.

Lowdermilk Park/Beach offers sand volleyball courts and a concession stand. The covered pavilion is complete with picnic tables and restroom facilities. Nearby, there are more picnic tables and benches. On the beach, there are covered chickee huts. At Naples Pier, probably Naples' most recognizable landmark, beachgoers can also grab a casual bite to eat or try their luck fishing, no permit required.

For those seeking a spot away from crowds, beach access at 32nd and 33rd avenues south along Gordon Drive provide quiet, less-populated spaces. Showers are found at the boardwalk beach accesses, as are benches and metered parking spaces. Non-metered spaces require a City of Naples parking permit.

Lowdermilk Park is located at Banyan Boulevard and Gulf Shore Boulevard. Phone: 434-4698. The Naples Pier is located at 12th Avenue South.

Naples beachgoers have a variety of ideas about what makes a good Naples beach. Some responses:

"Good sand, cleanliness, security. And, of course, nice water, which they all have that." -- Olin Ferguson

"Beautiful sand, which we keep paying to reinforce." -- Nanci Ferguson

"More than one thing to do. Not a lot of stagnant water. You can smell the fresh air." -- Barbara Rice

"It's calm, uncrowded." -- Vicky Smith

"Clean sand, trash cans and also somewhere to rent a raft." -- Paige Smith, 10

"Waves, deep water, shells, trees." -- Anna Rice, 9

"Parking availability. Big beaches, which we're starting to lose." -- Geri Zimmerman

"Good, healthy water." -- Frank Zimmerman