Beaches
Keewaydin Island: The Beach With No Road to It
Eight miles of undeveloped barrier island, no bridge, no facilities, and the best shells in Collier County.
9 min read
Naples · Florida · Gulf Coast
The Gulf is nine minutes away.Here is how to spend it.
Beaches ranked by parking rather than photographs. The water, properly explained. Restaurants that earn the view. Twenty-two guides to the best small city in Florida, written by people who actually go outside here.
- 22
- long-form guides
- 6
- ways to see the Gulf
- 0
- sponsored listings
Start with this one
The 20 Best Things to Do in Naples, Florida
Twenty things worth your day, ranked by how often we send visiting friends to each one.
12 min read
Latest guides
Browse all
On the Water
Cruising the Port Royal Canals: Naples' Hidden Street Grid
America's most expensive residential zip code has no sidewalks worth walking. It has canals.
8 min read
Things to Do
Taking Kids on the Water in Naples: A Parent's Field Guide
Two hours, one beach landing, before lunch. That's the formula — here's why it works.
6 min read
Seasons & Planning
What to Wear on a Naples Boat Trip (and What to Leave in the Car)
Soft soles, real sunscreen, a layer for the ride home — and the one item that ends up overboard every single week.
5 min read
On the Water
Morning or Sunset? The Best Time of Day to Be on the Water in Naples
Naples water has a schedule. Learn it and every boat day gets better — for free.
6 min read
On the Water
What a Private Boat Charter Actually Costs in Naples
Hourly rates, what's included, what isn't, and the per-person maths nobody does before they book the cheaper thing.
8 min read
Things to Do
Artis-Naples and the Baker Museum: The Culture Campus
A serious art museum and a resident orchestra, in a town of twenty thousand people.
6 min read
Things to Do
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary: The Old-Growth Cypress Boardwalk
The largest old-growth bald cypress forest left on earth, forty-five minutes from Fifth Avenue.
7 min read
Things to Do
Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens: What It's Actually Like
A 1919 botanical garden with animals in it, which is why it doesn't feel like a zoo.
7 min read
On the Water
Designing a Custom Boat Day in Naples
The best day on the water here isn't a product. It's an itinerary you build.
9 min read
On the Water
The Naples Sunset Cruise, Done Properly
Naples faces due west. There is exactly one correct place to be at 7:40pm.
8 min read
Things to Do
Everglades Day Trip from Naples: Big Cypress and Everglades City
Drive forty minutes east and the twenty-first century simply stops.
8 min read
Things to Do
Naples Museums and Local History, Ranked
Four small museums that between them explain how a mosquito coast became this.
6 min read
On the Water
Naples Boat Tours: Which Private Trip Fits Your Day
Four ways to spend a day on the Gulf out of Naples Bay, what each really costs, and the questions to ask before you hand over a card.
8 min read
On the Water
Naples or Marco Island? The View From the Water
They share a coastline and almost nothing else.
6 min read
Seasons & Planning
Naples With Kids
Naples has a reputation as a retirement town. It is also unusually easy with small children.
5 min read
Neighborhoods
Old Naples, Park Shore or Pelican Bay?
Where you sleep in Naples decides whether you walk to dinner or drive to it.
6 min read
On the Water
Boating in Naples: Etiquette, Rules and What to Pack
The unwritten rules of Naples Bay, plus a packing list that has been refined by everyone who has ever forgotten a towel.
5 min read
Things to Do
What to Do in Naples When It Rains
In summer it rains hard for 45 minutes and then stops. In winter, when it rains, it means it.
5 min read
Food & Drink
Coffee and Breakfast in Naples
Naples wakes up early. The 7am version of this town is the best one.
4 min read
On the Water
The Ten Thousand Islands, From Naples
South of Marco Island the map dissolves into thousands of mangrove islands. It is the wildest place within an hour of Fifth Avenue.
7 min read
Beaches
Clam Pass: The Boardwalk Beach
You walk through a mangrove forest to reach this one, which is exactly why it stays quiet.
4 min read
Food & Drink
Buying Gulf Seafood in Naples
Cooking a fish you bought three hours after it was landed is the cheapest luxury in Naples.
4 min read
On the Water
Keewaydin Island: The Beach You Cannot Drive To
No road, no bridge, no snack bar, no lifeguard. That is the entire point.
6 min read
Seasons & Planning
Three Days in Naples: A Plan That Works
Two things a day, a long lunch, and the late afternoon left open. That is the whole method.
6 min read
Beaches
Lowdermilk Park: The Easy One
Naples' municipal beach park, and the one locals bring visiting relatives to.
4 min read
Things to Do
Fifth Avenue South vs Third Street South
Both are lovely. They are not the same, and locals are quietly partisan about it.
5 min read
Beaches
Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park: The Best Sand in Naples
A state park at the north edge of Naples with the cleanest, quietest beach on this coast.
5 min read
On the Water
How to Spend a Whole Day on the Gulf
Two hours on the water is a taste. A full day is the thing people remember about Naples ten years later.
6 min read
Things to Do
Naples Botanical Garden Is Better Than It Sounds
Not a municipal rose garden. A serious tropical collection with 170 acres to walk.
5 min read
On the Water
Dolphin Watching in Naples: What You Will Actually See
Naples has resident dolphins, not migrating ones. That changes everything about how you find them.
6 min read
Food & Drink
Waterfront Dining in Naples, Honestly Assessed
A water view in Naples costs about 30 percent more per plate. Here is where it is worth it.
5 min read
Beaches
Vanderbilt Beach: The One With Everything Nearby
The most convenient beach day in Naples, if you understand the parking garage.
5 min read
Things to Do
The Naples Pier, and Why It Matters Here
A working fishing pier that doubles as the town square.
5 min read
On the Water
The Honest Guide to Sunset on the Water in Naples
Naples faces due west into the Gulf, which is why the sunset here is a civic event. Here is how to see it from the water without getting it wrong.
7 min read
Seasons & Planning
The Best Time to Visit Naples, Florida
Naples has three distinct personalities across the year, and the price difference between them is enormous.
6 min read
Choose your own Naples
What kind of day are you having?
Correct answer. Nine minutes to open water and the town looks like a postcard from out there.
Naples Boat Tours: Which Private Trip Fits Your Day
Four ways to spend a day on the Gulf out of Naples Bay, what each really costs, and the questions to ask before you hand over a card.
The Honest Guide to Sunset on the Water in Naples
Naples faces due west into the Gulf, which is why the sunset here is a civic event. Here is how to see it from the water without getting it wrong.
Cruising the Port Royal Canals: Naples' Hidden Street Grid
America's most expensive residential zip code has no sidewalks worth walking. It has canals.
Skipping the reading and just want the boat? Naples Luxury Boat Tours runs the private version out of Naples Bay — you pick the hour and the route.
From the editor
If you do one thing in Naples, do it on the water
We have written twenty-two guides to this town and the pattern never changes: the beaches, the restaurants and the shopping are all good, and the day people talk about afterwards is the one they spent offshore. Nine minutes from downtown you are through Gordon Pass with the engines off, and Keewaydin — an island with no bridge to it — is a further ten.
The operator we point friends to is Naples Luxury Boat Tours, because the boats are private, the groups are small and the captains actually live on this water. Sunset, dolphins, shelling, dock-and-dine, or a full day south to Cape Romano — you set the route. Check availability for your dates before you book anything else; in season the flat mornings go first.
No money changes hands over this recommendation — see our editorial disclosure.