Naples, FloridaThe Best of Naples

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.

By the Best of Naples editors7 min readUpdated
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The short answer

Drive twenty minutes south of Naples and the coastline stops being a coastline. From the southern end of Marco Island down to Cape Sable, the western edge of Florida disintegrates into a labyrinth of mangrove islands, oyster bars, tidal creeks and shallow bays — the Ten Thousand Islands, which despite the name comprise several hundred named islands and an uncountable number of unnamed ones.

Aerial view of mangrove islands scattered across shallow green water in the Ten Thousand Islands

Jump to the questions people ask about this.

It is part Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, part Everglades National Park, and it is the single most striking natural landscape within reach of a day trip from Naples.

What is actually out there

Cape Romano and the dome house ruins

Off the southern tip of Marco sit the remains of a set of concrete dome structures built in the early 1980s as an experimental self-sufficient house. Erosion and hurricanes have taken the island out from under them; what survives now stands in open water and continues to collapse year by year. It is the most photographed thing in the Ten Thousand Islands and genuinely eerie in person.

Panther Key, White Horse Key, Round Key

Outer islands with real Gulf-facing beaches, reachable on a day trip, essentially empty on weekdays. These are the swimming and shelling stops.

The interior creeks

Narrow, tannin-dark, mangrove-tunnelled channels where the water goes still and the noise stops. Roseate spoonbills, wood storks, white pelicans in winter, mangrove cuckoos if you are lucky, and manatees and juvenile tarpon in the deeper holes. Bull sharks use these creeks as a nursery.

Getting there from Naples

By water it is roughly 20 to 30 nautical miles from Gordon Pass to the good stuff around Cape Romano, depending on your route and the tide. In a fast boat on a calm morning that is under an hour; in chop it is a long, wet ride. That distance is why this is a full-day trip rather than an afternoon one, and why booking a day out with an experienced local captain is the standard way to do it — the alternative involves both a capable boat and a working knowledge of a hundred square miles of unmarked shallows.

Everglades City, about 40 minutes south of Naples on US-41, sits at the eastern edge of the archipelago and is worth the drive on its own merits — a fishing settlement of a few hundred people, stone crab in season, and the Museum of the Everglades. It is a very different Florida from Naples, and it makes a good land day when the wind is up.

Best conditions

  • November through April: cooler, drier, far fewer insects, better visibility, calmer mornings. This is the season.
  • Mid-tide and rising: the shallow interior is passable and you are not committing to being stuck when the water drops.
  • Wind under 10 knots: the run down is exposed Gulf water for much of the way.
  • Summer: exceptional wildlife and empty water, but plan around afternoon thunderstorms and be honest about mosquito load in the backcountry.

Fishing

The Ten Thousand Islands is one of the most productive inshore fisheries in the country. Snook along the mangrove edges, redfish on the oyster bars, spotted seatrout over grass, tarpon rolling in the passes from spring into summer, and cobia and mackerel nearshore. Seasons and slot limits change; check current Florida Fish and Wildlife regulations before you keep anything, and know that snook and redfish rules in southwest Florida have been adjusted several times in recent years.

What to pack

  • More water than you think, plus electrolytes in summer
  • Long sleeves and a buff — sun exposure out there is total
  • Serious insect repellent for any stop in the interior
  • A dry bag for anything that must not get wet
  • Polarised sunglasses — they are what let you read the shallows

Common questions

How far are the Ten Thousand Islands from Naples?
Roughly 20–30 nautical miles by water from Gordon Pass to the Cape Romano area, or about 40 minutes by road to Everglades City for the eastern access point.
Can you visit the Cape Romano dome house?
You can boat to it and view it from the water. The structures are unstable and progressively collapsing, so climbing on or entering them is unsafe and discouraged.
Do you need a guide for the Ten Thousand Islands?
Strongly recommended. The islands are unmarked and visually repetitive, shoals shift seasonally, and mobile coverage is unreliable. First-time visitors should go out with a captain who runs this water regularly.
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