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Islands in the Sun Part 1: Marco Island Action

© Louis Bignami

Few Florida visitors find Marco Island. It hides north of the 10,000 Islands area and the Florida Keys, south of Tampa tourists and west of the Everglades and Miami. Once an isolated barrier island on the Gulf backed by mangroves swamps, it's a now a full-service, if little-known, destination with beautiful hotels on white sand beaches, bay and Gulf boating, sailing and fishing. Restaurants run to conch, fish and Key Lime pie. Shopping is typically "tee shirt tropical," with better quality, and higher prices, in hotel specialty shops. A wildlife area and easy access to the Everglades make it a wonder so few know of Marco Island.

Start with a ride on the Marco Island Trolley that makes 21 stops on its 1 3/4-hour tour. Exit and board where you like on a single ticket. Check the tides and try the beaches. Hope for treasure. Rare seashells -- a guide to Florida seashells #is recommended -- and the chance to find a golden Spanish coin keep beachcombers' heads down when the tide ebbs.

On incoming tides some of the finest fishing in America waits in nearby passes. The stub bridge under the island entrance high bridge is super day or night. Most beaches produce pompano, reds and other action species. Tarpon and bonefish guides offer inshore and offshore saltwater trips, and the chance to explore and fish the Everglades along "Alligator Alley" towards Miami. Airboat trips into the Everglades suit the adventurous who slap on lots of mosquito repellent!

The Gulf is warm and safe, if a bit on the brown side near shore. Watch for sea urchin spines if you wade, and, if you swim, look for stinging Portuguese Man-of-War to avoid the painful tentacles that trail below their pinkish-blue gas-filled float. Sunburn is, however, the most likely problem you face.

Those who don't fish enjoy a host of other options. Most hotels have at least one large freshwater swimming pools. There is a choice of nearby flat, and easy, golf courses. Tennis courts are available on Marco Island too.

RV parking on the street is not. The nearest is at Port of the Islands RV Park 16 miles from Marco Island on Highway 41, the direct route to Miami. This fine resort offers excursions into the Ten Thousand Islands area, southwest Florida's only manatee sanctuary. Birders go bonkers here with a dozen species uncommon outside Florid seen on most trips.

Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve off Highway 951, the highway to Marco Island, is one of two Florida reserves. Over 9,300 acres of tidal creeks, mangrove forests, islands and swamps help scientists study these important areas where over 70 percent of all marine life found on the coast spends some of its life. When we visited the Biggs Nature Center in the Reserve we were delighted to spot Roseate spoonbills, ospreys and bald eagles too. The Center offers canoe trips, bird watcher safaris and boat tours at a nominal fee.

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