Strollers enjoy sunset and cooling temperatures on Naples Pier in southwestern Florida.

Shimmering 'Speck'

Resorts, Smart Shops, Galleries, Restaurants Abound In Naples, Marco Area

Visions of Robinson Crusoe spring to mind as airboat passengers hop off for a look at the palm-thatched cottage on Totch's Island, a speck in the Ten Thousand Islands.

Here in the southwest corner of Florida, on the western edge of the Everglades, pioneer trapper and fisherman Loren "Totch" Brown spent a lifetime exploring the creeks and mangrove jungles of this vast ecosystem, retreating to his tiny isle to write and just get away. A local legend, he died in 1996, but Brown's family still owns the cottage, operates the only airboat tours to the islet and sells his book of memoirs, "Totch, A Life in the Everglades," in its gift shop. Less than 20 miles from the mystery and magic of this watery wilderness lies some of the choicest resort real estate in Florida.

The affluent Gulf Coast town of Naples and neighbor Marco Island appeal to the upscale traveler, offering a wide choice of elegant resorts, smart shops, art galleries and restaurants, not to mention miles of powdery white-sand beaches. The Travel Channel named Naples as "America's Best All-Around Beach for 2005."

Since major hotel companies started building in the late 1980s, Naples/Collier County has been one of the country's fastest-growing regions. Condominium golf resorts seem to be sprouting everywhere. With nearly 100 golf courses, Greater Naples bills itself as the "Golf Capital of the World." It also claims more millionaires per capita than any other city in Florida and boasts not one, but two Ritz-Carlton resorts.

Despite the area's image as a magnet for retirees, less than a quarter of the county's 300,000 permanent residents are 65 years and older. As one local writer put it, "Naples is no longer the place Midwestern millionaires come to die."

Author Robert Villani names Naples (population 22,000 year-round) the No. 1 town in the current edition of "The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America," citing its "sophisticated and serious art galleries," art fairs, and theater and music scene. The world-class Philharmonic Center for the Arts complex, home of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, includes the 15-gallery Naples Museum of Art.

Naples Botanical Garden's new Pollination Pavilion has a butterfly aviary, gecko habitat and nectar feeding stations for lorikeets. Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens also offers animals and lush vegetation.

Marco Island (with 15,000 full-time residents) is the largest and northernmost of the Ten Thousand Islands, a maze of mostly uninhabited mangrove islands that stretches from Naples to the southern tip of the Florida mainland. The isles, many of them within Everglades National Park, provide a haven for saltwater fishermen, wildlife watchers, shell collectors, and canoe and kayak paddlers.

Marco's Tigertail Beach, along with Delnor-Wiggins and Clam Pass beaches in Naples, consistently rate among the best in the nation. These and other area strands are ideal for families because the water is calm, access is easy and the slope of the sea's bottom is gentle. Sandbars in many spots create swimming pool-like areas.

Rolling dunes, nature's way of protecting the beach and land with a buffer ridge of sand, can be traversed by little footbridges. Delicate sea oats and native grasses prevent erosion. Because the dunes and vegetation are so easily damaged, they are protected by law. Visitors are cautioned to avoid stepping on the dunes.

The area also abounds with swampy nature preserves. Near Immokalee, 34 miles northeast of Naples, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is considered the crown jewel of the National Audubon Society's sanctuary system, with hundreds of alligators and nearly 200 bird species. A boardwalk meanders through the nation's largest bald cypress forest and a jungle with orchids and ferns.

Nearby, Lake Trafford is Florida's only natural freshwater lake west of immense Lake Okeechobee. Airboat rides guarantee alligator sightings.

Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, 20 miles east of Naples, recently opened two hiking trails‹the first public access to this habitat in its 17-year existence. The endangered panthers are shy and extremely rare, but visitors can spot deer, bear, wild turkey and many bird species.

The laid-back town of Everglades City, 30 miles south of Naples, is the western gateway to the Everglades. From the national park's Gulf Coast Visitor Center, boat tours weave through estuaries bordering sawgrass prairies.

The commercial airboat excursion is an Everglades staple; the Barron River in Everglades City abounds with operators of these noisy craft unique to southern Florida. The open-air, flat-bottom boat, powered in back by a fan-like contraption with a car engine that spins a propeller, is custom-made for skimming the Everglades' shallow waters.

There's a definite thrill component as the boat revs up and roars through bays or zips under tangles of mangrove branches that form canopies over mirror-like canals the color of tea. The captain tells passengers when to put on the headset to cover their ears.

The mangrove, nicknamed the "walking tree," resembles octopus tentacles or crab legs, its claw-like branches taking root in the muddy soil. Besides alligators, airboat passengers may spot raccoons, pelicans, ospreys, roseate spoonbills, egrets, herons, dolphins and manatees. A 90-minute ride with Everglades Island Air Boat Tours includes a stop at Totch's Island.

Marco Island, a short drive north of Everglades City, is a shell seeker's paradise, its beaches rivaling famous Sanibel Island up the coast. Excursions take tourists to deserted outer islands and sandbars littered with fragile treasures delivered fresh daily by currents in the Gulf of Mexico.

Marco Island Ski & Watersports offers a Calusa Spirit catamaran cruise that allows an hour for shelling at Cape Romano, the site where Hurricane Wilma last year made landfall and brought in huge mounds of keepsake shells. The boat also stops for dolphin, manatee and turtle watching.

Marco vacationers can choose from dozens of boutiques or hop over to the mainland (connected by a bridge) to Prime Outlets, a Naples outlet mall with more than 40 name-brand stores offering discounts on designer clothing, luggage and housewares. Naples overflows with shopping options. Third Street South, once the central business district of Old Naples, has been revitalized and shines with some 100 shops, galleries, and restaurants just blocks from Naples Municipal Pier, a gathering spot for sunset watchers. The street has its own concierge.

Fashionable Fifth Avenue South, Naples’ main street, also has undergone a facelift and become a pedestrian-friendly scene day and night. Spend an afternoon strolling from antiques emporium to art gallery to jewelry shop, pausing to refresh at a sidewalk cafe or gourmet restaurant.

On nearby Naples Bay, a funky, ramshackle shopping spot called Tin City occupies an old oyster-processing plant. Across the street, Mediterranean-style Bayfront is a new collection of tony shops.

North of downtown, luxury purveyors like Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Cartier and Hermes opened their doors this year as part of an expansion at Waterside Shops at Pelican Bay. On the waterfront, Village on Venetian Bay evokes the charm of Venice, Italy.

IF YOU GO:

Getting there: Southwest Florida International Airport, southeast of Fort Myers, serves the Naples area. Airlines offering non-stop flights from O-Hare International Airport are Spirit, United, US/Airways and USA3000. Air Tran, Delta and Southwest fly from Midway International Airport. Miami (110 miles) is a two-hour drive from Naples; Tampa (134 miles) is three hours away.

When to go: January through April is the peak season; daytime temperatures reach into the 70s, with nighttime lows in the 50s. Hurricane season is August through October. Hotel rates dip 20 to 50% between May and December.

Where to stay: Fine resorts include The Ritz-Carlton, Naples; The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples; Naples Grande Resort & Club, Hilton Naples (across street from Waterside shops of Pelican Bay) and Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, run by the Watkins family for 62 years. The Inn at Pelican Bay and Inn on Fifth are elegant boutique hotels that pin their reputations on personalized service and European charm. Naples also has Super 8, Red Roof Inn and other budget motels. For spacious, home-like surroundings, check out Sunstream Hotels & Resorts condo properties like GreenLinks Golf Resort, which offers two- and three-bedroom units right on the fairway. Sunstream's Bellasera is a new downtown Naples resort inspired by the villas of Tuscany, its grand lobby reminiscent of an Italian palace.

Marco Island has Marriott and Hilton resorts, plus hundreds of homes and condominiums for rent along its beaches and canals. The romantic Olde Marco Inn & Suites, dating back to 1883, offers 51 new suites and a convenient location within walking distance of waterfront eateries serving fresh-from-the-docks seafood. Visitors to Everglades City can choose from motels, backcountry campgrounds, bed-and-breakfasts (like the 1928 Ivey House) and the historic Rod & Gun Club Lodge, once a gathering spot for hunting and fishing enthusiasts, including Dwight Eisenhower and Ernest Hemingway.

For more information, contact Greater Naples/Marco Island/Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 688-3600; www.paradisecoast.com.