Brown pelicans crash into tiny rolling waves as black skimmers use their sharp bills to slice through the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
Shiny shells and salmon-hued bits of sponge tumble in the frothy white waters that lap along the shoreline.
Golden rays from the sun blast across the sky, breaking through the palm trees, sea grape trees and mansions and create huge shadows on the white sand.
This is it: Naples Beach. That place that so many people write about online.
Everyone from U.S. News and World Report to Dr. Beach himself have glamorized Naples-area beaches as being among the best in Florida, the best in the nation, the tops in the world.
And these are your beaches: it says so on the parking signs. Only residents with parking passes may use the lots here. If you live outside the area and can't get a permit, you'll have to race down to park near the old Naples Pier.
That may explain why the beach is virtually empty on this beautiful summer morning. No joggers, no swimmers, few strollers. Just the Gulf of Mexico, some birds and a monolithic slice of sand.
Collier County has about 30 miles of beaches stretching from just south of Bonita Springs to Marco Island. That doesn't count the undeveloped beaches in the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge and Everglades National Park, which have dozens of small beach islands.
And while almost all beaches were impacted by Hurricane Ian in 2022, many renourishment and beach-rebuilding projects are already underway or completed.
Some beaches still lack the accommodations and facilities they offered pre-storm, but the beaches themselves are as beautiful as always.
They range from quant, untouched shorelines to the old Naples Pier, where fisherman, swimmers, sunbathers and surfers flock during all times of the year.
But summertime is really the time to celebrate local beaches as the water temperatures are finally warm enough for a comfortable dip in the Gulf.
Here is a look at five of the best beaches in the Naples-Collier area:
Barefoot Beach State Preserve Park ― Top Nature Preserve
To get to the Collier's northernmost beach, you actually have to travel through Bonita Springs in Lee County and go south on Lely Barefoot Boulevard, but it's certainly worth the trip for beachgoers, nature-lovers and anglers.
For Cindy Dolmage, president of Friends of Barefoot Beach State Preserve Park, Barefoot Beach is just a great place to relax.
"Barefoot Beach’s charms are the nature, the birds, the tortoises and the sea turtles," said Dolmage, who lives just north of the preserve. "It has a lot of natural coastal habitat. It has the mangroves and there are several different environments in one space, and it’s allowed to be natural."
Hurricane Ian hit Barefoot Beach hard with several feet of storm surge.
"Out of all the beaches in Collier, Barefoot was the most significantly damaged by Ian, and the government started rehabbing the beaches south to north, so Barefoot is the last one," she said.
Dolmage said nature at the preserve park is coming back, and that sea turtles are nesting there this summer.
"The ranger’s station is gone and there's just access to the beach at this point and portable restrooms, but they’re actually experiencing a record number of turtle nests and the gopher tortoises seem to be coming back even though every one of their nests were flooded," Dolmage said. "It’s a classic example of: if you leave the natural shoreline in place, fewer bad things happen."
One of the last undeveloped barrier islands from Marco Island north, Barefoot Beach Preserve State Park is 342 acres of coastal paradise.
Most of the preserve's coast is a straight line of white sand beach, but the land swirls near the pass, and the sandy beach extends into the pass and creates a small lagoon, where shoreline and wading birds gather to feed and rest.
"The classic beach day is just enjoying the beach, reading a book, playing in the water and looking for shells," Dolmage said. "That’s a lot of it. There’s some fishing and there’s kayaking and canoeing, too."
The preserve has historically held lectures and nature walks during season, but most programming has been cancelled since Ian.
"Now we’re in a holding pattern with the county to see what they’re going to restore, and to see what we can restore but we’re hoping for a rebirth," Dolmage said.
Park hours are 8 am to sunset daily, and non-residents and those without a parking pass must pay a $10 parking fee.
Vanderbilt Beach ― Best Family Beach
The water just seems to always be clearer at Vanderbilt Beach.
This ritzy stretch of sand is popular with tourists but also locals as there is a massive parking garage nearby, a huge beach for strolling and sunbathing, and sandwich shops and stores within walking distance.
Home to exclusive places like the Ritz-Carlton, Naples and The Turtle Club Restaurant, Vanderbilt Beach has nice amenities and a great family atmosphere.
The sand is expansive here, with plenty of space to sprawl or throw footballs or Frisbees.
It's not the best place to drop off recreational toys like paddleboards as the beach and its nearby attractions drive a lot of foot traffic.
Visitors without a beach permit must pay $10 to use the parking garage.
Naples Pier ― Best Beach for Water Recreation
Naples beach and the pier area are missing their top attraction: the pier itself, but this is still one of the area's top spots for kiteboarding and paddleboarding.
Parking here can be troublesome ― even during the low-key summer months — but the beach is worth the wait here as it's expansive.
It's a good beach for a wide variety of uses. It's a great place for a jog but also a place where you can find fly fishermen plying the coast at sunrise.
The city of Naples oversees 9 miles of fluffy sand beaches along the Gulf of Mexico.
Parking is reserved for pass holders and residents.
Keewaydin Island ― Best Boating Beach
This is where people go to cool off during the summer months, where dozens of boats will line the beach on a calm day.
This is also where most of the local, big-boat parties are held after events like the Great Dock Canoe Race.
Keewaydin stretches for almost 8 miles, starting just south of Naples and the Port Royal neighborhood.
Ask someone who grew up here or is in the boating community and you'll likely hear tails of drunken debauchery of some sorts, unexpected camping, dogs that have been lost on the island, deer that live on the island, and mostly good fun.
Keewaydin is open 24 hours a day and there is no parking available, nor fees for boats.
Marco Island's Tigertail Beach ― Best Birding Beach
Tigertail Beach on Marco Island is one of the most unique bits of sand in Southwest Florida.
It runs parallel to the shoreline of the island, and a massive section of the beach breaks off from the island and stretches into the Gulf of Mexico.
What is basically a gigantic sandbar, the dry sand forms a long peninsula that wraps around the west coast of Marco and stretches into Capri Pass and Marco Bay.
The massive sandbar creates a giant lagoon, which draws lots of shoreline and wading birds, some of the rarest in the region.
"If you take the time to walk up from Resident's Beach, it really kind of seems like the old natural Florida," said Megan Hatten, the Southwest Florida shorebird project manager for Audubon Florida. "It's just beautiful, and you can see a whole range of birds there. Now we have a small colony of black skimmers and Wilson's plover, but during the wintertime we'll have migrating birds and roseate spoonbills and reddish egrets."
Hatten said Tigertail gives visitors a sense of remoteness while connecting to more developed parts of the shoreline.
"It kind of gets you away from the downtown life for me," Hatten said. "There's no concession or hotel right on the beach there. It's rustic but it's really nice to be able to be there and not get the hustle and bustles of other beaches."
The giant lagoon is home to a variety of shorebird habitat, and the extensive system draws everything from black skimmers to reddish egrets.
"It has that nice tucked in lagoon, and then an open shoreline so you can see wide range of birds," Hatten said. "I feel like every time I'm in Tigertail I see something cool and different. Right now, we're seeing manatees coming through."
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