The Claywells are on the road again and opted for another social distancing beach vacation this time with Zach’s Dad to celebrate his 70th birthday! Marco Island, on the Gulf of Mexico in the southwestern tip of Florida is famous for its wide sandy beaches, sunsets, plenty of golf courses, and retirement communities. While COVID is still very active we picked a place that is low key and took COVID measures seriously!
Day 1 – Stop in Naples for Dinner
Regardless if you fly or drive (we drove the 11 hours starting at 5 am!) grab some dinner in Naples on 5th Avenue before heading to Marco Island. There are plenty of restaurants with outdoor seating and fancy balconies. We stayed at the Hyatt House on 5th Avenue and took advantage of their Happy Hour special which included $5 beer and $7 appetizers.
The food was great and it hit the spot after an 11 hour drive. The Hyatt House was actually very fancy with a nice pool on the Bay. Because it was not busy we also had our own hot tub.
Zach and I went for a walk after dinner and noticed that everyone was out and about to enjoy the tropical temperatures and the beautiful Friday night. We wore masks and avoided the crowds, but in normal times, it would be the perfect stop before heading to the more “secluded” island.
Day 2 – Relax by the beach after travelling
After taking advantage of the grab-and-go breakfast at the Hyatt House in Naples, the Claywells headed to Marco Island. A quick stop at Publix was necessary to buy some of the essentials for a perfect beach trip which included Beer, Seltzers and snacks. We also noticed a Wawa on our way and took advantage of our favorite sandwich shop!
Finally, we arrived at the Marco Beach Ocean Resort where we would be staying for the next 4 nights. Stefanie booked “run of the house” rooms meaning the staff picked our room upon arrival. We got extremely lucky and ended up with a 1 bedroom Suite on the 8th floor overlooking the ocean!
We enjoyed a little snack in the room, unpacked our bags, and took full advantage of the early (11am) check in, and made our way to the beach. Beach chairs and umbrellas are included with your stay, and there is staff at the beach helping you rearrange the umbrellas if needed. The walk to the beach is magical. The little path is covered in tropical trees and natural-looking sand dunes.
The sun was still strong, even though it was the end of November. It was consistently in the 80s during the days, and only dipped to the low 70s at night. We stayed at the beach for a couple hours before getting a drink at the pool bar.
We then went back to the room and got ready for the sunset. In November, the sun sets earlier, so we had to be ready for the big show at 5:30 pm. We came back to the beautiful pathway and a staff member helped us with some amazing pictures (and then discreetly sanitized the phone. #2020problems). Since Marco Island is on the Gulf Coast which is in Western Florida, the sunsets at these beach are some of the most beautiful in the entire world and is the best way to end each day on any Marco Island itinerary.
After the sunset we headed to the Sunset Grille to enjoy dinner outside. Stefanie enjoyed the Sunset Grill drink special and their famous crab cake sandwich. Zach kept it simple with beer and a burger. Since the sun had set, we couldn’t admire the view, but we would definitely recommend coming back to Sunset Grille during sunset.
Day 3 – Rent a Kayak to explore the Mangroves
On the third day, we woke up feeling lucky to see another beautiful sunny day!
Zach and I took the car to the Capri Paddle Park to meet our kayak drop-off from Florida Adventures and Kayaking. We picked a 2 hour tandem kayak rental to “Just Look” what all the mangrove talk is about. We learned some interesting facts that this habitat was manually restored after developers tried to build a hotel and a big marina at the exact same spot. A couple of years later nature has recovered and the area is now home to manatees, dolphins, birds, and plenty of fish.
The staff member from Florida Adventures and Kayaking provided us a with a map so we couldn’t get lost in the labyrinthine mangrove islands. He said with the map and our phone it was impossible to get lost. Famous last words! Though he was right that between those two, we were able to paddle to safety in no time.
We paddled to the beautiful Johnson Bay, which is a shallow bay with a large sandbar in the middle, perfect for human swimmers or manatees. A kayak fisherman hollered to us that he saw a manatee, and we looked everywhere but the sea cow was too fast for us to see. However, we did hear him coming up for air!
The entire area was magical. It was so tranquil that at one point we just sat in our boat and listened to the near-silence of nature. It was very therapuetic to just sit and hear nothing but the breeze rustling the leaves and the water lapping at the roots of the mangrove trees, all covered in oysters.
After a couple more pictures we headed back to the ramp to grab some well deserved lunch.
Photoshoot time!
We ended up eating lunch in the hotel room and spent some time at the Hotel Pool.
The Marco Ocean Beach resort is perfect for a photo shoot. There are so many incredible picture opportunities on the property. So the Claywells got dressed and ready for a “mini” photo session.
Of course, since we are still located on the Gulf of Mexico and the clouds were perfect that night we walked back to the beach to view the sunset.
For dinner we picked Dolphin Tiki Bar & Grill which was located in one of the many marinas on that make up the island. It was an authentic tiki bar with some amazing fresh seafood and beach cocktails. We picked conch fritters as a appetizer that came with a Thai chili sauce. So good! We picked the seafood platter that included shrimp, scallops, grouper and Mahi Mahi. Zach decided to go with the Grouper Sandwich. We would recommend this restaurant however, be aware that despite the fact that the entire restaurant is outdoors and the servers are masked, the patrons did not seem to care about COVID standards.
Day 4 – Explore the island and/or find a golf course
To celebrate Zach’s Dad’s birthday, a father-son golf day was a must. Zach’s Dad picked out Eagle Lakes Golf Club, which was a quick drive off the island for our late 10:20 tee time. Zach never played in a tropical environment so he was stunned by all the natural beauty of golfing underneath palm trees among the tropical birds, and avoiding all the water!
While the guys were out playing golf, Stefanie decided to go for a walk and explore the neighborhoods on the island. One house in particular stood out because of all the Christmas decorations. You have to zoom in to see all the details.
Stefanie ended up walking for a about 4 miles. She saw gorgeous houses on the water, a beautiful park to bike in, and a dog park for your fur babies. The island also has a Center of the Arts and a Historic museum. If it was not for COVID those would be fun things to do if you get tired of the beach.
After her long walk, she relaxed by the beach for about 2 hours to take advantage of the beach chair and umbrella set up provided by Marco Beach Ocean Resort. Once Zach and his Dad came back from the golf course we all ended the day back at the pool.
Before heading out for dinner we enjoyed tonight’s sunset from our room. Again a moment full of breathtaking views.
We picked Pinchers for dinner due to the Stone crab claws advertisement we had seen walking by the place. Stone crabs are famous in this part of Florida. Pinchers was a fun restaurant with lots of beachy decorations. We ended up getting only one claw of stone crab which is offered as a side. Reading reviews about the restaurant made us pick the Fried Grouper sandwich and some delicious Shrimp Scampi! We started off with the Stone Crab Cheese spread appetizers which was served with tortilla chips. Pinchers gets bonus points for offering “Buy-One-Get-One” drinks at happy hours! This restaurant is a must-try when visiting Marco Island.
On our walk back we stopped at a touristy shop to get our traditional vacation magnet. Despite Zach wanting to buy four magnets in a particular display, we picked a magnet representing the beautiful Gulf Coast sunsets.
Day 5 – Beach day and walk to Tiger Tail Beach
On our last day in paradise, a full beach day felt appropriate! We headed to the beach early to get some of the best seats in the house near the ocean. To break up the day we walked to Tiger Tail beach – which looks closer than it is! Four miles later, we were finally back at our beach chairs and enjoyed some food and fruity rum drinks from the hotel.
Bonus Adventure – Plan a Sunset Cruise
Do better than we do and plan ahead. The sunset cruises on Marco Island book out fast especially during a holiday week. We connected with Cool Beans Cruises and the owner was super responsive and tried to offer alternatives. But unfortunately it didn’t work out for us. So we called Cruisin’ Tikis Tours in Naples and booked another social distancing sunset tour out of Naples. If you been following our blog you noticed we have used the same company in Clearwater Beach. It is our number 1 choice during COVID for any sunset tour. The maximum amount of people is 6 and each party is separated at least 6 ft apart. So bring your booze and some snacks and have fun! We were able to get a tour of Port Royal one of the richest areas in South Florida. The houses were huge and each house had 3 or more boats. The captain was so knowledgeable of the area. Don’t forget to tip the Captain. It was a nice finale to our amazing trip to Marco Island. A hidden paradise in southwest Florida!
