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Marco Island, Florida |
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Marco Island is on the lower southwest coast of Florida, about 95 miles due north of Key West, Florida and south of Tampa by about 170 miles. It is part of, and the most northerly island in the group known as the Ten-Thousand Islands. Most of these islands, although not Marco Island, are part of the Everglades National Park.
This area and the Gulf of Mexico southward to the Florida Keys is famous for its abundance of wildlife and fishing spots. Starting at Marco Island and heading south, all along the coast of south Florida to Florida Bay is teeming with exotic wildlife such as alligator, crocodile, manatee, bobcat, panther, otter and large birds of prey such as eagle, osprey and kite. Minutes away from Marco Island, by boat or car and one is deep into the south Florida Everglades, on sensory overload as the mind tries to cope with the earthy, primitive textures, sounds, sights and smells.
The City of Marco Island was set up to be a vacation wonderland and is home to over 15,000 year-round residents and over twice as many seasonal residents. Boating and fishing enthusiasts are in abundance and a boat rental or boat tour of the area is a must. While most of the better beach area is occupied by hotels, condos and private homes, there is a "residents only" beach and visitors to Marco can access public beach areas including South Marco Beach and Tigertail Beach County Park. Unfortunately, Tigertail Beach does not front the Gulf directly but lies behind a small island..
Visitors to Marco can tour many South Florida cities by car. Naples and its cosmopolitan life is just 15 minutes north. Less than 90 minutes east is the city of Miami and its northern cousin, Fort Lauderdale. A turn south from here takes one to the top of the Florida Keys in another 30 minutes. Ninety-minutes north will find one at the gateway to Sanibel and Captiva, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach and Pine island including Matlacha, Bokeelia and St. James City. This area can be accessed from the Naples Municipal Airport (20 minutes) or The Southwest Florida International Airport just southwest of Fort Myers (60 minutes).
Marco Island Bridge
View from the north bridge. (left)
Marco Island, Florida Condos and Hotels
Tigertail Beach County Park
Entrance to Tigertail Beach County Park. Facilities include restrooms, shower, eating, kids area.
Osprey in man-made nest.
Rent watercraft, umbrellas, chairs, etc. for the day.
Views south shows wide, sandy beach and condos, hotels along South Collier Blvd.
Picture (upper left) shows Sand Dollar Island off the shore of Tigertail Beach. The entire area is a great nesting site for aquatic birds.
Marco Island Houses
Marco Island Streets and Waterways
Marco Island streets are wide, clean and generally traffic-free. The waterways are wide and graceful as they curve through the beautiful areas of Marco Island houses and condos.
Pictures above and below show beautiful wide, winding waterways and pool homes with boat docks and davits. All areas are seawalled.
Indian Hills
The southeast Marco area is filled with large, expensive estate homes built on thousand-year old, 40 foot high Indian shell mounds. Great views, winding and rolling roadways, and beautiful homes and landscapes highlight this area. Upper right picture shows bay in background.
House for Sail.
Frangipani tree in bloom.
What do you do with your million dollar bayfront lot? Why you put a trailer on it, of course!
Nice palm tree garden.
Who's got who? Oversized claw on this fiddler crab has a good hold on this bird.
You'll find any number of sea birds nesting, feeding and scurrying around in the Tigertail Beach area.
Osprey mug shots.