South Beach, Marco Island, Florida

South Marco Beach has two public access points. The first is located at 290 South Collier Boulevard, and the second is located at 870 South Collier Boulevard. The second public access point is located right next to an accessible public parking lot, South Marco Beach Parking. The lot itself, located at 930 Swallow Avenue, has modern restrooms, drinking fountains, benches, and a sidewalk-and-crosswalk path directly to the Gulf of Mexico.

Pedestrians cross a busy Florida state road, but there are flashing signal lights on the crosswalk poles. The drive to South Beach on Marco Island from Naples takes almost an hour, going from Tamiami Trail (Route 41) south to Collier Boulevard (Florida State Road 951). The Jolley Bridge connects the island to the mainland.

An easy walk under sable palm trees awaits beachgoers after leaving the parking lot at the western end of Swallow Avenue. The walkway from the parking lot out to the very end of the boardwalk is well-maintained. However, leisure-seekers might encounter others at this entrance who are seeking souls to convert, but can easily move right along.

At 11 o’clock in the morning of Tuesday, December 5th, 2023, South Beach on Marco Island starts to fill up. At the Swallow Avenue parking lot, less than a dozen spaces remained open at a quarter after ten. By half past ten in the morning, all the spaces were full and there was a line to pay at the county’s credit card parking meter.

Looking southward on Marco Island are the Veracruz and Cozumel buildings on the left as seen from the terminus of the boardwalk. This beach has a nice amenity for guests in that waste doesn’t need to be packed out and can be left here. Yellow bins are for plastic bottles and aluminum cans (glass is prohibited), and green is for non-recyclables.

Looking northward along the Gulfside coast of Marco Island reveals a beautiful vista. At the northern end of the island is the wonderfully wild Tigertail Beach with its inner tidal lagoon beach and its outer Gulfside-facing Sand Dollar Beach. Sand Dollar is not easily accessible (chose either chest-high wading or sandy hiking) from the lagoon. Amazing birding and shelling, however, await the intrepid visitor. Daily parking paid at either Tigertail or the Swallow Avenue lot applies at both venues.

South Beach on Marco Island is a white-sand beach with a great variety of shells revealed by low tides. Low tide will occur in about ninety minutes, at 12:30 pm at 0.9 feet (0.27m), and it is 11 am at this moment. The tide is far, far out; low tide previously occurred at 12:27 am at 1.6 feet (0.48 m). The wind is gusting at 11 mph (17.7 kph) with a high today of 80 degrees F (26.6 c).

The street-side boardwalk has an explanatory sign for the types of shells found at this public access point: worm shells, calico scallops (shown here), moon shells, olive shells, fighting conches, sand dollars, starfish, horse conches, and lightning welks. Collier County asks that no live shells, sand dollars, or starfish are collected at its beaches.

The South Beach area boasts ample amenities for beach-goers from near and far. This includes the Sunset Grille, a full-service casual sports bar located conveniently close to the boardwalk. Sunset Grille has a nicely-appointed porch for those coming in from the sand and an inside for those with shirts and shoes, all of it open from 11 am till 10:30 pm.

Sunset Grille is attached to the private Awesome Apollo vacation home rental complex at 900 South Collier Boulevard. Sunset Grille is open to the public seven days a week. The food is good, and the libations are many and varied. The foot-friendly boardwalk makes it easy to get here. Food and drink is available for carryout as well as dine-in.

The glass on the left is a pint of the citrusy Goose Island India Pale Ale. On the right, the New England-style, Turtle Season IPA is from the Ankrolab Brewing Company in nearby Naples. According to the company web site, it is  “juicy and smooth brewed with Cashmere, Mandarina Bavaria, Azacca, and Mosaic hops.” The beers are $8.50 each.

The chili-cheese hotdog pictured here is $13. The chili is not Cincinnati-style and thus has beans in it. Overall, the chili is a tasty topping to this quarter-pound all-beef hotdog. The cheese sauce and chili are fifty cents each. The plain hotdog ($12) is delicious as well, and with the two beers pictured previously, the bill with tax is $44.95.

Sunset Grille was bedecked for Christmas during the week of December 3rd. Tourist season begins in earnest the week of December 17, and there weren’t too many in the way of lunch- or dinner-goers this week. Temperatures at the Beach were also a little lower than normal, as a cold front had come in.

Even the view from the inside of Sunset Grille is amazing. The pickup truck on the left, on the beach close to the boardwalk, is from the Community Service Beach Patrol. Two officers in polo shirts and jeans parked their truck and came in to enjoy lunch. The Beach Patrol was seen between eleven and noon each day rolling slowly close to the dunes.

The view from the outside porch of Sunset Grille offers a most expansive view of the horizon. Now that lunch is done, it’s time to head down the accessible boardwalk back out to the sand. While the most shells are found at the shoreline, sometimes beautiful shells are left here as beach-goers head out for the day.

This view looks toward the beautiful Caxambas Pass, which is to the southeast of the southern tip of the island. “Caxambas” is an 18th century place-name derived from a Southwest Florida Arawak Indian word that means “a hole dug along the shore to find drinking water.” This is according to the Collier County Museum.

The southern point is a great place for fishing, shelling, or just relaxing. The Ten Thousand Islands of Southwest Florida and the Everglades are just to the left of the image. In reality, there are just a few hundred islands, and they are accessed by boat and plane. Caxambas Park, within walking distance of the Swallow Avenue parking lot, offers a direct view of Caxambas Pass.

Early afternoon shows a bright blue sky, but weather radar shows cloud cover moving in from the southwest. Now is a great time to get a sparkling souvenir photo for future enlargement, digital or otherwise, for a picture frame or for sublimation on a t-shirt. If that awesome t-shirt image does not present itself, Alvin’s Island has two huge beachwear stores on Collier Boulevard.

Alvin’s Island has beachwear for every price point. There are no shirt shacks or knickknack shacks near the shoreline on South Beach, and Alvin’s, at 581 South Collier Boulevard, is the closest there is. There is another Alvin’s Island store at 1001 North Collier Boulevard near the Jolley Bridge. Two Walgreens locations are close by also, and have slightly cheaper beachware, but Alvin’s has a much better selection and awesome sale items. There are 34 Alvin’s Island stores across Florida.

The sun, with its high temperature of 80 degrees F (26.6 c), has disappeared behind thick cloud cover by three o’clock. The temperature is now 78 degrees F (25.5 c), and will be 73 degrees F (22.7 c) at sunset. Although sunsets on Marco Island are considered glorious events by all beachgoers, no one is guaranteed an evening spectacle.

Looking southward toward Caxambas Pass, the southern most tip of South Beach has nearly cleared out due to the lower than normal temperatures and lack of sun. The water has gotten even choppier, and the tide is starting to come back in. High tide will occur at 7:16 pm at 2.4 feet (0.73 m). High tide had previously occurred at 5:53 am at 2.2 feet (0.67 m).

Looking northward, even the Residents Beach is empty. Tomorrow will be just as cloudy and even chillier. High and low tides will occur at about the same times. According to tidetime.org, their schedules are applicable for all of Marco Island and southeast to Cape Romano with its Dismal Key and Round Key.

After four o’clock, beachgoers will begin trickling back in for a muted sunset. Sunrise occurred at 6:59 am and sunset will occur at 5:35 pm. The moon rose at 12:13 am and set at 1:07 pm. No one is in the water right now, and many people are enjoying the last light of the day from the porch at the aptly named Sunset Grille.

Sunset occurs in less than 15 minutes. Everyone, from singles to small groups, has a spot with a great view as the crowd is sparse. Perhaps everyone has gathered for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at downtown Bonita Springs Riverside Park. That event runs from 4:30 pm till 8:30 pm and the tree will be lit at exactly dusk.

Sunset is coming ever closer as is the tide. The thickening cloud cover makes it harder and harder to see when the rough waves are coming. Footsteps in the sand quickly disappear. Most beachgoers are dressed warmly in long pants and jackets and firmly planted in Tommy Bahama lounge chairs.

Sunset occurred at 5:35 pm with just as many viewers on this porch as on the beach. The porch at Sunset Grille is a great place to watch the sun go down; even the forward tables inside offer a nice view. The porch does create a wind tunnel, which is especially noticeable after the sun goes down. Just inside the doors offers all the view with none of the breezeway.

Sunset Grille Marco Island does not take reservations but it was easy to just go on up the accessbile boardwalk and get a table. Food arrived quickly and was hot and delicious. The half-pound Angus burger shown here comes with lettuce, tomato, onions, and French fries at $13. Sweet potato fries are $1 extra, as is a slice of cheese.

The taco salad was delicious at $18. The sales tax is 7 percent on all retail purchases. The Florida state tax rate is six percent with Collier County adding an additional one percent. The City of Marco Island does not add a sales tax. The sales tax rate in the nearby city of Naples is also 7 percent, with the same breakdown.

One last look at the Sunset Grille shows lively diners still on the porch at 6:30. Folks staying at the attached Apollo condo building are also outside enjoying their evening. Grille-goers who are neither staying at the Apollo nor are Collier County residents can get validated parking instead of paying the $20 at the Turtle Lot or the $10 at the Swallow Avenue lot.

The view of the island’s hotels from the boardwalk after dark is stunning. The beach closed an hour ago, and the day was 10 hours, 35 minutes, and 51 seconds long. Solar noon was 12:17 pm. Civil twilight ended at 6 pm, nautical twilight at 6:28 pm, and astronomical twilight will end 6:56 pm, with the sun 18 degrees below the horizon.

No time for Alvin’s Island beachwear store? “Marco Island” looks great on a white t-shirt. Square or oval, this image is eye-catching, especially with a scuffed border. Feel free to use this image at any platform vendor that sells customizable shirts. These online stores are expensive, and Alvin’s has some great deals, but this will do in a pinch.

Here’s a keepsake image from Christmas 2023 at Marco Island. Bonus: this image comes with cockles, jingles, angel wings, conches, and boat shells. (The boat shell is on the letter “n.”) Feel free to use this image for a t-shirt, coffee mug, or mouse mat. With sunshine, sand, shells, and no wind, Marco Island is an endless canvas for designs.