Florida the Beautiful: Tigertail Beach, Marco Island

 

The beach is part of a city park. The address to the entrance gate is:

430 Hernando Dr, Marco Island, FL 34145

$8 to park all day. 

There are several parking spaces right beyond the gate, as well as a café, restrooms, a playground, etc. There are additional parking spaces behind the café to the left, as well as restrooms and showers at the end of the parking lot. Several walkways will take you to the lagoon, where there is a rental place for kayaks, beach umbrellas and chairs. A great place for bird sightings and quiet fishing; the sand is dark and the water is very quiet.

The gulf of Mexico and its powdery white beach is on the other side of the lagoon. If you are the adventurous type, you can cross the lagoon to get to the beach (The water is murky, the bottom is swampy, there are creatures milling around, the water is waist high and there are a lot of mosquitoes). Otherwise you will have to walk about 15-20 minutes to the left, toward the 4 tall buildings. The sand is packed hard but if you take a lot of stuff with you (coolers, chairs, umbrellas, etc.) the walk will be long and strenuous. Either way it's worth the effort!

The beach is very good, the sand is fine and white, lots of shells and wildlife. Due to the fact that it's not the easiest beach to get to, it's often very quiet. 

Discover Miami: Cape Florida Lighthouse

The historic Cape Florida Lighthouse

is part of the 

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park

Florida the Beautiful: Casey Key, Sarasota

Nokomis Public Beach, Sarasota

Florida the Beautiful: Siesta Key, Sarasota

Siesta Key Beach

Crescent Beach

Turtle Beach

Florida the Beautiful: Lido Key, Sarasota

Lido Beach

St. Armand's Circle

Florida the Beautiful: Anna Maria Island, Manatee County

Anna Maria City Pier

Bradenton Beach

Coquina Beach

Florida the Beautiful - South Beach Park, Boca Raton

South Beach Park 

400 N State Road A-1-A, Boca Raton, FL 33432, USA

$20 per car (all day parking) or permit

There is free and metered parking outside the park premises - spots are hard to find!

The parking lot is large but fills up especially during weekends.

There are three beach access along the parking lot, as well as restrooms, showers, etc. 

The beach is sandy and very nice, good for kids. 

South Beach Park Livecam 

Florida the beautiful - Bonita Springs

Little Hickory Beach

Medium-size parking lot, $2/hr, shower, restrooms and 2 picnic gazebos. 

Some pictures of the houses along Hickory Boulevard

Some pictures of the houses along Barefoot Beach Boulevard 

The beach off Barefoot Beach County Preserve

$8 per car, all day parking. There are 3 parking lots. The first one is the one with access to restrooms and showers. The last parking lot is the biggest but no showers or restrooms.

 

Lovers Key State Park
Website

1- Barefoot Beach - Left at the light once you cross the bridge. Pass the first guard house - you'll pay at the next one.  

2- Bonita Beach Park (Beach Access #1). Large parking lot, showers, restrooms. Bar and grill. It can get very crowded.

3- Bonita Bay Beach Park (Beach Access #4). Small parking lot, no showers, restrooms or facilities.

4- Little Hickory Beach (Beach Access #10). Restrooms and showers available.  

There are 10 beach accesses in total. Except #2, #3 and #4 above, they only have 3-4 parking spaces, no more. 

5- Lovers Key State Park.  

All beaches are very shallow and sandy with some shells - no water shoes necessary . 

Whatever you do, get there EARLY. Parking is SCARCE