If you are looking for a relaxing vacation I would highly recommend Marco Island, FL. White sand beaches, palm trees, clear water and the beach is also covered with shells. There isn’t much nightlife so the island is very quiet. Bring plenty of books! However there are amazing beach bars you can sit at night and listen to steel drum bands or Bob Marley cover bands. If you are interested you can go to the marina and there is a Coldstone’s and restaurants with live music too.
On the beach there are so many options! You can parasail, rent a catamaran, have a sunset dinner tour, go windsurfing or go to a neighboring island and go shelling.
I also recommend doing the 1,000 island tour. I went on it two years in a row and loved it both times. You are on a guided tour through the Key West Everglade islands on your own jetski and the tour guide will stop in certain locations to show you manatees, dolphins, other wildlife and mangrove trees. The first year we went on it dolphins jumped up out of the water five feet from my jetski! The guide also pointed out a shark that was under my jetski when we were sitting and watching for manatees.
I went parasailing as well and you can see the whole island. You can pick from two different heights. While we were on the boat going out further into the ocean a manta ray jumped out of the water a few feet from out boat and got pretty high up out of the water…probably 5 feet!
There is a hidden gem of a restaurant called Gino’s Olde Marco Trattoria. It is off the beaten path but they were extremely nice and had amazing food.
Other things to do:
Take an Everglades tour- this tour is great. You will never experience anything like it. I would wear plenty of bug spray though! Lots of mosquitoes. You sit on an airboat and wear noise cancelling headphones because the fan is too loud and the guide will navigate you through miles of the Everglades. You will go over land and water without feeling any difference. We saw crab spiders, alligators and birds. While driving to the Everglades we saw signs saying “Watch out for Jaguars crossing” and in the canals next to the road there are literally alligators every fifteen feet. (make sure the tour isn’t on these canals) The one we went on was called Speedy’s Airboat Tours.
Walk down the beach to the point of the island and in the morning you can see dolphins.
Every night there is an amazing sunset because the island faces West and is on the Gulf Coast.
Here are a few pictures to help me describe how beautiful Marco Island is:
If you look closely you can see dophin fins in the middle of the picture.
same here.
This is on the 1,000 island tour.
airboat
On the airboat tour.
view from the beach.
Parasailing.
Beach bar.
View from parasailing.
That little white thing is the boat we were attached to while parasailing.
