Rent a boat or take a tour?
Rent if someone in your group is comfortable driving a boat and wants to explore at your own pace. Pontoons are the easy choice for families. The rental shop walks you through the boat and the channel markers before you leave.
Take a tour if you want to see dolphins, find shells on an island beach or watch the sunset without learning the water first. The captain knows where the dolphins feed and which sandbars are above water at today's tide.
Where boats leave from
- Naples: Naples Bay, Crayton Cove and the City Dock, close to Fifth Avenue South and Port Royal. Most sunset cruises and Keewaydin trips leave from here.
- Marco Island: marinas around the island, with quick runs to the Ten Thousand Islands and the island beaches to the south.
- Goodland and Isles of Capri: small fishing villages next to Marco. Many shelling, dolphin and jet ski tours start here.
- North Naples and Bonita Springs: Wiggins Pass and Vanderbilt Beach, for clear kayak tours and parasailing.
- Everglades City and Chokoloskee: about 45 minutes southeast of Naples, the gateway to the Ten Thousand Islands and the airboat tours.
Before you book
- Winter and spring (January to April) is peak season. Book a few days ahead, and a week or more for holidays and spring break.
- Summer afternoons often bring thunderstorms. Morning trips are the safest bet from June to September.
- Prices change by date and boat. The Book button shows the real price for your date.
- Most boat rentals need a driver who is 21 or older. Anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 needs a Florida boater education card (or a temporary certificate, which most rental shops can sell you).