Day trip near Marco Island

March 26, 2015 8:17 AM

I'll be staying on Marco Island in Southwest Florida in a couple weeks. Although lounging around on the beach doing nothing is definitely a priority, I would like to find one outdoorsy day trip. Looking for something I can complete, including transportation to and from, in 10 hours or less. Could be kayaking, hiking or biking (I am not an experienced mountain biker or kayaker, but would be into trying anything basic, especially if rental equipment is easily obtained).

Looking at the map, Marco seems very close to some large national and state park lands, but I have no idea where would be an accessible, rewarding day hike, where I could rent a kayak, or what else I could consider doing nearby.

Thanks!

posted by latkes to Travel & Transportation around Marco Island, FL (6 answers total)

What about going paddleboarding or hiking the length of Tiger Tail Beach?
posted by evoque at 8:22 AM on March 26, 2015

Shark Valley was extremely crowded when we went, but they have bike trails [PDF] and rentals as well as hiking trails and was an easy pretty drive from Marco Island. We took the tram due to a family member's limited mobility, but there were a lot of hikers and bikers. More like "day at the park, with alligators" rather than "day out in the wilderness," though -- I'm not sure which you're looking for.
posted by jaguar at 8:28 AM on March 26, 2015

I'm not a hiker but I found Koreshan State Park to be an interesting place, less than an hour north of Marco. (I made an FPP about the history behind the place a few years ago). The area is very pretty and presumably the trails are good for hiking or biking. I spent my visit at the historic site, where you can tour some of the old Koreshan facilities. I know they have canoe rentals along the Estero River as well.

If you're in that area and looking to spend some time exploring the wetlands, I also recommend a jaunt out to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 10:45 AM on March 26, 2015

Kayaking there is very cool, you can get to uninhabited islands and such. This was a couple of years ago, but my spouse and I did a guided kayak tour that was pretty great. IIRC, we drove about 10 min inland from Marco island to the place the tour left from. The tour fee covered all equipment and the guide. There were about 8 people in the group, the outing was about 3-4 hours, and the guide gave us a lot of info about the area. We saw dolphins! I don't recall the name of the outfit, but we arranged it kind of last minute. MeMail me if you want and I can see if I can dig up more info.
TLDR, definitely go on a guided kayaking trip, very cool!
posted by msbubbaclees at 3:15 PM on March 26, 2015

Check out Paddle Florida for kayaking options near your spot. There should be info about local outfitters that you can rent from.

I live a bit north of there near Tampa and have been getting into kayaking lately. It's a great way to appreciate Florida's beauty, highly recommend.
posted by gnutron at 6:36 PM on March 26, 2015

Response by poster: Hi folks, thanks for the advice. For thread posterity: I did walk Tiger Tail beach which was pretty but crowded. I tried to go to Corksrew Swamp but ultimately wasn't able to. I ended up googling around for kayak rentals and got one at Caxambas Park. That was OK, the water was pretty and we did get to check out some mangroves, but if I were to do it again I'd go elsewhere, maybe to the Isles of Capri Paddlecraft Park. A number of local companies rent kayaks out of that space.

Thanks again!
posted by latkes at 7:48 AM on April 20, 2015