(Click here for more photographs.)

Naples occupies the southern Gulf coast of Florida.  While here we parked at the Lake San Marino RV Resort.

The town of Naples is a relatively affluent community with beautiful homes and numerous developed resort communities.  The downtown district of Naples has the Naples Bay, which is formed from the Gordon River, on the east side.  On the west side are miles of beautiful sandy beaches.

We took a trip north to the resort island of Sanibel.  Sanibel is a barrier island with more than half of its area included in protected wildlife refuges.  The beaches are very popular for shell collectors.  The Gulf coast side of the island is lined with resorts however, most are fairly small with no massive high rise buildings.  Therefore the island is relatively low key with very little of the commercial development you typically see in beach/resort communities.

On another day we went to Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park.  This park is located on a barrier island with one side of the island lined with beautiful sandy Gulf coast beaches.  We rented a canoe and launched on the inland side into Turkey Bay.  In the bay we paddled around along the mangrove covered shores.  We saw quite a few birds, mostly snowy egrets and great blue herons.

Next stop:  Miami, FL