Guests and a captain aboard a Sand Dollar Avalon pontoon underway along a mangrove shoreline near Naples, Florida, with a second pontoon running behind

Near Your Stay

Boat Tours Near DoubleTree Suites, North Naples

Your end of Naples is up by Wiggins Pass and Vanderbilt Beach, and downtown is a real drive south — so don’t squeeze it in. Make a whole day of it, put the boat first while the water is at its best, and let the afternoon fall in behind.

Naples Bay Resort & Marina
20–25 min south on US 41
1.5–2 hour cruises
All ages welcome

Check Availability & Book (239) 301-8913

Nearest dockNaples Bay Resort & Marina

From DoubleTree Suites20–25 min drive south on US 41

Waterprotected Naples Bay out to Gordon Pass

You may seedolphins, ospreys, wild beaches — no guarantees

The Big Day Out

One trip south, and the boat goes first

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Naples sits at 12200 Tamiami Trail N, on the Cocohatchee River side of US 41 — the Wiggins Pass and Vanderbilt Beach end of town, a good nine miles north of downtown. Our Naples boats tie up a long way south of that, at Naples Bay Resort & Marina, 1500 5th Avenue South. Straight down the Trail it runs about a 20–25 minute drive in ordinary traffic, and honestly longer on a January afternoon. We’re not going to pretend that’s nothing. What it means is simple enough: this isn’t an errand you squeeze between a beach morning and a nap. It’s the day you drive south and do the south end of Naples properly.

So put the boat at the front of it. Naples Bay usually lies flattest early, before the sea breeze fills in and puts a chop on the pass, and a morning slot means your crowd boards rested instead of sun-cooked. From the marina the bay runs south past Crayton Cove and the mangrove edges of Dollar Bay, then out through Gordon Pass into the Gulf, with the seawalls of Port Royal along one side and Keewaydin Island’s empty, boat-only shoreline along the other. Bottlenose dolphins live in that water year-round and often turn up in the pass or off the stern — a real chance on most trips, never a promise, because they keep their own schedule and not ours.

An hour and a half to two hours later you’re back at the slip with the car already parked downtown and the whole afternoon unspent. Tin City and the Bayfront sit right there at the water end of 5th Avenue South, and that street runs about a mile west from the marina into the middle of Old Naples — lunch, shade, shops, an ice cream that buys you another hour. If your group is slow in the morning, flip the order: come down mid-afternoon, wander first, finish on a sunset cruise, then drive the Trail home in the quiet. Either shape works. What doesn’t is deciding in the car at eleven — book the slot the night before and hang the day off it.

About a 20–25 minute run south on the Tamiami Trail
Take the earlier slot — the water is usually kinder before noon
Grandparents, teenagers and toddlers all on the same boat
Back at the dock with the afternoon downtown still ahead

Check Availability

Four children standing ankle-deep in the Gulf surf holding green shell buckets after a Sand Dollar island trip near Naples, Florida — ⚓ Boat first, while the morning water is at its best

Tours That Fit the Day

What to book when you’re driving down for it

Everything here leaves from the same dock on Naples Bay — pick one, then build the rest of the day around it.

Dolphin ToursWild bottlenose dolphins in the bay and Gordon Pass — the trip that holds a seven-year-old. Private ChartersOne boat, the whole family, your own clock — the easy answer for nine people of six ages. Beach & Island TripsBow onto quiet Gulf sand, buckets out, shallow water and shells for a while. Sunset CruisesThe version of this day that ends on the water instead of starting there. Tiki Boat ToursA thatched roof and family-first by design — capacity 26, with 39.5-inch rails for little ones. Naples Bay Water Shuttle$20 per person, dock to dock — a bayside lunch table without moving the car.

How the Day Runs

North Naples to the dock, in the right order

Six steps, start to finish — the drive, the marina, and what to do with the rest of the afternoon.

Start: 12200 Tamiami Trail N, North Naples

You’re at the top end of town, with Wiggins Pass and Vanderbilt Beach as your stretch of coast. There is nothing wrong with that water, and our North Naples page covers it properly if you want the detail. But the boats you’re reading about run out of Naples Bay, nine miles south, and that distance is the single fact this page is built on. It turns a cruise from something you decide over breakfast into something you decide the night before. So pick the day the evening prior, glance at the forecast, and lock the slot then. Everything downstream of that one choice gets easier.

The drive: south on the Trail, about 20–25 minutes

Tamiami Trail runs from your door to within a block of the marina, so there is no clever shortcut to hunt for — you point the car south on US 41 and stay on it. Figure 20–25 minutes most of the year. From January into April the Trail carries more traffic and the lights stack up through Pelican Bay and Park Shore, so build in a cushion rather than trusting an average. Put 1500 5th Avenue South into your own map app the morning you go; your app knows today’s traffic and we don’t. If you’re rolling two cars, name the marina as the meeting point instead of playing follow-the-leader through six lights.

The dock: Naples Bay Resort & Marina

We meet you at 1500 5th Avenue South, on protected Naples Bay. That protection is exactly why our Naples boats live here: you board in flat water at a fixed dock instead of a rolling Gulf ramp, and the bay, Gordon Pass, Dollar Bay and the Port Royal canals are all a short idle away. Once you’ve booked we send the exact slip and a where-to-meet note, so nobody spends fifteen minutes reading transom names. Restrooms are right there before you board, which matters more with kids along than anything else on this list. Our captains are USCG-licensed Masters, and one of them will be waiting for you. Check in about fifteen minutes early.

Parking, and the multi-car shuffle

There is parking around the marina and through the Bayfront district, and here is the quiet advantage of leading with the boat: you park once, in the morning, and that same space carries your whole afternoon downtown. Groups do better in fewer cars — nine people in three vehicles is three parking problems and three sets of stragglers. Pool up before you leave North Naples if you can. If anyone in the party uses a walker, a wheelchair or a stroller, call us at (239) 301-8913 first and we’ll tell you honestly what boarding looks like on the boat you’re considering, because it differs by hull. Don’t leave valuables visible in the car.

What to bring for a whole day out

Hats and reef-safe sunscreen for everyone, sunglasses, and more water than you think — a Naples afternoon takes it out of grandparents and four-year-olds first. Soft-soled shoes or bare feet aboard. A light layer for an evening slot, because the bay cools down faster than the parking lot does. If you’re doing a beach landing, pack a towel and dry clothes for the kids and a bag for shells: empty ones only, since Collier County prohibits taking live shells, sand dollars and starfish. Snacks and whatever you’d like to drink are on you; shade and seating are on us. Wipe your phone lens before you leave. And have a lunch plan, so the afternoon doesn’t stall out with four hungry people in a parking lot.

Aboard, then the afternoon that follows

Once the lines are off, the planning is over and the day slows down. You get a couple of hours, give or take, with a captain who narrates as much or as little as you want — up into the Port Royal canals, out Gordon Pass toward Keewaydin, or a long slow loop of the bay watching for dorsal fins. Then you’re back at the same slip. From there you can walk into Tin City, head west up 5th Avenue South, or hop the $20 water shuttle to a table on the water. The drive north afterward is the easy part: the hard thinking is behind you, and nobody in the car is asking what’s next. If anything shifts, call (239) 301-8913 and you’ll get a person.

Who It Suits

A great fit if you’re…

This page is written for North Naples families making one deliberate trip south.

Traveling as three generations

Grandparents, parents and kids on one boat in the shade for ninety minutes — nobody has to keep up with anybody.

Willing to start early

Morning is the calmer end of the day out there, and an early departure leaves your whole afternoon in town intact.

Making one trip south count

You’re driving down and parking once anyway — the boat gives that drive its reason and the rest of the day a home base.

Too big or too mixed for a public boat

A wide age spread fits better on a boat that’s yours alone — your own pace, your own route, nobody apologizing for the toddler.

On the Water

What the day actually looks like

The whole family on one boat, the wildlife nobody can promise you, and the sand at the far end of the ride.

Three generations of one family standing together under the thatched roof of a Sand Dollar tiki boat as the sun drops toward the Gulf horizon — Everybody aboard the same boat — the reason this trip works

A wild bottlenose dolphin surfacing through white wake spray in the water off Naples, Florida — Wild dolphins, often alongside — never promised

A wide empty white beach scattered with shells and bleached driftwood, with old wooden pilings running out into the Gulf beyond — Quiet sand at the far end of a boat ride

Keep Planning

More for a North Naples base

The stay down the Trail, your own end of the water, and a full day already mapped out.

Near the Hilton NaplesThe other Tamiami Trail stay we serve, a few miles closer in. Boat Tours in North NaplesEverything on the water at your end of town, in one place. One Day in Naples by BoatA full day mapped out with the water at the center of it. All Stays We ServeEvery hotel and neighborhood we run boat tours near.

Good to Know

Boat tours near DoubleTree Suites, North Naples

Straight answers to what North Naples guests ask us before they book.

How long is the drive from DoubleTree Suites to your dock?

About 20–25 minutes in ordinary traffic, straight south on Tamiami Trail from 12200 Tamiami Trail N to Naples Bay Resort & Marina at 1500 5th Avenue South. From January into April it takes longer, so give yourself a cushion and let your own navigation app price the trip on the day rather than trusting our range. The more useful number is the whole day: roughly half an hour each way, fifteen minutes of check-in margin, ninety minutes to two hours on the water, plus however long you want downtown afterward. Most families end up spending five or six hours on the trip once lunch is in it, and almost nobody regrets that. Plan it as the day’s main event, not a side quest.

Should we do the boat first or downtown first?

Boat first, most days. Naples Bay tends to be calmest in the morning before the sea breeze builds, an unhurried crowd is a happier crowd aboard, and you step off the dock already parked with the afternoon in front of you — the shops, the shade and the lunch tables are all within a walk of where you left the car. The one good reason to invert it is a sunset cruise: drive down mid-afternoon, walk the town while it’s hot, finish on the water as the light goes, and head north on a quiet Trail. Families with small kids usually do better with the morning version. Groups with teenagers often prefer the evening one. Both are legitimate; just choose before you leave North Naples.

Do you pick up at the hotel?

No. We depart from our slip at Naples Bay Resort & Marina, and we don’t offer lobby pickup at DoubleTree Suites or at any other property — the boats are at the marina, so that’s where the day starts. Booking triggers a note with your slip number and exactly where to stand, so the last ten minutes aren’t spent hunting. We should also say plainly that we have no affiliation, partnership or arrangement with the hotel; we’re a local, family-owned, captain-led company, and we simply take out a lot of people who are staying up at that end of the Trail. If someone in your group would rather not drive home after an evening cruise, sort that out before you book instead of in the parking lot.

We’re nine people from four to eighty-four. What should we book?

A private charter, almost always. You get the whole boat, so the route and the pace bend around your group instead of the other way around: a longer stop while the four-year-old is happy, a turn for home when the eighty-four-year-old has had enough. Public trips work fine for four or five people, but once you’re past six with a wide age spread, the charter is the calmer buy. Our tiki boat is family-first by design, carries up to 26 guests and has 39.5-inch rails for small kids — it is not a party boat and we don’t run it as one. Call (239) 301-8913 with your ages and dates and we’ll tell you what genuinely fits; anything beyond the shelling trip and the water shuttle is quoted when you book.

Will the kids see dolphins?

Often, yes. Wild bottlenose dolphins live in Naples Bay, Gordon Pass and the nearshore Gulf year-round, and they regularly surface near the boat or run along in the wake. They’re wild animals on their own schedule, though, so we never guarantee a sighting and you should be a little suspicious of any operator who does. What we can say is that you’ll be in the water they actually use, with a captain who knows which stretches tend to produce and at what stage of tide. Birds are the dependable part — ospreys, pelicans, herons, and on the right exposed flat a roseate spoonbill. From roughly November through March, when the water drops below about 68 degrees, manatees move into warmer backwaters; around here they’re scattered rather than gathered in crowds, so treat one as a bonus.

Can we go shelling on the same day?

Partly. From the Naples dock our beach-and-island trips put the bow on quiet Gulf sand, and small kids fill a bucket faster than you’d believe — bring one. The wild version, the boat-only islands out in the Ten Thousand Islands, leaves from our other dock at San Marco Marina in Goodland on the southeast tip of Marco Island, which is a long way further south from you again. Plan that one as its own day, not an add-on. Shelling runs $125 per adult and $90 per child. Before anybody picks anything up: Collier County is empty shells only — no live shells, sand dollars or starfish. And shelling here isn’t seasonal. Winter brings the negative low tides in the morning, summer pushes the lows into the evening, and Florida’s state shell, the horse conch, turns up either way.

Reserve Your Seats

Ready to build the day around the water?

Check availability and book a boat tour — take the morning slot, and the rest of your day downtown sorts itself out.

Or call (239) 301-8913

One Day, Done Right

Book the boat, then take the afternoon

Dolphin cruises, beach-and-island runs, private charters for the whole family and sunset trips — all of them out of Naples Bay Resort & Marina, roughly twenty-five minutes south of you. Tell us your ages and your dates and we’ll put you in the right slot.

Book a Boat Tour (239) 301-8913

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