Near Your Stay
You’re steps from the Gulf at the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort — and about a 15–20 minute drive from the working dock where our tours push off. Point your map app at San Marco Marina in Goodland, and the wild side of Marco Island is yours for the afternoon.
Your Stay, On the Water
The Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort sits right on the sand at the south end of Marco Island, on South Collier Boulevard, where the beach is wide, raked smooth and easy to love. That groomed shoreline is perfect for a morning walk — but the shells and the wildlife live out where nobody rakes the sand. That’s the trip we run. From the resort it’s roughly a 15–20 minute drive southeast to San Marco Marina in Goodland, the little stilt-house fishing village on the tip of the island. The route swings out to Collier Boulevard, east on San Marco Road, and over the little bridge into a place that still runs on crab traps, stilt houses and slow afternoons. We don’t pick up at the hotel, so grab your car or a rideshare and check your own map app for the drive from your door; traffic on Collier Boulevard can nudge that number either way.
Push off from Goodland and you’re pointed straight into the Ten Thousand Islands, a maze of mangrove keys and boat-only barrier beaches that spills south toward Cape Romano and the open Gulf. This is dolphin country — wild bottlenose dolphins work these passes year-round, and you’ve got a great chance of watching them surf the boat’s wake, though they’re wild animals on their own schedule and we never promise a sighting. In the cooler months, manatees drift into the backwaters around Rookery Bay. Ospreys nest on the channel markers, roseate spoonbills sweep the flats pink, and brown pelicans and the odd bald eagle share the airspace as you pass old landmarks like Coon Key Light on the run south. Bring a hat, some water, a real camera if you have one, and let our captain point out what you’d otherwise cruise right past.
The real magic here is the shelling. Islands like Kice and Keewaydin have no bridge, no road and no beach rake — so whatever the tide carries in stays put until someone in a boat walks it off. That’s where you turn up horse conchs (Florida’s state shell), left-handed lightning whelks, fighting conchs and, after a big storm churns the deep Gulf, maybe a junonia, the shelling world’s holy grail. Hold a lightning whelk spire-up and its opening yawns to the left — the one big Gulf snail that’s a true lefty, and a fine table-talker back at the resort. You’ll spot the flat, five-slotted keyhole urchins locals call sand dollars, too. Shelling runs year-round, not one magic season: winter brings those morning negative low tides, and summer saves its lowest water for the evening. One rule the captain will remind you of — in Collier County you keep empty shells only, so anything still living goes right back where it sits.
Pick Your Trip
A handful of ways onto the water, all leaving from our Goodland dock a short drive from the resort.
Getting There
A quick, honest walk-through from your room on South Collier Boulevard to our dock in Goodland.
You’re on the south end of Marco Island, right on the Gulf at 560 South Collier Boulevard. Beautiful beach — but it’s a groomed, raked resort shoreline, which is exactly why the best shelling and the wildlife are somewhere else. The water we run is a short drive away, not out front. Plan your tour like any off-site outing: note the departure time, leave a little cushion, and don’t count on hotel transport.
Point your map app at San Marco Marina, 604 East Palm Avenue, Goodland. From the resort it’s about a 15–20 minute drive southeast — out to Collier Boulevard, across the island, and over the bridge into Goodland, the tiny stilt-house fishing village on Marco’s southeast tip. Give yourself a hair more in season, when Collier Boulevard backs up. Your own map app will read the exact time from your door.
San Marco Marina is a real working marina, not a theme-park pier — that’s the charm. There is parking at the marina; aim to arrive about 15 minutes early so you’re not the crew the captain is waiting on. Find your boat, meet your USCG Master Captain, and you’re off. If anything about the address or timing feels fuzzy, call us at (239) 301-8913 before you leave the room and we’ll talk you in.
Sun is the main event out here, so pack a hat, sunglasses and reef-safe sunscreen, and bring water. Soft-soled shoes or sandals you can walk wet sand in beat flip-flops on the islands. Add a mesh bag for empty shells, a real camera or a charged phone for the dolphins, and a light layer for the ride home on a sunset run. If anyone gets queasy on boats, take something before you leave the hotel rather than after. Leave the glass and the big cooler behind — a soft bag of snacks and drinks is all you need. We’ll handle the boat; you handle the good time.
Once you clear Goodland, the Ten Thousand Islands open up — mangrove keys, oyster bars and wide Gulf toward Cape Romano. Depending on your tour, the captain runs to the shelling islands, the dolphin passes, or a quiet beach to stretch out on. On a clear run south you might glimpse the toppled dome-house ruins off Cape Romano, half-sunk in the Gulf since Hurricane Ian in 2022 — eerie and unforgettable, and nothing like the postcards that show them standing. Cruises generally run about 1.5 to 2 hours. This is wild water on a tide-driven schedule, so the exact route flexes with wind and water — that’s the good kind of unpredictable.
You’ll roll back to the dock salty, sun-tired and probably holding a shell or two. The same short drive puts you back on South Collier Boulevard in time to clean up before dinner — or you can linger in Goodland, where a couple of old-school waterfront spots serve stone crab and cold drinks with a view of the boats. Want to shell in the morning and watch the sun set over the Gulf the same day? Say so when you book — a couple of our tours are made for exactly that, and your captain can help you plan the timing around the tides.
Who It Suits
Guests at the Hilton Marco Island tend to love this trip for a few reasons.
You’ve walked the resort beach and want the real haul the boat-only islands hold.
All ages are welcome, and the tiki boat’s shade and child rails make it easy on little ones.
Dolphins, spoonbills and osprey nests give you shots you’ll never get from a beach chair.
Trade the crowded shoreline for golden hour on open Gulf water with room to breathe.
The Wild Side
A quick look at the islands, shells and dolphins a short run from your room.
Keep Planning
Staying somewhere else on the island, or just want the big picture? Start here.
Good to Know
The questions resort guests ask us most before they book.
Our tours leave from San Marco Marina at 604 East Palm Avenue in Goodland, on the southeast tip of Marco Island. From the resort on South Collier Boulevard, that’s roughly a 15–20 minute drive southeast — a quick hop across the island and over the bridge into Goodland. Traffic on Collier Boulevard can add a few minutes in season, so we always tell guests to check their own map app for the live drive time from the hotel door and leave a small cushion. Goodland is the closest of our two docks to the Hilton; our other one sits up in Naples, which is the long way around for a south-Marco stay. We don’t offer hotel pickup, so plan on your own car or a rideshare, and give yourself time to find parking and meet the captain before departure.
No — we depart from a real marina in Goodland, not from the resort, and we don’t run a hotel shuttle. It keeps our operation honest and our boats where the good water is. The upside is that the drive is short and easy: point your map app at San Marco Marina and you’re there in about 15 to 20 minutes. There’s parking right at the marina, so driving your own car is usually the simplest option. If you’d rather not, a rideshare out to Goodland is easy to catch on the way there, though it’s worth arranging your ride back before you go, since Goodland is small and quiet. Either way, call us at (239) 301-8913 and we’ll walk you through the route before you leave your room.
Often, yes — wild bottlenose dolphins live in these waters year-round, and on most trips you’ve got a great chance of watching them roll alongside the boat or surf our wake. But they’re wild animals on their own schedule, so we never promise a sighting, and any captain who does isn’t being straight with you. What we can tell you is that we run to the places dolphins tend to work — the passes and grass flats of the Ten Thousand Islands — and that our captain knows where they turned up this week. Cooler months can also bring manatees into the backwaters near Rookery Bay.
It depends on what you’re after. If you want the trip you can’t get from the resort beach, go shelling — the boat-only islands like Kice and Keewaydin hold the horse conchs and whelks the beach rake never leaves behind. Families and first-timers love the dolphin and wildlife cruise or the shaded family tiki boat. Couples tend to book a sunset cruise for golden hour on the Gulf. Want a beach all to yourselves? The beach-and-island trip drops you on wild sand with no crowd, a world away from the raked shoreline out your window. If you want the whole boat and your own itinerary — a mix of shelling, dolphins and a beach stop at your pace — a private charter does exactly that. Not sure? Call us and we’ll match you to the right boat in about two minutes.
There’s no one magic season — shelling out here runs all year, it just shifts with the tide clock. In the cooler months you get those big morning negative low tides that bare the sand bars early; in summer, the lowest water usually lands in the evening. What matters far more than the calendar is getting to islands nobody rakes, on a falling tide, with a captain who knows which bars refilled overnight. After a storm stirs the deep Gulf, the rare junonia can wash in — the shell that gets your photo in the local paper. One rule holds all year: in Collier County you take home empty shells only, so anything still alive goes back exactly where you found it.
Absolutely — all ages are welcome on our tours, and families are a big part of what we do. The shelling and dolphin trips are a hit with kids, and the family tiki boat is built with shade and 39½-inch child rails so parents can relax a little. It’s a family-friendly boat, never a party scene. For very young children, give us a call at (239) 301-8913 before you book and we’ll point you to the calmest, most comfortable option for your crew, plus tips on timing around naps and the midday heat.
Reserve Your Seats
Check availability and lock in your seats — the best tides and sunset slots fill up fast.
Your Marco Island Adventure
You came all the way to Marco Island — go see the part of it you can’t reach from the resort beach. Book a boat tour out of Goodland and let our captains show you the real Ten Thousand Islands.
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