Near Your Stay
You picked the most historic corner of Marco Island to lay your head — now go spend a day on the water that made it famous. Our dock down in Goodland is about a 15-minute drive from the Olde Marco district, and the wild Ten Thousand Islands open up the moment we clear the channel.
The Old-Florida Water Day
The Olde Marco Island Inn sits on the island’s quiet north end, in the district where Marco’s whole story began. This is the old pioneer corner — roots running back to 1883, when the Collier family and a handful of fishing and clamming families made their living off the water right in front of you. You feel it in the narrow lanes and the shell-white light coming off the Marco River. It’s a lovely place to wake up. But the history around the inn isn’t behind glass — it’s still out there in the passes, oyster bars and mangrove keys the first settlers worked, and that’s exactly the day we’re here to hand you.
From the Olde Marco district it’s about a 15-minute drive southeast to Goodland, the last honest fishing village left on Marco Island — a place still built around stone crab traps and mullet nets rather than resorts. San Marco Marina, at 604 E Palm Ave, is where our boats live, and it’s the real head start into the Ten Thousand Islands: a labyrinth of uninhabited barrier islands, sandbars and backwater unspooling south toward the edge of the Everglades. Drop the marina into your map app before you leave so you can time your morning around the tide, and know that rideshares run out here fine. Ten minutes after we cast off, the last rooftop slides behind you and it’s just water, wading birds and open horizon.
What you actually do out there bends to the tide, the season and your crew. Chase a falling tide onto boat-only islands like Keewaydin or Kice and walk a beach for shells no one has picked over — and shelling runs all year here, with winter mornings bringing the big negative low tides and summer trading them for evening lows. Idle through the backcountry near Cape Romano, where bottlenose dolphins live year-round and often come surf the bow wake on their own terms. Time your run for golden hour and watch the sky catch fire over the Gulf. Every one of our captains is a USCG Master Captain who grew up reading these passes — so you get the real Ten Thousand Islands, told straight, the way the pioneers who settled Olde Marco would still recognize it.
Pick Your Trip
Five-plus ways to spend your old-Florida day on the water, all leaving from Goodland.
Dock to Departure
A simple run from the north-end historic district down to our Goodland dock.
You’re staying on Marco’s north end, the island’s original settlement strung along the Marco River. There’s nothing to organize the night before — grab coffee, sunscreen, a hat and a light layer for the ride out, and you’re set. Everything else you need for a day on the water already lives on the boat, so you can travel light from the door.
From Olde Marco it’s about a 15-minute drive southeast to Goodland, the working fishing village on Marco’s far tip. Drop ‘San Marco Marina, 604 E Palm Ave’ into your map app before you pull out, and check your own door-to-dock time so you can build in a little buffer. Rideshares reach Goodland without trouble if you’d rather not drive after a day on the Gulf.
Our boats tie up at San Marco Marina, right on the Goodland waterfront. Aim to arrive about 15 minutes before your departure, find your captain on the dock, and we’ll get you settled, briefed and pointed the right way before we ease out of the slip. No ticket lines and no crowded terminal — it’s a small-marina, handshake kind of start.
Sunscreen, a hat, polarized sunglasses, water and a phone or camera for the shells, dolphins and sunset are the essentials. On a shelling run, closed-toe water shoes and a mesh bag earn their keep on the wet sandbars. Leave the big plans at home — we handle the boat, the route and the local know-how, so you just show up ready to be on the water.
Goodland is tiny, flat and refreshingly low-key, and there’s parking right at the marina — a world away from a resort valet stand. Give yourself a couple of minutes to find a spot and walk to the docks. If you rideshare in, have your driver aim straight for the San Marco Marina address so you’re dropped a few steps from the boat instead of down the road.
Once we clear the Goodland channel it’s all wild coast — barrier-island beaches, mangrove tunnels, oyster bars and the old passes the pioneers fished. Where we point the bow depends on the tide, the wind and what you came out to find, whether that’s shells on Kice, dolphins off Cape Romano, or a quiet sandbar with your name on it. That’s the moment the old-Florida day really begins.
Who It Suits
Olde Marco guests who want the real water, not just the view of it.
You chose the Olde Marco district for its past — so go see the water that past was built on, read straight for you by captains who grew up on these tides.
All ages are welcome, and the shaded tiki boat is family-first — never a party boat — with room for 26 and 39.5-inch child rails, so grandparents and kids ride the same trip.
We run a falling tide onto boat-only islands like Keewaydin and Kice, where empty shells wash up far from the beach crowds — and we’ll help you tell empty from occupied.
No boardwalk, no schedule to beat, no crowd — just dolphins on their own clock, wild sandbars and a Gulf sunset you’ll still be talking about over dinner.
On the Water
Real scenes from our boats and the wild islands a short run from Goodland.
Keep Planning
Nearby stays we serve, the story of the island, and every hotel near our docks.
Good to Know
Honest answers before you book your day on the water.
Our dock is San Marco Marina in Goodland, about a 15-minute drive southeast from the Olde Marco district on the island’s north end. We don’t offer hotel-lobby pickup, so plan to drive or grab a rideshare, and drop the marina address into your own map app to get the exact door-to-dock time before you head out. Give yourself a few extra minutes so the morning stays easy.
No — we’re an independent, family-owned, captain-led boat-tour company, and there’s no package, partnership or endorsement between us and the inn. We simply love serving guests who choose to stay in the historic Olde Marco district. You book your tour directly with us, by phone or through our online widget, and we’ll take great care of you from the dock on.
Often dolphins, wading birds, wild barrier-island beaches and excellent shelling — but these are wild animals moving on their own schedule and tides we don’t control, so we never guarantee a specific sighting. Bottlenose dolphins live here year-round; in the cooler months from about November to March you may spot manatees tucked into warmer backwater near Rookery Bay, and from May into October loggerhead sea turtles nest along these beaches. Our captains put you in the best spots the day gives us, and the Ten Thousand Islands very rarely send anyone home disappointed.
Not at all. Our tiki boat is family-first, all-ages and shaded, with a 26-guest capacity and 39.5-inch child rails for peace of mind. It’s built around a relaxed cruise through the islands, not a booze cruise — the kind of trip where grandparents, parents and kids all have a great time on the same boat. It’s a favorite for multi-generation groups staying on Marco.
Yes — empty shells only. Collier County law protects any shell that still has a living animal inside, so we never take those; we collect only empties and gently return live sand dollars and starfish to the water. Florida’s state shell is the horse conch, and if deep water ever gifts you a junonia washed up after a storm, that’s the true holy grail. Our captains will show you exactly how to tell an empty shell from an occupied one before you pocket a thing.
Book right here through our online widget, or call us at (239) 301-8913 and we’ll set it up. Shelling tours start at $125 per adult and $90 per child; for our dolphin, sunset, tiki, beach-and-island and private trips, we’ll give you a quick quote when you book so you end up on the right boat for your group size and your day. Same-week dates do fill up, so it’s worth reserving ahead.
Reserve Your Seats
Check availability and book your old-Florida day on the water, leaving from Goodland.
Your Marco Island Day Afloat
You’re steps from where Marco’s story started — now go live a chapter of it out in the Ten Thousand Islands. Grab your spot and we’ll see you at the dock in Goodland.
Proud member, Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce · Listed with VISIT FLORIDA, Paradise Coast CVB, Visit Marco Island & Visit Naples