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About Naples Florida

The name Naples was adopted when promoters described the bay as "surpassing the bay in Naples, Italy." Located on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, Naples has seven miiles of white sandy beach near the many vacation rental homes and condos that attract visitors from around the world. Naples is also a gateway to the Everglades National Park, the only ecosystem of its kind in the world.

Accommodations

Naples offers a relaxing, nature oriented getaway with a variety of condos, vacation homes, hotels, and resorts. Choose an accommodation near any of Naples's local attractions that offers comfort while making the most of the beautiful beaches and nature preserves at affordably priced rates.

View our Naples Vacation Rentals or Naples Resorts

Activities

Nature lovers will have a field day in the Everglades or in any of the area's many parks and wildlife preserves, home to the American alligator, as well as raccoons, black bears, panthers, bobcats and marsh rabbits, along with 300 varieties of birds and butterflies, and over 45 indigenous species of plants and trees. The Conservancy's Nature Center in Naples provides a science museum, lectures, and an animal clinic, as well as free guided nature trails through a subtropical hammock and 45-minute boat tours through the mangroves. The Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens is just one mile from the beaches and was voted "Best Place for Kids" by regional publications.

Events

During May, The Great Dock Canoe Race is held on Naples Bay. The Marco Island Film Festival, showcasing films by national and international filmmakers is a week-long festival with an inviting tropical flair. In addition to film screening, other highlights of the October festival include celebrity events, student workshops, and panel discussions with film directors, screenwriters, actors, film distributors and other film industry experts. The Everglades Seafood Festival takes place the first weekend in February in Everglades City. During December is the Naples Bay Boat Parade, when boats are decorated and lighted for a holiday parade along Naples Bay.

Water Sports

Naples arguably has the most favorable year round boating conditions in the US. The pleasant temperatures, balmy sea breezes, and calm seas of the Gulf of Mexico are a boater's paradise, and also serve to attract anglers from around the world. The Gulf Coast beaches of Naples and Marco Island are perfect for swimming, scuba diving, parasailing, or catching up on your tan

Golfing

It has been said that the Naples area has more golf holes than any other place on the planet. The amazing weather and sculpted landscapes make Southwest Florida a wonderful golfing destination. With numerous public and private golf courses, players can always find a challenge.

History

A river and two inlets are named for the first settlers in the Naples area, Roger Gordon and Joe Wiggins, who moved here in the 1860's. For the next few decades, magazine and newspaper stories telling of the area's mild climate and abundant fish and game likened it to the sunny Italian peninsula. Naples quickly gained a reputation as a winter resort. Social life revolved around the Naples Hotel, which has played host to many celebrities. Barron Collier's completion of the Tamiami Trail in 1928 opened up the region's enormous agricultural and resort potential.

The Calusa Indians are the most famous of the Native Americans who called this area home, living throughout southwest Florida for thousands of years. They built large kitchen middens to cook the seafood they caught. These same mounds would later be used as high ground for the homes that the early pioneer families built. Throughout the 1700s, small bands of Creek Indians made their way south to Florida's fertile farmlands and game-filled forests. These breakaway groups joined with escaped slaves and other Indians to forge a new identity in Florida known as the Seminole.

From 1835 to 1842 the vastly outnumbered Seminole Indians fought the U.S. Army to a stalemate in the longest and bloodiest Indian war in U.S. history. A chain of forts around the outskirts of Collier County were reactivated when a third and final fight with the Seminole broke out in 1855. The few surviving Seminole retreated deep into the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp where they developed a culture suited to the climate and terrain of south Florida.

A river and two inlets are named for the first settlers in the Naples area, Roger Gordon and Joe Wiggins, who moved here in the 1860's. For the next few decades, magazine and newspaper stories telling of the area's mild climate and abundant fish and game likened it to the sunny Italian peninsula. Naples quickly gained a reputation as a winter resort. Social life revolved around the Naples Hotel, which has played host to many celebrities. Barron Collier's completion of the Tamiami Trail in 1928 opened up the region's enormous agricultural and resort potential.

During World War II hundreds of servicemen came to Naples and Collier County when the U.S. Army Air Field was built in 1943 to train pilots for combat over Europe and the Pacific. At the height of the war, several hundred men and 75 aircraft were assigned to the Naples base. Many of these officers remembered Naples when the war was over and brought their families to live in Naples.

 

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