Southwest Florida Sports and Outdoors
Southwest Florida is a recreational haven, most famous for its title as the “Golf Capital of the World.” Over 50 private and public golf courses dot the area, or are currently under construction. Each February, Naples is home to the popular Senior PGA event, which attracts the world's top golfers. Past winners have included such notables as Gary Player, Lee Trevino, and Hale Irwin.
Tennis is avidly played throughout the area at both public and private facilities. Southwest Florida has also become the grand finale of the Master's Tennis Tour with the Nuveen Masters Tennis Championship, featuring players such as Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, and local resident Johan Kriek.
Florida Snakes
Florida has 45 species of snakes, six are venomous and only three of them are ones you are likely to encounter in south Florida. The fearsome three some are the water moccasin or cottonmouth, eastern diamondback rattlesnake and dusky pigmy rattlesnake.
All are members of the pit viper family. The name comes from a pair of opening (pits) located on the head of the snake between each eye and the nostril at the tip of the head. Seeing the pits is a sure fire way to determine if the snake is poisonous but they are not always easy to see unless you are close, probably closer than you want to be, to one of these snakes.
Cottonmouth (Water Moccasin)
Is it a cottonmouth or a watersnake? These two snakes - the former poisonous, the latter not, are often confused. Both are common around swamps, lakes, rivers or any other places where there is standing water.
Moccasins can grow to over five feet in length with the body of the snake ranging from olive green to nearly black. Depending on how darkly colored it is, you may or may not notice the crossbands on its body. Watersnakes are similarly colored and patterned and, at first glance, are very difficult to distinguish from a cottonmouth....
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Golf
Naples National Golf Club - By the time the member gets out of his car, his heart has picked up pace, the adrenaline is starting to flow, and his aesthetic expectations have already been exceeded.
Fishing
With many miles of shoreline, numerous bays and canals, as well as the Ten Thousand Islands, Southwest Florida is a boater's heaven. Sail and power craft of all types and sizes, from small fishing boats to 100-foot yachts, cruise the waters. Commercial vessels offer fishing trips, sunset cruises, nature tours, canoe and kayak adventures, or paddlewheel excursions.
Dawn Patrol Charter Fishing - fishes the backcountry (bays, creeks, rivers and passes) adjoining Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands and the nearshore artificial reefs.
Parks and Beaches
Click on any link for further information/photos.
Bayview Park
Danford Street ~ 263-2734
Cambier Park/Norris Community Center
8th Street South and 8th Avenue South ~ 239-434-4690
Clam Pass Park
Seagate Drive ~ 239-597-3232
Collier-Seminole State Park
20200 US 41 South at Royal Palm Hammock ~ 239-394-3397
Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary
375 Sanctuary Rd. ~ 239-657-3771
Delnor Wiggins State Recreation Area
North End of Vanderbilt Beach ~ 239-597-6196
Fleischmann Park
1200 Fleischmann Blvd. ~ 239-434-4692
Lely Barefoot Beach
North Naples
Lowdermilk Park
Gulf Shore Boulevard South ~ 239-263-6078
Naples Beaches
Twenty-First Avenue South along Gulf Shore Blvd. to Seventh Avenue North
Naples Landing & Bay Front Park
Broad Avenue South
Naples Pier
12th Avenue South at the Gulf of Mexico ~ 239-434-4696
Park Shore Beach - Horizon Way Access
Harbour Dr. to Gulf Shore Blvd. North
Park Shore Beach - Vedado Way Access
Harbour Dr. to Gulf Shore Blvd. North
Vanderbilt Beach
North Naples
Via Miramar Beach Access
Harbour Dr. to Gulf Shore Blvd. North
Boat Ramp
State Road 951 & 952, Marco Island
Caxambas Park
Collier Blvd. South, Marco Island
Tigertail Beach
Hernandez Street, off Tigertail Boulevard, Marco Island
Everglades National Park Boat Tours
Copeland Avenue South West, Everglades City ~ 239-695-2591
Big Cypress National Preserve
US 41, Copeland
Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve
US 41/Hwy 29, Copeland ~ 239-645-4593
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
Florida Panther NWR was established in 1989 under the authority of the Endangered Species Act to protect the Florida panther and its habitat. The refuge consists of 26,400 acres and is located within the heart of the Big Cypress Basin in southwest Florida. This subtropical ecosystem covers more than 2,400 square miles of diverse wetland and upland habitat types. The refuge encompasses the northern origin of the Fakahatchie Strand, which is the largest cypress strand in the Big Cypress Swamp. Orchids and other rare plants are found within the refuge...read more »
J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
The refuge includes over 6,300 acres of habitat, with 2,825 acres designated as Wilderness, and 950 acres of submerged habitat in the Tarpon Bay Recreation Area. The refuge informs and educates over 800,000 visitors annually in its 12,000 square foot Environmental Education Center and four-mile long Wildlife Drive. The refuge is home to 238 bird species, 51 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 32 species of mammals native to southwest Florida...read more »
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