Marco Island

Marco Island, an island made up largely of waterfront residential real estate, does not have the private country club scene that other gulf coast hotspots such as Naples just to its north do. However, it is home to a few options worth taking a look at.

Island Country Club

• Island Country Club is the premier country club facility in Marco Island. They offer three categories of membership – golf, tennis, and social. The club boasts the only 18-hole golf course on Marco Island and it was recently renovated in 2017 by architect Kipp Schulties. Other amenities include a 50,000 square foot clubhouse with three dining rooms, fitness center, and 5 Har-Tru clay tennis courts.

Marco Island Yacht Club

• The Marco Island Yacht Club is a private, member-owned club founded in 2001 and has been named one of the top twenty yacht clubs in America. A large 60+ slip marina on-site accommodates member’s boats. The club holds various social events throughout the year in addition to its group cruises and planned boating excursions.

Hideaway Beach Club

• Hideaway Beach Club is a private gated community situated directly on the Gulf of Mexico. The clubhouse, a 22,000 square foot facility, is home to many fine dining and social activities. This is also where you will find the pool deck and beach area with many umbrellas and lounge chairs available for a day of relaxation. The Sports Center is a 13,000 square foot facility housing the fitness center, pro shop, locker rooms, steam and massage rooms. A nine-hole executive golf course, 9 Hydro Grid Har-True tennis courts, croquet, and bocce courts surround the Sports Center.

American fare dominates the Marco Island culinary scene. But that’s not to say it doesn’t have its share of amazing waterfront seafood restaurants.

There are no shopping malls on Marco Island, instead the little island is home to many unique boutique clothing and gift stores. If you’re looking for large indoor malls, outlet malls, or upscale shopping plaza’s with all the popular national retail brands, you’re going to have to leave this island paradise and head up the coast to Naples.

The Marco Island Farmers Market offers a little bit of everything from local produce, just caught seafood, fresh flowers, hand crafted pastries, gourmet cheeses, and delicious prepared foods. Artists come to sell their jewelry and trinkets and one can also expect to enjoy live music performances from local musicians.

Island Trends is a great boutique shopping experience for both men’s and women’s clothing, swimwear, shoes, and accessories. True to the Marco Island lifestyle, they focus on being the destination for premium island resort wear.

Island Style Clothing is a boutique shop that offers fashionable clothing, bath and body products, sea glass jewelry, hats, bags, and many other resort items.

The Marco Players Theater is an intimate black-box theater experience. This not-for-profit volunteer driven organization operates year round and delivers live community theatre, music, and displays works of art created by local artists. The theater also hosts acting classes for adults 18 years of age and older.

The Marco Island Center for the Arts is an organization promoting education and appreciation of the arts. They host adult classes and workshops, art and gift galleries, events, monthly exhibits, musical interludes, and youth programs.

The Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge is part of the largest area of mangrove forest in North America. It is home to over 200 species of fish and 189 species of birds. Popular activities in the Refuge include fishing, hunting, camping, bird watching, and kayaking.

Marco Island beaches are generally quiet and serene compared to the other pristine white sand beaches of the gulf coast. It’s less about party time and more about family time on this beachfront island. These beaches are also some of the best in the world for finding seashells. Tigertail Beach, on the northwest side of the island, is a fantastic tidal pool area perfect for young children. Walk across the shallow lagoon and you will find Sand Dollar Spit, a protected barrier island full of wildlife.

Marco Island is the embodiment of the boating lifestyle. This boating paradise offers an astonishing amount of waterfront real estate due to its countless canal systems that carve up the island. The ability to keep your boat at your own backyard dock and be off cruising the waterways in a moment’s notice is a luxury every boater dreams of and Marco Island was designed to provide just that. The very southern tip of the popular Keewaydin Island just off Marco Island’s northern end are where the very best sandbar party spots are located. Weekends can be very crowded on the pristine sandbar there. Another popular boating activity is to cruise the countless miles of residential canals through the island and admire the many spectacular homes that line these waterways.

On the offshore side of things the recent red tide has really made an impact on the fishing. Many fisherman claim you need to make at least a 45+ mile run out to get into decent fishing for grouper, snapper, and other popular Gulf of Mexico species. Inshore the best fishing is on the south side of the island into the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge. There are so many islands, channels, flats, and bays around this part of Florida that one could spend a lifetime fishing them and still not have explored it all. All the popular inshore game fish like tarpon, snook, redfish, spotted seatrout, sheepshead, and black drum can be found here in the hundreds of miles of natural mangrove shoreline.

Marco Island public schools are controlled by the Collier County Public Schools district. It has over 46,416 students in grades PK, K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 16 to 1. According to state test scores, 64% of students are at least proficient in math and 57% in reading. Niche.com gives the school district an A- rating and has it as the 5th best school district in the state. There are no notable private schools located in Marco Island.

The City of Marco Island is not exactly a golfer’s paradise. A heavily residential island, limited in size, with a maze of canal systems slicing up the land is not exactly conducive to creating a golfers paradise. But that doesn’t mean the city is devoid of playing options. Marco Island has a total of 2 golf courses, both private. Within a short 20 mile drive you will find another 48 courses of which 7 are public and 0 municipal.

The only 18-hole golf course on the island is the Island Course on the grounds of Island Country Club. It is a private USGA Championship golf course designed by architect Dave Wallace in 1966. The course has been redesigned several times the latest being in 2017 by Kipp Schulties.

The Hideaway Beach Club features a private 9-hole executive golf course designed to challenge the everyday golfer. In 2005, it went under a complete reconstruction to make it what it is today.

Also worth mentioning, the J.W. Marriot Marco Island Beach Resort has two private, 18-hole golf courses located just up the road from Marco Island on the mainland. The Rookery at Marco and Hammock Bay courses are open to guests of the resort or to individuals with golf memberships.