Swamp Buggies

All those flashy cars, high-end boutiques, and five-star boîtes filled with ladies who lunch can’t mask the fact that Naples is right next door to some pretty huge swamps. There’s no better way to get around those swamps than on a swamp buggy. These monstrous open-air vehicles with giant tires and roaring engines were invented in Naples as hunting vehicles, but after hunting was banned in the Everglades, resourceful drivers figured out something else to do with them.

The Florida Sports Park (8520 Collier Blvd., 239/774-2701, www.swampbuggy.com) hosts its now-famous swamp buggy races. The park is a run-down aggregation of bleachers sitting alongside the marsh, but in March, May, and October the place comes alive with buggy drivers vying to take home the Budweiser Cup. It’s muddy, loud, and amazingly fun.

Golf

Naples is called the “Golf Capital of the World” for good reason; there are more than 80 courses in the immediate area, and driving down U.S. 41, it almost seems like the entirety of Collier County outside of downtown Naples has been given over to fairways and retirement communities filled with duffers. However, many of those courses are private, which means visitors are relegated to hitting up an old-timer at the bar for an invite or making their way to one of the handful of decent public courses in the area.

The publicly accessible courses are impressive in their own right. Two of the three courses at Lely Resort Golf & Country Club (8004 Lely Resort Blvd., 239/793-2600, $35–167) are open to the public: Flamingo Island is a straightforward Robert “Trent” Jones Sr. course (7,171 yards), and the Mustang course was designed by Lee Trevino (7,217 yards) with lots of water hazards. Quality Inn Golf Resort (4100 Golden Gate Pkwy., 800/277-0017, $30–80) used to be known as the Golden Gate Golf Club but has since changed hands to the discount hotelier; the 18-hole 6,570-yard course is unsurprisingly basic.

The two Greg Norman–designed courses at Tiburon Golf Club (2620 Tiburon Dr., 239/594-2040, $170–280) are pricey, but this club—home to the Merrill Lynch Shootout every December—is situated on an 800-acre full-featured resort, and the courses are routinely rated highly by guests who pony up the fees to play them.

Sailing

Many of the people doing the sailing around Naples are on their own boats. There are numerous opportunities for guests to enjoy the nautical life, however. Naples Sailing Adventures (239/354-0305, www.naplesailingadventures.com) will design a custom charter package for you and your family aboard the Beula Lee, which departs from the City Dock (880 12th Ave. S.). Whether the trip is purely for relaxation—the boat has three staterooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen—or to teach basic sailing skills, there are full- and half-day charters available.

Likewise, Sailboats Unlimited (Naples City Dock, 880 12th Ave. S., 239/649-1740, www.sailboatsunlimited.com) offers instruction, rentals, and crewed charters ranging from two hours to a full day with seven different boats to choose from.

If it’s just sailing lessons you’re after, Naples Community Sailing Center (Naples Landing Park, 1101 9th St. S., 239/403-7193) offers classes for adults and kids as young as eight years old.

Spas

The spa at the Ritz-Carlton (280 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., 239/538-3330) is one of the best in the city, with treatments ranging from massages and facials to ecofriendly pedicures. Though not as expansive, the downtown spa at The Inn on Fifth (699 5th Ave. S., 239/403-8777) also has a number of aromatherapy treatments, reflexology sessions, facials, and body wraps.

© Jason Ferguson from Moon Florida, 1st Edition