As we left Sanibel, there was a fair amount of fog which eventually burned off to yield a sunny calm day. Heading out of the marina, we turned tot he southeast and out the Matanzas Pass to the open Gulf. Along the coast, we passed the distant high-rises and expensive hotels of Estero Island, Bonita Springs and North Naples before heading towards the inlet at Gordon Pass. Be sure to watch the chart as you enter Gordon Pass - it is shallow on the northern side - don't cut corners!


Upon entering the Gordon River and following it up to the Naples Bay, you are immediately hit by the opulence of this city. Huge decorous and mostly Italianate or Mediterranean mansions and gardens line the waterway - many selling for tens of millions of dollars. Heading towards are slip for the next 5 days, we fueled up at the Naples City Dock and settled in at the Naples Boat Club. Even though we have a 47' boat, we were by far the smallest vessel in the marina - clearly we are out of our league here. The marina had a great pool and clubhouse - so we were glad to be here a bit early and happy to be in a position to enjoy the posh surroundings.

View up the Gordon River from the Naples Boat Club

Gordon River heading up to Naples

Pool at the Naples Boat Club

Salty at Naples!


Downtown Naples lends itself to long walks among the upscale shops and restaurants on 5th Ave South and 3rd Street South - very lively street scenes with signs of great prosperity everywhere. One day we took a trolley tour that goes all the way up to North Naples, stopped at the Waterside Shops near Pelican Bay and were stunned by the sheer amounts of wealth in the Naples area - more evident than in Manhattan or any other place we'd been to recently. The clear upside of being here is the restaurants and we took advantage - eating at Vergina (Italian), the French Brasserie, and Osteria Tulia. The provisioning at Wynn's is fantastic - they have everything!

Downtown Naples

Downtown Naples

Harbor north of Tin City


Leaving Naples will be hard - such a lovely stop - so comfortable and so pleasant.