Marco Island's beaches are absolutely enormous in depth. Walking from the back of the beach to the water's edge can take quite a while. Fortunately, the effort is well rewarded with soft white sand bathed by clear, warm waters. Marco Island has two public beaches: Tigertail Beach and South Beach.
Located on Hernando Drive, Tigertail Beach encompasses 31 acres of natural beauty. This popular beach is ideal for relaxing on the coast and enjoying peaceful adventures. From shell collecting and bird watching to intense water sports, Tigertail Beach offers visitors a lot of activity and is one of the best places to visit on Marco Island.
Tigertail Beach sits on a stunning Marco Island estate, even driving around the area was an absolute pleasure. The beach is located on Hernando Drive. When you arrive at Tigertail Beach Park, you'll see a staffed front door. While it's not hard to visit Tigertail Beach, it's hard to park there.
Tigertail Beach is a great beach for families due to the tranquility of the water. In addition, the beach offers small life jackets free of charge to keep children safe while playing in the paddling area. You can really spend a full day at Tigertail Beach, as there is a huge playground for the kids, as well as a nice cafeteria, showers and restrooms, as well as water sports available for hire and umbrellas.
While there was hardly anyone at Tigertail Beach, many beach chairs and umbrellas lined the South Beach shoreline. Unfortunately, like Tigertail Beach, there's no free parking available in South Beach either. However, there are many paid parking lots in the immediate vicinity of the beach access.
In the center of Collier Blvd, south of Tigertail Beach and north of South Beach, is members-only Residents Beach. Marco Island has Tigertail (on the north end of the island) and South Beach (at, you guessed it, the south end) among its beautiful beaches ideal for the whole family. Here, miles of shell-encrusted shorelines and small white-capped waves gently burst onto the coast. Bird lovers and nature enthusiasts will revel in the flora and fauna of Tigertail, while beach lovers looking for a relaxing day at the beach will find it in South Beach, where life is easy and sunsets are legendary.
Both beaches juxtapose nature with artificial: pristine dunes and Tigertail Lagoon contrast with South Beach's palm-fringed walkway and skyward architecture. The famous soft waters of the Gulf make this a perfect beach for kayaking or pedal boating; rentals are available on the beach. There is a concession stand in the park that rents jet skis, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and other beach necessities. Marco Island is a beautiful area to explore with lots of great places to stay — full review of where to stay on Marco Island here..
