Thaddeus Mast | Naples Daily News
Published April 2, 2021, updated April 3, 2021
Barefoot Beach is getting an upgrade, but construction will close the boardwalk, pavilions and part of the parking lot for weeks, according to a Collier County Parks and Recreation official.
Collier County will begin the Barefoot Beach Access Construction Project on Monday, April 5. The access point at 5901 Bonita Beach Road will get a new boardwalk and repairs to five pavilions, Project Manager Michael Cherbini said.
“We’re redoing the boardwalk, which is currently synthetic wood, and replacing it with Brazilian hardwood,” Cherbini said.
The beachside pavilions will get new benches, wood and awnings, he said.
Parks and Recreation aims to finish the project by Memorial Day, although material shortages could push construction into June, Cherbini said.
The project, which is estimated to cost around $300,000, is being funded by tourist taxes on short-term rentals and hotel stays.
Money is set aside to relocate any gopher tortoise nests found in the path of the construction work.
Sea turtle nesting season forced the project to begin in April, Cherbini said. The sea turtle protection season runs from May to October, and state statutes make beach construction difficult during these months. Parks and Recreation wants to finish part of the project before the season begins.
“We have a very successful sea turtle season because we take these precautions,” Cherbini said.
The sandy waterfront can still be reached from the Bonita Beach Access, which is less than 100 feet north of the Collier County Barefoot Beach boardwalk.
Most of the parking lot will still be accessible, with construction taking up six to eight spots near the small roundabout, Cherbini said.
By Florida Weekly Staff | on July 01, 2020
BY LAURA TICHY-SMITH
Baby sea turtles flying through the air? Fanciful and comical as that idea sounds, it actually takes place sometimes at Juno Beach during the height of sea turtle nesting season.
“By the end of peak season, because we have so many nests, we’ll start seeing turtles digging up other turtles’ nests just because there are so many on the beaches,” said Dr. Justin Perrault, director of research at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. “Sometimes, especially when we have high green turtle and high loggerhead years that coincide, you’ll see hatchlings from a nest that were ready to emerge and another mother turtle is digging on top of those and flinging the little hatchlings that are under the sand into the air inadvertently.”
Florida is a globally important nesting site for the loggerhead species, and research indicates Juno Beach may be the loggerheads’ most important nesting beach in the world. While nests number in the tens of thousands on that 9.5-mile stretch of beach, loggerheads — and their cousins the green, leatherback and occasionally the Kemp’s ridley sea turtles — nest on many beaches in Florida, which makes sea turtle and beach habitat protection critically important throughout this state. Some Southwest Florida beaches see nesting that numbers in the hundreds to low thousands each season, but sea turtles even check in at Key West to lay about a half-dozen nests per year. The nesting season is March 1-Oct. 1.
“We’ve never had a turtle nest on top of another nest,” said Denise Bohlig- Capone, who co-founded the volunteer Key West Sea Turtle Club with her husband, Ralph, about eight years ago. “Sea turtles seem to want their own space in Key West. It’s prime real estate, so they all grab their own little bit.”
An uptick of nest numbers in recent years seems to coincide with when various conservation laws went into effect, since sea turtles take up to 30 years to reach reproductive age. Protective laws range from federal endangered species listings and federally mandated turtle drowning prevention devices for nets on American commercial fishing vessels, to state laws protecting turtles from harassment and requiring permits and training to interact with turtles and nests for research purposes, to local beach lighting and seawall setback ordinances to keep the beaches dark and accessible for turtle nesting.
…read more of this article at its source on Fort Myers Florida Weekly. Enjoy the photos!
Some Florida beaches are still closed but some are reopening with social distancing restrictions in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Collier County commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to reopen the county’s beaches, including parking lots and restrooms starting at sunrise Thursday.
In Lee County, commissioners voted Tuesday to reopen county beaches and extend activities at public parks. Beaches will open from dawn to dusk beginning today. Parks will be open, but with some limits on activities during normal hours that can vary from park to park. No community park buildings will be open.
The Fort Myers Beach Town Council voted unanimously Friday to reopen beaches to the public starting Saturday and to adopt Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Phase 1” reopening plan.
The beaches will reopen with “strict enforcement” of social distancing guidelines, and the council also voted to open up beach access parking lots.
The vote comes after the town council decided during a special Monday meeting to reopen beaches to just island residents for three hours per day with limitations. The prior vote went into effect Tuesday.
The beaches were a hot topic among public comments made during the Friday meeting, which were read aloud after they were sent via email.
Some of the comments urged the council to fully open the beaches to the public, arguing that the beaches only being open to residents during certain hours is “unconstitutional.” One, however, argued that reopening beaches would lead to excess crowding on the island.
Read more on news-press.com.
From the Naples Daily News
Collier County saw record tourism last year.
The county had more than 1.9 million visitors in 2019 — an increase of 5.8% over the year — and the highest number on record.
With more visitors came more room bookings and more spending.
Spending increased 8.1% to more than $2.3 billion, while room nights rose 6.4% to more than 2.5 million over the year. Both numbers set all-time records.
“We saw growth across the board from all of the major markets that we look at,” said Ann Wittine, director of data analysis for Research Data Services, at a Tourist Development Council meeting Monday.
In neighboring Lee County, tourism numbers for 2019 are still being crunched. The statistics are expected to be finalized and released in February.
Wittine zeroed in on increases in visitation from the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, saying they were the most significant.
Those numbers rose:
- 6.8% from the Midwest to 295,673
- 4.5% from the Northeast to 360,832
The report reflects overnight stays at hotels and other vacation rentals.
Wittine pointed to other positives in the annual report. From 2018 to 2019 the county saw:
- A more than 27% increase in visitation from Canada to 47,090
- A more than 5% increase in visitation from Europe to 309,349
While the percentage increase from Canada seems large, Wittine pointed out it’s a much smaller market for Collier County, accounting for less than 2.5% of its total visitation. The growth from that market last year equates to roughly 10,000 additional visitors, which she said is still “certainly a good sign,” as it marks the reversal of a negative trend.
In 2018, the county saw fewer visitors from Canada and Europe than it did in 2017. At the time, analysts with Research Data Services attributed those declines to their weaker economies and a stronger U.S. dollar, as well as a fallout from red tide in Southwest Florida.
Red tide in Collier County wasn’t as severe in 2019 as it was in 2018, so it had little impact on visitation, said Jack Wert, the county’s tourism director, by phone.
“There just seems to be an overall demand for travel right now,” he said, “and we certainly are seeing it in Southwest Florida. All of Florida really is seeing that, but I think we are certainly exceeding even the average numbers for Florida.”
Wert attributed some of the growth to a new marketing campaign launched in the fall with a “vacation well” theme, centered around health and wellness activities and offerings.
In December, the bureau’s marketing agency launched a Chicago Winter Takeover promotion, which is reaching Chicagoans as they’re going about their day and making their cold commutes to work. The campaign includes everything from warming stations blowing out hot air and showing sun-drenched scenes at train platforms to branded coffee sleeves served with cups of hot Joe at local coffee shops that showcase the Paradise Coast.
Occupancy falls
Not every metric in the 2019 Collier County tourism report was positive. Overall, occupancy fell 0.7% over the year to 74.7% in the county.
Wittine attributed the occupancy drop to having more rooms. According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the county’s inventory of rooms has grown by 533, or 5.3%, since December 2018, driven mostly by the opening of new hotels.
“You guys have had more product to sell,” Wittine said.
While occupancy fell in 2019, it didn’t take as big of a hit as it did in 2018, when the national economy showed signs of slowing and the negative publicity surrounding red tide lingered through the end of the year.
Collier County finished 2019 strong, with a busy December.
Here’s what the county saw in the final month of last year, when compared to a year ago:
- A 6% rise in visitor numbers to 181,000
- An 8.4% increase in room nights booked to 221,000
- A 10.6% spike in total spending to more than $244 million
- A 2.9% increase in occupancy to 76.9%
- A 1.4% rise in average daily rate to $256.60
- Cold weather hit the north sooner in 2019 than it did in 2018, which helped drive more visitation in the final months of last year, from other parts of the United States, as well as from Canada, Wert said.
As for Europeans, he said, they don’t seem to be as concerned about exchange rates anymore.
“The Germans certainly seem to want to travel,” Wert said. “We’ve heard that from our tour operators.”
Tour operators in Belgium and Austria are reporting the same kind of strong demand, which bodes well for Southwest Florida and its international airport, he said.
“The direct flights certainly help but there is a lot of connecting service as well that brings that European visitor to the area,” Wert said.
Another positive when it comes to international visitors? Brexit — Britain’s proposed split from the European Union — doesn’t seem to be having much of an impact on British travel these days, as its residents have grown weary of waiting for something to happen and shrugging it off saying, “I’m taking my holiday,” Wert said.
“The future could change that, when they finally figure out what Brexit is all about, but so far it’s just speculation,” he said.
With more meeting space available, including the addition of first-class space at the JW Marriott Marco Island, Collier County saw strength in its groups and meetings business in 2019, while also attracting more leisure — or vacation — travelers.
While happy with the positive tourism report, council member Clark Hill, general manager at Hilton Naples, expressed a few concerns, including the statistic showing the average age of visitors to Collier County is roughly 50.
“At some point, the 50-year-olds aren’t going to be as plentiful as are the millennials,” he said, suggesting a need for the tourism bureau to continue looking for ways to attract younger generations.
Wert agreed.
“The millennials are getting older too,” he pointed out.
Looking ahead, Wert said he expects to see a strong finish to the busy season, which traditionally runs from November to April.
In the most recent survey, nearly 62% of Collier’s lodging managers said their reservations for January through March were up from a year ago, with 11.2% saying they were down — compared to 24.9% saying so a year ago.
“I think we’re in for a good couple of months here,” Wert said.
By the numbers
Here’s a look at visitor numbers in Collier County by market for 2019, compared to 2018.
- Florida — 686,680, +4.1%
- Southeast — 126,193, +5.4%
- Northeast — 360,832, +4.5%
- Midwest — 295,673, +6.8%
- Canada — 47,090, +27.4%
- Europe — 309,349, +5.3%
- Other — 102,783, +12.8%
- Total: 1,928,600, +5.8%
Source: Research Data Services
The results are in.
Naples is the No. 1 beach town to live in.
That’s according to a study by WalletHub, a personal-finance website.
To determine the most livable beachside communities for 2019, WalletHub compared 192 cities across 62 key metrics for “livability.”
The study was divided into two categories, lake beach towns and ocean beach towns (Naples fell into the second category, though it’s bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, not an ocean).
The data used for the study included everything from housing costs to water quality.
Here’s how Naples ranked on some of the metrics, with a 1 equating to best and a 73 representing average:
- 46th – for the median household income (adjusted for cost of living)
- 19th – for the median annual property taxes
- 34th – for the percentage of for-sale waterfront homes
- 7th – for the water temperature
- 17th – for the violent crime rate
- 65th – for the foreclosure rate
- 1st – for the nightlife establishments per capita
- 44th – for the quality of beach water
Nearby Marco Island ranked 47th on the list of best beach towns to live in. Meanwhile, Bonita Springs landed at 66th.
The top 10 included several other waterfront communities in Florida: Boca Raton (5th), Sarasota (6th) and Venice (10th).
Originally published in the Naples News.com
Naples has been named the best place to retire in the nation.
The city is one of 10 that Livability.com has named as “Best Places to Retire in 2018.”
Data scientists with Livability.com examined nearly 2,300 cities across the country and factored in more than 20 data points, including safety, affordability, property tax, natural disaster risk, and nursing home accessibility and quality.
“Naples has the beautiful beaches that many retirees dream about, but it’s so much more than a beach town,” said Winona Dimeo-Ediger, managing editor at Livability.com.
Naples scored high in community engagement, outdoor recreation and percentage of residents over 65, according to the report.
“It’s a place that makes it easy to get involved and feel a strong sense of community, whether you’re a newcomer or you’ve lived there for years,” she said.
Naples has been recognized for the past three years as having the highest overall well-being in the U.S. and has ranked in the top 20 for best-performing cities in the nation.
A real estate research firm also named a Naples neighborhood as the “best neighborhood” in the United States earlier this year.
Originally published in the Naples Daily News.
