© jim freeman 2012
water_kayak
Whether you’re feeling brave or want to take it slow, there are plenty of ways to enjoy our local waters. Pick your speed from a sampling of boat options outside your typical rentals.
Get more ideas for a good time in Southwest Florida in our Guide to Fun on the Water
Paddle boat (2-4 mph)
- Lovers Key State Park, Fort Myers Beach, loverskeyadventures.com
- Shell Factory & Nature Park, Fort Myers, shellfactory.com
- Sugden Regional Park, Naples, colliergov.net
- Lakes Regional Park, Fort Myers, wheelfunrentals.com
Primate cruise
- Naples Zoo, Naples, napleszoo.org
Replica Spanish galleon
- Salty Sam’s Pirate Cruise, Fort Myers Beach, floridapiratecruise.com
Water taxi
- Naples Bay Water Shuttle, Naples, naplesbaywatershuttle.com
- Pine Island Charters, Pine Island, pineislandcharters.com
- Tropic Star of Pine Island, Pine Island, tropicstaradventures.com
Ferry
- Captiva Cruises, Captiva Island, captivacruises.com
- Tropic Star of Pine Island, Pine Island, tropicstaradventures.com
Paddlewheeler (9 mph)
- J.C. Cruises, Fort Myers, jccruises.com
Eco cruise
- Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Naples, conservancy.org
- Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Naples, rookerybay.org
- Pure Fort Myers, Fort Myers, purefortmyers.com
- Pure Naples, Naples, purenaples.com
Banana boat
- All Island Watersports, Fort Myers Beach, theislandwatersports.com
- YOLO Watersports, Captiva, yolowatersports.com
Sailboat (1-16 mph)
- Captiva Cruises, Captiva Island, captivacruises.com
- Cool Beans Cruises, Marco Island, coolbeanscruises.com
- FantaSea Sailing, Fort Myers Beach, fantaseasailing.com
- Naples Community Sailing Center, Naples, ncscnaples.blogspot.com
- Offshore Sailing School, Captiva Island and Fort Myers Beach, offshoresailing.com
- Sweet Liberty, Naples, sweetliberty.com
- YOLO Watersports, Captiva Island, yolowatersports.com
Luxury yacht
- Fly Ride Charters, Naples, flyridecharters.com
- Image Yacht Charters, Fort Myers, imageyachtcharters.com
- Naples Nantucket Yacht Group, Naples, naplesnantucketyachtcharters.com
- Naples Princess Cruises, Naples, naplesprincesscruises.com
Jet Boat
- Jet Boat Fun, Fort Myers Beach, jetboatfun.com
- Pure Naples, Naples, purenaples.com
Airboat (35-40 mph)
- Billie Swamp Safari, Clewiston, billieswamp.com
- Captain Jack’s Airboat Tours, Everglades City and Ochopee, captainjacksairboattours.com
- Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours, Everglades City, captainmitchs.com
- Corey Billie’s Airboat Rides, Naples, cbairboatrides.com
- Everglades City Airboat Tours, Everglades City, evergladescity-airboattours.com
- Everglades Excursions, Naples and Marco Island, everglades-excursions.com
- Everglades Island Air Boat Tours/Totch’s Island Tours, Everglades City, airboateverglades.com
- Jungle Erv’s Airboat Tours, Everglades City, jungleervairboatworld.com
- Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours, Ochopee, wootenseverglades.com
Illustrations by Sean Duggan