Old Naples

Old Naples southern limit starts at 14th Ave South. Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club on Gulf Shore Boulevard is at the northwestern corner of Old Naples . The neighborhood known as Old Naples Florida does not have a precise definition, but the Old Naples I am describing is all west of U.S. 41. At 5th Ave the highway bends east and heads over to Miami as the famous Tamiami Trail (Tampa to Miami). The short section of U.S. 41 that heads west before the bridge over the Gordon River, everything south of U.S. 41 and west of the Gordon River is Old Naples.

One of the original landmarks of Old Naples is Palm Cottage.  Built in 1895, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is near the Naples Pier. Naples zoning does not allow any condos on the ocean south of the hotel, so there are only single family homes on the beach all the way down to the southern limit of Old Naples and beyond to Gordon Pass and Keewaydin Island. Some of these homes are bigger than the entire building for many condominiums.

Old Naples is a charming combination of old beach cottages and mansions resting peacefully among hundreds of tall coconut palms and banyan trees. Some of the new mansions stand beside old houses dating back to the early 20th century.  Every avenue, from Golf Drive on the north to 14th Avenue on the south ends at the Gulf.  These avenues each have little city parks with benches and are favorite spots for locals to watch the sunset.

The neighborhoods south of that, Aqualane Shores and Port Royal, are beautiful upscale communities that were dredged up out of the mangroves in the 1950’s and are therefore not “old” by Old Naples standards.

Tin City, a restored fishing village, is a local shopping venue on Gordon River that is in Old Naples.

Some people also refer to “Olde Naples Florida” (notice the “e” added to old), and that is generally the area around the Naples Pier and Third Street South. I currently live within a 10 minute bike ride of Olde naples and really enjoy the access to great restaurants and the beach.