Old Naples and Naples Beach During Christmas

Our little trip thru Tamiami Trail ended in Naples where we spent the rest of our Christmas vacation. We are checked in to the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club which is situated right near Old Naples on the beach. The weather was a little chilly but we had a great room with the ocean view. Naples beach is one of my favorite beaches. You can see dolphins anytime. Sunsets are incredible. People are very courteous and nice. So we were very happy with our hotel and our room.

We immediately left our luggage and decided to take a walk on the beach. Our hotel is right on the beach and the water sports center was right in front of us. They had water bicycles, towable tubes, kayaks, canoes,  pool floats, beach chaise lounges and beach umbrellas. Since it was a little chilly nobody was in the water. So we decided we will do the full beach next day. It was in the afternoon with about two hours to sunset. We walked north on the beach to a nearby park. We saw a snowman made out of sand. It was a little bit windy and chilly but with the sun we managed to keep our warmth. On the way back we decided to sit in front of our hotel and watch the sunset. As you can see in the pictures below the sunsets are amazing. People from all over the US and world come to Naples to watch this sunset. Our hotel had a bar that right on the beach where people gather to watch and drink. Every night right after the sun goes down people cheer and celebrate. We joined the fun.

Old Naples was very nicely decorated for Christmas. Streets were all lit up. Fifth Avenue had snowmans, Santa, reindeers and you name it. There was lots of people walking, enjoying the vacation and the this time of the year. We could tell not everybody was like us coming from Miami. Most people were from the north.

The next morning I took a long walk to the south of the beach towards Naples Pier. It was about 7 am in the morning. The water of Gulf of Mexico was like a mirror. It was flat with no waves or winds whatsoever. Sub tropical birds were enjoying a beautiful morning. Some early birds like me were shelling or jogging. I walked about 5 miles south and turned back. I was walking in the water and my feet were enjoying the cool waters of the gulf. But after so many miles my feet started hurting so I decided to turn back and walk to the hotel. I took pictures of some nice shells, birds, palm trees, beautiful luxury houses, parked catamaran, canoes and all the nice things Naples beach has to offer. I could see people sitting on their patio furniture enjoying the morning like I was doing. During my walk, every person I passed by said hello. This never happens in Miami. Naples is a much warmer town. Everybody greets each other in the morning. If we ever move to Naples I have to get used to this.