By: Danny Berger
 
As many of you may know, Lee and Collier county beaches can unfortunately be affected by red tide. Red tide in southwest Florida is a naturally occurring phenomenon that can last anywhere from a few days to well over a year, and thankfully the beaches have started to look pretty good again for the last month and a half. This past summer was particularly bad for red tide, which led to a little bit of hysteria and false information about red tide at our beaches. With that being said, I wanted to help set the record straight about red tide in southwest Florida and provide a bunch of reliable red tide resources all in one place for people to see. For starters, check out Collier County Pollution Control’s red tide facts and myths video/PowerPoint, it has a ton of really useful (and scientifically backed) information about red tide.

​Also, check out the compiled list below for more information regarding red tide in southwest Florida:

• Collier County Red Tide Status
• Lee County Current Beach Conditions and Beach Cams
• FWC Red Tide Current Status
• FWC Red Tide Current Status Map
• FWC Red Tide FAQ’s
• Collier County Red Tide Hotline: 239-252-2502

 By: Danny Berger

UPDATE: Collier county visitor beach parking permits are no longer available to non-county residents as of fall 2017 ☹. Read more about it here and here. However, much of the information, such as locations, phone numbers, and addresses are still accurate, so we have decided to leave the original blog post as is.

Several months after moving from Lee County to Collier County, I was looking at some reviews on Google for some Collier County beaches that I had never been to, when I stumbled across an interesting comment made by another user. The user had casually mentioned that you could park at that particular beach for free if you had a Collier County beach parking permit. This naturally caught my attention because I despise paying for parking at the beach, especially since my wife and I go quite often. At first, I had thought that maybe this was some kind of joke, and I really didn’t believe what they said was true, but thankfully acquiring a Collier County beach parking permit is a real thing and is easy to do!
 
It doesn’t matter if you’re a property owner, vacationer, or snowbird, no one is left out when it comes to acquiring a beach parking permit. However, beach parking permits are free to residents because they are included in Collier County residential property taxes. If you’re not a property owner or are just visiting, no worries, annual permits can be purchased for $50 (which makes sense to look into if you plan on visiting the beach at least six times since public beach parking is $8). See the guidelines and locations from the Collier County website listed below to see where and how to pick up your beach parking permit.

Residents Beach Parking Permits
Residents pay for beach permits in their property taxes and may pick up a beach sticker at any community center at a Collier County Park.

Residents are required to provide documentation proving their residency. Read the below list.

• Without a beach permit, individuals must pay an $8 parking fee at any of Collier County's beach parking facilities including the Vanderbilt Beach Garage

Full time Residents must provide the following to obtain a parking permit:

• Original current Collier County Vehicle Registration (copies not accepted)
• Original current Collier County Drivers License (copies not accepted)
• Both documents must display the same name and Collier County residence address

Part time Resident Property Owners must provide the following to obtain a parking sticker:

• Original current Vehicle Registration or rental car agreement (copies not accepted)
• Original current Drivers License (regardless of state) (copies not accepted)
• Current Collier County Tax Statement or deed
• All 3 documents must display the property owner's name

Mobile Home Owners please note:

• Mobile Home Owners must own the land the home is on if they are a part time resident in order to qualify for the property tax paid beach permit with no payment required at the time of pickup - otherwise you will need to purchase a $50 annual beach permit for visitors
• Taxes paid on land do not qualify the payer as an 'property owner', even if they own the mobile home the land rests on.
• Full time residents living in mobile homes may obtain a beach parking permit.

Take your documentation to:

• Eagle Lakes Community Park - 11565 Tamiami Trail East, Naples (252-3527)
• East Naples Community Park - 3500 Thomasson Drive, Naples (793-4414)
• Freedom Park - 1515 Golden Gate Parkway, Naples (252-4062)
• Golden Gate Community Center - 4701 Golden Gate Parkway, Naples (252-4180)
• Immokalee Community Park - 321 N. First Street, Immokalee (252-4449)
• Max A. Hasse Jr. Community Park - 3390 Golden Gate Boulevard West, Naples (252-4200)
• Veterans Community Park - 1895 Veterans Park Drive, Naples (252-4682)
• Vineyards Community Park - 6231 Arbor Boulevard West, Naples (252-4108)
• Naples Regional Library - 650 Central Avenue, Naples (262-4130)
• North Collier Regional Park - 15000 Livingston Road, Naples (252-4024)
• North Collier Government Services Center - 2335 Orange Blossom Drive, Naples (252-4440)
• Collier County Government Complex - Tax Collector - 3291 Tamiami Trail East, Naples (252-8172)
• Marco Island Library - 210 South Heathwood Drive, Marco Island (394-3272)