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<< Return to news releasesTop Awards & Accolades For the Paradise Coast
May 26, 2006
The Best of the "Best Of" Lists - Recent Top Awards and Accolades For The Paradise Coast From The Media, Beach Experts, Art Experts and More
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THE BEST OF THE BEST ON THE PARADISE COAST
Naples, Marco Island & the Everglades Win Top Recognitions
COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. (May 26, 2006) – Southwest Florida’s Paradise CoastSM continues to win recognition from a variety of travel journalists, beach experts, art critics and birding experts in numerous ‘Best Of’ categories and lists. Following is a list of accolades for Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades.
Stephen Leatherman, a noted coastal researcher from Florida International University known popularly as “Dr. Beach,” has included Collier County’s pristine Barefoot Beach in the top ten of his list of America’s Best Beaches for 2006. The beach, located at the northern edge of Collier County just above the city of Naples, features a wild upland preserve, a coastal estuary system open for canoe paddling and a wide expanse of white sand beach. Located “off the beaten path” at the end of a luxurious neighborhood, Barefoot Beach is a well-loved by both residents and visitors for its peace and quiet, natural beauty, excellent shelling and abundant wildlife.
Condé Nast Traveler magazine named Naples, Fla. in its February 2006 issue as one of the 20 Best Beaches in America. An article accompanying the ranking praises Naples for its beautiful downtown, sidewalk café dining and for effective and educational signage showing concern for local wildlife at area beaches. The article includes mentions of Naples Pier and Clam Pass Beach Park. Condé Nast Traveler, with a circulation of over 780,000, is one of the leading travel publications in the United States.
Florida’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission selected twelve locations in Collier County, Fla. for inclusion in the new Southern Section of the Great Florida Birding Trail. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary located just east of Naples was chosen as one of only nine statewide “gateway sites” for the birding trail due to its extensive services for visitors, which includes a 2.25 mile boardwalk through the largest remaining virgin cypress forest in North America, which is home to hundreds of species of resident and migrant bird species, including the endangered wood stork. The Great Florida Birding Trail sites in the Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades area are: Big Cypress National Preserve, Collier-Seminole State Park, The Conservancy Naples Nature Center, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, CREW Marsh Hiking Trails, Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park, Eagle Lakes Park, Everglades National Park Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Picayune Strand State Forest’s Sabal Palm Hiking Trail, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and Tigertail Beach.
Travelocity editors in 2005 named Barefoot Beach in north Naples as one of the Top Ten Less-Traveled Beaches for Final Summer Getaways and Beyond. Editors chose Barefoot Beach because of its natural, peaceful atmosphere and varied habitats, including mangrove estuary, tropical coastal hammock, sand dunes and natural, white sand beach. Barefoot Beach joins other natural, secluded beaches from around the world on this prestigious list, including Loblolly Bay Beach in the British Virgin Islands, Wa’Omoni Beach Park on Barbuda and Barking Sands Beach on Kauai, Hawaii.
The Travel Channel named Naples, Florida as America’s Best All-Around Beach for 2005. Naples was selected based on the fact that the destination provides something for everyone – from golf, shopping and dining to fantastic shelling around nearby Marco Island, family fun, and exciting natural adventure in the Everglades, as well as beautiful white sand beaches. Travel editors from Condé Nast Traveler magazine, USA Today and Fodor’s served as the 2005 Beach Week Expert Panel for the selection. Naples was prominently featured in the ‘America’s Best Beaches’ program that debuted March 6, 2005 on the Travel Channel.
Naples has also been dubbed the #1 Small Art Town in America by author John Villani in the fourth edition of The 100 Best Art Towns in America, distributed in March 2005 by publisher W.W. Norton. In choosing Naples as No. 1, Villani cited the area’s “amazing range of natural splendor,” along with its “sophisticated and serious art galleries,” its art fairs, community arts centers and theaters and the Philharmonic Center complex” that includes the Naples Museum of Art.
TravelSmart, the nation’s oldest consumer travel newsletter, has selected the Naples Museum of Art as one of the ten best museums in the state of Florida. The designation appears in the September 15, 2005 issue of the publication. www.travelsmartnewsletter.com
Florida Monthly named Ochopee resident Clyde Butcher as Best Florida Artist in its 10th Annual Best of Florida Awards, profiled in the September 2005 issue. This is the sixth time that Butcher has received the honor from Florida Monthly. Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery is located within the Big Cypress National Preserve halfway between Naples and Miami. He is famed for his striking, large format black & white photography of the Florida Everglades.
Yahoo! Travel users selected Naples as one of the top ten USA beaches in a 2003 poll commissioned by National Geographic Traveler magazine.
Birder’s World magazine placed two area locations on its list of Top 5 USA Birding Sites in 2003 – Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples and the Everglades.
The Paradise Coast of Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades uniquely combines beautiful beach resorts and natural wilderness perfect for outdoors exploration. To discover why the area is known as Florida’s Last ParadiseSM, visit www.paradisecoast.com or call 1-800-688-3600 to request a free visitors guide. The Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official tourism marketing agency for Collier County, Florida, funded entirely by the Collier County tourist development tax. ###
