A Marco Island Vacation is an Ideal Family Travel Destination

This year’s summer family trip was a Marco Island vacation.  This island sits less than 2 hours west of Miami, just south of Naples. SeaWinds Marco Island View Traveling to Florida, with the exception of Disney, is slow season during the summer months.  Intense heat and possibility of hurricanes makes it not always ideal when traveling.  However, slow season does mean DISCOUNT PRICES!  Plus, a mere 2 hour drive makes Southwest Florida perfect for summer family travel!

Staying in a suite style hotel, which includes a kitchenette at the minimum, is ideal with a family.  The Marco Island coastline is filled with hotels, timeshares and condos most with kitchens and more.  The hotels are beautiful, including the popular Marco Island Marriot Beach Resort.  I’ll get into the amenities of that one later.

Marco Island condos and timeshares are the most popular with families.  Most rent for a 7-night minimum, which runs Saturday afternoon to Saturday morning.  Nearly all are oceanfront.  On this trip we selected a condo unit at Sea Winds.

Marco Island Vacation

The building was clean.  Units, as they are privately owned and maintained, vary in renovations, style and amenities.  Nearly all include necessary beach items like chairs, umbrellas, noodles and towels.  This is great, especially for the family traveling by plane and not wanting to haul this stuff and everything else in your suitcases!  The basic floor plans of the condos were adequate and could sleep at least 6, with the exception of the corner units that had more space and better layout.

The building had a small but big enough, pool.  The beach access was excellent with a condo issued key letting you right onto the beach.  Beautiful shells and white sand make this beach BEAUTIFUL.  The sunsets made every single penny spent on the rental worth it. We could easily got from sunrise to sunset on the beach. Barefoot in the sand, or in comfy flip flops, we spent hours taking it all in.

Marco Island Sunset

Due to turtle egg nesting, environmental concerns prevent beach goers from disturbing the nests and keeping condo lights off after 9 PM.  This is enforced.

With a full kitchen in each unit, we opted to cook most of our meals.  Both a Publix & a WinnDixie were nearby, and an AWESOME Super Walmart, which had everything imaginable, was 20 minutes down the road.  We traveled with 5 other rooms (cousins, aunts, my parents…) so we took turns cooking dinner.  On our night we made a big pot of arroz con pollo.  It was delicious and fun to have dinner with the entire family, especially since a number of the group had traveled from the Northeast for this vacation.

Our days were spent lounging at the beach, playing with the kids, building sandcastles, attempting to fly a kite and more.  The strong August sun made midday a bit unbearable for the youngest and the oldest in the group so a naptime was almost always a sure thing.

About 1 mile up the beach is the Marco Island Marriott. We stopped by there one night for drinks at Quinns Bar.  We also spent two mornings at their fabulous kids pool.  The pool included a kids only slide which my daughter and her cousins must of glided down 100 times!  The atmosphere of the Marriott’s pool was great for all of us, most importantly for the kids!

Marco Island Marriott

A quick getaway, ideally under 2 hours by car, is perfect for a Smart Family.  Being able to pack your car with everything you want, which is especially important with a newborn in tow. A Marco Island vacation makes a great family travel destination!

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9 thoughts on “A Marco Island Vacation is an Ideal Family Travel Destination

  1. Wow, it looks amazing there! I’ve been wanting to take a trip to a beachy and sunny place. This place looks perfect! Thanks for giving your thoughts on this location and hotel. I think I’ll consider this as I plan for next year!

  2. Hey I really loved the pictures and the place… The island is really wonderful and a great place for enjoyment. I really loved the island and the photographer for the snaps shared and with a good Idea.

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