The busiest time of the year on Marco Island
May 30, 2018 | Paddle Marco
The busy months
The busy season on Marco Island and Naples, Florida.
If you have ever planned a vacation to southwest Florida, you probably planned it when you and your family had some time off. Most american families get Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter off. Those just happen to be the 3 busiest holidays and weeks of the year on Marco Island and Naples, Florida.
Eco-tour operators, hotels, restaurants and local businesses all rely on “Season” which typically runs from Thanksgiving through Easter on Marco Island and peaks during the middle of March. The population of Marco Island is around 15,000 full-time residents and that will almost quadruple to 55,000 people during March and April. …but why? There are 2 big reasons:
1) Spring Break:
Every elementary and high school up north have a different week that they have spring break vacation on. So eco-tour operators, restaurants, shops and businesses will be extremely busy for at least 6 weeks from the beginning of March through the middle of April. Easter also plays an important role as it’s on a different date every year, so that can also shorten up or lengthen the tail-end of busy season in April. Usually around April 23rd, all the spring breakers have headed north to go back to school and Marco Island returns to normal.
2) Snowbirds:
Usually when the first big snow storm hits up north, retirees or people that have a secondary home on Marco Island and Naples, will stay 4-5 months to here to avoid the harsh winters up north. November through April temperatures on Marco Island and Naples are very accommodating. Usually in the 70’s with low humidity and very little rain. You know season has begun when all the transport semi-trucks arrive with all the white Cadillacs on them.
The first slow month…. May.
After a very busy 5 months, business owners and residents can count on less traffic, less people and unfortunately… less profits during the month of May. May can be brutal for business owners and employees alike. You can walk into a restaurant without any reservations and get any table you want because they are mostly empty. Eco-tour companies cut staff and only work a few days per week, making sure to get as many people as they can on 1 boat ride, rather than have 2 people on 5 different boat rides with empty seats. It also rains a lot during may… and it’s unpredicable rain. Usually the rain hits in the afternoons, but during may it can be all day and every day.
There are some good things about the month of May, though. Hotels are able to drop their rates, attracting folks from Miami who enjoy the beaches of Marco Island and avoiding the hustle and bustle of the city. Europeans also find the rates attractive and are able to vacation here during the month of May. May can also be a good thing, giving local businesses time to relax and gear up for summer.
Summer is busy believe it or not!
If you survived May, then start gearing up for summer. School gets out in early June and vacationers start to return to southwest Florida. June, July and August are a solid 3 months for businesses to make up for May and have steady business without going crazy like they did in March and April. Temperatures are in the 90’s, humidity is 100% and it rains every afternoon around 2 or 3 PM. This does make for some great summertime sunsets on the beach!
The off-season.
After summer, school gets back into session and hurricane season is in full force. September and October are the 2 slowest months of the year for Marco Island. Some businesses just close their doors during the month of September and the island is a complete ghost town. This is a great time for business owners to take a vacation and an even better time for vacationers to visit the island to get an amazing deal and rates at their hotels.
Get ready, here comes season!
If you survived September and October… then get ready… November is around the corner and Thanksgiving will be here and the cycle starts all over again. Here’s a graph we drew up to show how busy and slow it gets on Marco Island and Naples.
Written by Glenn, Paddle Marco.