Naples Pier in Naples South West Florida

While visiting Naples in South west Florida my family decided to spend our last morning at the Naples Pier before heading home. It was a bit cloudy, but it was still a beautiful day in Naples.

The Naples pier was originally built in 1888 as a freight and passenger dock, but in 1922 a fire damaged the pier and the nearby post office. The pier has also been rebuilt after damage by hurricanes in 1910, 1926 and 1960.

If you are interested in fishing, the Naples pier is the perfect place to go try your luck. There is no fishing license required on the pier, as the city of Naples has a blanket license that covers anyone fishing off the pier. Do it the frugal way and bring your rod and fishing equipment from home, or buy everything you need at the pier. You can get rod and reel line, hooks, leaders, sinkers, floats and bait all for $19.

Now for $19 you better make sure to catch your dinner, if you want to keep your vacation frugal.

To keep your vacation frugal steer clear of the expensive vacation booth and bring your own snack.

After taking a walk on the pier, you can take a walk on the beach, play some volleyball, go for a swim or simply just sit down and enjoy the scenery and atmosphere.

The Naples pier is located at the west end of 12th Avenue South in Naples, Florida.

Naples Public Beach at Horizon Way

The city of Naples have an enormous amount of things and activities to do for visitors. As a frugal traveler I tend to steer away from all of the costly activities, and the beach is always a fantastic alternative. On our second day in Naples, I took my boys for a walk to find the nearest beach. After a walk through a beautiful Naples neighborhood, we found the Horizon Way public beach by Clam Pass in Naples.

To get to Horizon Way we walked to the end of Park Shore Drive, and at the end we turned left. It was about a 1.5 mile from the hotel,  and it was a very beautiful walk. The beach access could easily be missed, but it is located right by a huge waterfall sculpture.

Inn of Naples, Naples, South West Florida

Frugal traveling often demands some creativity, and in my search for an affordable hotel in Naples, I really had to think outside the box to get a great deal. I checked out priceline.com and hotwire.com, but I did not like the uncertainty of not knowing the hotel, the location or tripadvisor reviews before making my purchase.

The beach resorts were completely out of our price range, but I wanted a hotel in walking distance to the beach, and I knew a heated pool would be an added bonus. After studying the reviews on Tripadvisor, I came to the conclusion that the Inn of Naples was the best place for my family. It was about 1 -1.5 miles from the beach, it was close to downtown naples, restaurants etc., it had a heated pool, and all of the reviews were great.

The price for the holiday weekend were $129 per night, which made the Inn of Naples out of our budget, but I decided to give their Suggest-A-Rate option a shot. I did some research, and I found an ad on Roomsaver.com, and I looked at other discounts. I finally emailed them my price, and less than an hour later they responded that they would accept my price.

We ended up getting a two night stay for the price of one, which I was very excited about, as it was only $2 more than the price for a night at the campground.

While all the reviews I had found were great, I was still a bit nervous as to what we would find, but the hotel surpassed my expectations.

Naples, South West Florida

My family just returned from a new years get-a-way to Naples in South West Florida. It was a spur-of-the moment trip, but we still managed to keep our vacation very frugal.

This was our first vacation to Florida's west coast, but it definitely will not be our last. While the prices were rather high, we managed to find something in our price category without compromising on our desired level of luxury or location.

Naples was our choice because we needed to get away, but we still needed to be close to home, in case my husband had to go back for an emergency at work.

We started our frugal luxury vacation by bringing our own lunch for the first day. Relieved to get away from the city, we enjoyed our lunch at a rest area along I-75. Eating lunch in the middle of the Everglades was our first vacation experience, and the view was priceless.

I can definitely recommend stepping out of the car on any of the rest areas along I-75. Take a deep breath and just enjoy the serenity of watching nature extend itself as far away as the eye can see.

While an air boat ride is great, it can also be very expensive, but it is not the only way to experience a little of what the Everglades have to offer.

As you get closer to Naples, make sure to have the kids glued to the windows scouting for gators.