Across Alligator Alley to Naples and the Gulf

The run from Miami to Naples is one of my favorite drives in Florida. You leave the towers of Brickell, and twenty minutes later you are on Alligator Alley, the arrow-straight stretch of I-75 that crosses the Everglades. It is about 106 miles door to door, right around two hours, and on a clear morning you will count herons, cypress stands, and yes, the occasional alligator sunning on the canal bank. My clients ride it with coffee in hand while I do the driving.

There is no train between the coasts, no meaningful flight, and the bus makes a long day of it. That leaves driving, and driving is what I do. Golfers heading to a member-guest in Naples, families splitting a vacation between Miami Beach and Marco Island, seasonal residents repositioning for the winter, wedding guests bound for a Gulf-front ceremony: one car, one fixed fare from $129, no connections and no luggage limits beyond what the vehicle holds, which in the Business SUV is a lot.

I cover the whole Paradise Coast and beyond: Naples and Olde Naples, Marco Island across the Jolley Bridge, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers and RSW airport, about 140 miles and two hours twenty from Miami. Cross-coast airport transfers are common too, landing at MIA and heading straight to a Gulf beach house is a very solvable problem.

Two practical notes from a man who has crossed the Alley a thousand times. First, there are almost no services for seventy miles, so we top up on coffee and fuel before the tollbooth, and I carry water regardless. Second, summer afternoons bring thunderstorms across the Everglades; when the radar looks dramatic I plan the departure around it. You just tell me when you need to be there.