Lover’s Key State Recreation Area

Park is very nice with well developed beach and free tram from the parking lot. Wish the concessions offered hourly rates on the kayaks though

The parking was packed out all the way to the third lot before noon on a Saturday off season, but the first time I tried to go early April the line wound out all the way to the road. I did pick up a season pass (as a Naples newbie) for $ 50 which is a bargain.
Park and schlep your stuff about ¼ mile to tram stop and then shuttle in to the big, broad sandy beach. Which was great and spacious until about 1:30 p. m – and then the pierced, selfie-​snapping, boom box busting, tattooed hordes descended, slamming brewskies, spouting profanity and blowing smoke. Ew. Left.
Bought a pass to Collier County parks next weekend. I won’t be back.

I went to the lovers key state park to paddle boarding with a friend. This was just excellent. We saw a manatee, birds and turtle. This is not crowded and the amenities are great! Overall a great impression and I will come back!!!

One of my favorite beaches to come to when I am in town. I saw Lover’s Key on the Travel Channel’s Top 10 beaches of SW Florida. I have a lot of memories here. You pay $ 8 per car and take a tram out to the beach. It is .5 mile ride. It is suppose to run every 15 minutes. Once you get to the beach, it is miles and miles of beautiful beach. It can be crowded but still relaxing. They have bathrooms on the beach. The tram can get very crowded and become a shit show around 2pm when people have had enough sun. Chairs, coolers, etc can go in the back of the pickup truck pulling the tram. The water is warm and can have waves at times.

A wonderful place to enjoy the beach. They have canoeing and kayaking for reasonable prices. They have some restrooms on the beach as well as the main entrance. There is a tram to take you to and from the parking lot. The beach is a little rocky from all of the large, crushed shell pieces.
There is a shop at the entrance that sells beach supplies and water devices. There is a beach café too, but the choices are limited to American generics, like hotdogs and hamburgers.
Overall, a nice water front beach park.

Absolutely stunning beach! Great for shore fishing and swimming! The sand on the beach is in great condition! The trolly ride to the beach is truly magical! The views of the surrounding bay and ocean are breathtaking. This beach holds a magical feeling.

We were looking for a relaxing afternoon on the beach and were very pleased to find this gem, well worth the $ 8 parking fee. The park was clean and well maintained and the beach lightly populated, with just enough patrons to keep it interesting without any danger of overcrowding. Be aware that a state park is in a more natural state than commercially groomed seaside attractions; the beaches were crowded with shells, which were interesting and pretty, but at times hard on the feet. Also, it is located between two popular beaches. If you leave when everyone else leaves, be prepared for a SLOW drive off the islands.

This is an amazing place to visit. There are several different places to enter the park. We put the kayaks in the water inside the park. There is a 2 ½ mile trail up and a 2 ½ mile trail back. It was wonderful. During the right time of the year, Manatees come in to this location.
We had a wonderful time kayaking in the preserve. The kayaking trail is well marked with the distance each .25 of a mile. It goes for 2 ½ miles and then you turn around and head back for 2 ½ miles. It’s an easy launch for kayaks. Very nice area for sure.

There are two excellent things about this state park: 1) Beautiful beach & 2) Awesome hiking trails
The beach: It’s much more secluded than Fort Myers Beach, which can be a nice escape. The water is still murkier in this area, but it’s still more beautiful relative to Fort Myers Beach. If you’re looking was beautiful beaches like the Caribbean or Hawaii, then you’ll be disappointed. We hiked from the North Gate along the beach all the way down to the pavilion, which was about 2 miles and we saw 2 other people until we got to the beach. Plus we found some great seashells!
Black Island Trail: this is a 2.6 mile round trip trail that loops its way around peninsulas and narrow bays of water. We saw multiple birds (egrets, blue herons, pelicans, esprey), squirrels, armadillos, two dolphins and two manatees while on the hike. The manatees were spotted about 10 feet away from us, munching on some mangroves! It also passes by an alligator pond, but unfortunately it was flooded while we were there. It a short little hike, but if you’re lucky you’ll be surrounded by some great wildlife!
You can park for free at the North Gate and walk south to the trails and beaches. There is a $ 2 donation/​person box as you walk in from the north. If you park within the entrance to the state park, which is further south, it is $ 8/​car.

My review will be about the 4 hour tandem kayaking experience since that’s the only thing I did, haha.
First, entry to the park is $ 8 if you’re in a car and it’s $ 2 walking. If you REALLY don’t want to pay the extra $ 6 there’s a trolley that will take you there but the trolley costs money (I think $ 2 one way so in reality you’re paying $ 8 in the end); and you’d have to walk a little to the rental shop so just take the car. Unless you have a bike, but I digress.
The rental shop is nice and the service is really friendly. Four hours tandem kayak costs $ 56 (not per person) and although that seems like a lot, places usually charge $ 20 for one hour so I’ll let you think that through. They ask for your drivers license and hold onto that till you get it back so make sure to bring ID. After you pay you’re given the paddles, life vest, and back rest. Then you have to walk (or drive) a little way to get the actual kayak.
There are no employees at the «launch site» so you have to grab your kayak and assemble the back rest yourself. It’s not hard and it took us no more than 10 mins to grab the kayak, assemble the back rest, walk 5 feet to the water, get in, and go.
The water was calm and easy to maneuver in. You’re going through a mangrove «river.» The entire thing is 2.5 miles long and it’s not a loop so you’re really kayaking 5 miles (of course you can turn around whenever you want. The place was beautiful). Four hours is more than enough time to really enjoy everything. We spent at least one hour or so being completely still and watching the wildlife. There was never a need to rush at all. We went slow and there was about 20 mins to spare when we got back.
We saw A LOT of fish jumping, sting rays, dolphins, and my personal favorite… Manatees! How often do you see manatees? Dolphins come and go they’re always on the move, still very exciting to see, but with manatees you can sort of get near them and they stay up for a while. They came up next to our kayak and were literally in arms reach! We saw a baby and it’s momma and a few others munching at the mangroves.
There’s too much to say about the kayaking experience so I’ll just leave it at that.
TL;DL Definitely worth it! We saw lots of wildlife including dolphins and manatees. It might seem a little pricey but it’s actually a great deal. Great way to kill 4 hours.

Loved, loved, loved this park and beach! We drove up and saw manatees before even going in. We tried the hike but it was a bit wet and buggy but it had been raining more than usual. We went down to the beach and enjoyed every minute of it. It was beautiful. Take the time to walk down to the trees as well and see how beautiful they are. There is one with shells and locks on it that just has to be experienced. Beautiful park.

This is a wonderful state park. Tons of activities — kayaking, swimming, paddleboarding, etc. Parking costs $ 8 per car, which might seem pricey but is absolutely worth it. There is a shuttle which can carry you and all of your gear to «South Beach,» or you can walk across the boardwalk to the beach. I have been many times, but the most recent time I was at Lover’s Key I saw manatees and dolphins from the beach. During season it is mobbed here, but off-​season is perfect. They have umbrella and lounge chair rentals at the beach, as well as food. By the parking area they have food as well as bike rentals. How to compare this to FM Beach — fewer college students and more families/​old people. Much quieter, the water is bluer and the sand is cleaner. Gorgeous.

Wow such picky Unilocalers! Why anyone would rate this pristine beach and recreation area anything but 5 stars is beyond me! One person even complained that there weren’t enough waves! This beach is open to the Gulf of Mexico for goodness sakes! Come back on a stormy, windy day! Others give it 3 or 4 stars with nary a mention of anything negative.

An excellent state park. We took advantage of the five mile paddle trail, with about another 1 mile diversion out into Estero Bay. Both were very nice with lots of wild life.
We then hung out on the beach for while. Again it is a very nice and relatively quiet beach. Lots of interesting dead tree formations.
The waves are very light, but that pretty much the norm on the Gulf Coast side of the state.

Speedo Time !!! I LOVE this Beautiful Key Park !
I have visited this place three times since I was and Old Teenager… After that Big Hurricane Rita (I think) in January 2005… Sand was where sand was not before and where there was Beach, Beach was gone! Trees were uprooted I climbed some of the Roots (about Twelve Feet High)!
Dolphins begging you to «Come Play» and signs for Gators begging you to join them for Lunch… Alligators are Efficient, great at conserving energy and can move incredibly Fast when they choose! I have Never seen a Reptile here, though I have seen Numerous Dolphins VERY Close to shore (less than 10 feet from dry land)!
Seems the dolphins are here more in the Winter!

Always a nice place to relax. Beach is always clean and never gets too overcrowded. We always try to get there early and ride our bikes down the beach and away from most of the crowds. Great beach for shelling.
They have a snack bar but we always pack a lunch and snacks.

Florida State’s Lover’s Key is a well maintained preserve located right between some of the most populous beaches in southwest Florida. Although narrow by comparison to the broad stretches of Ft Myers Beach, or even to the Naples’ beaches, Lover’s Key is closer to Nature’s blueprint than the others. There are more shells on the beach, and the dunes have plants that are desirable for avoiding erosion and for providing habitat. A funky hot dog hut called Hurricane Charley’s is on the south end. Also there is a good sized, elevated gazebo to provide shade and picnic tables for those who want to come but can’t tolerate as much sun as their family on the sand just a few feet away. A truck with a cow trailer converted to a passenger transport will carry visitors and their beach gear the short quarter mile to the beach from the parking area. Bike, Kayak, canoe, and fishing gear are available to rent, though don’t expect bargains. Their rates are comparable to commercial providers just outside the gates. Several hiking trails, that are hospitable to bikes too, are on the north end. Uniformed State employees hand out maps as they take entrance fees. They also provide periodic nature talks; a schedule is prominently posted.

Offered a half day of fun. We rented a canoe for 4 people that was a little tipsy but it was a good time. Saw some huge birds and some cool fish.
Really wanted to see a manatee cuz they look so damn fat and cute in pictures but unfortunately they were hiding or something.
Liked it a lot.

Absolutely a must see — over and over again! On our first visit, we went to the beach. It’s absolutely breathtaking. The water is clear and the sand is white with lots of beautiful shells.
There is a shuttle that takes you down to the beach but on our second visit we realized it’s only a thousand steps to the beach (really nice walk over a bridge and such).
One of the things I love the most is that they have really great restrooms for public beaches. They are alway really clean.
Another favorite part of Lover’s Key is the estuaries. We go paddle boarding there. It’s always an adventure. The first time, we saw six manatees. There is nothing cooler than boarding over the top of three manatees in a row OR looking back to see a curious one following behind your board. You honestly never know what you will see. On our last visit, we had a dolphin follow us around for hours, playing in the water– going under our boards and doing the seaweed game. SO COOL!
However you see Lover’s Key– see it! It’s simply beautiful. If you can see it via paddle board (SUP) you’ll be even more amazed. The fish and birds are crazy back in the places you can only get to via paddle board.
Very magical place.

I came here on a Saturday morning to check out the hiking trails. I didn’t see the main beach, the side entrance I used on the north end of the park was only two dollars. It doesn’t have direct access to the main beach.
I had hoped to see some wildlife and the trails didn’t disappoint; I spied a pair of Osprey, a Gopher Tortoise, Bald Eagle, and a very cool Orb Spider. A few people there said there are matinees and dolphins but I didn’t see any. No big deal b/​c I’ll definitely be back for some more trails and waterways.
I’m new to the area but this park seems like a cheaper alternative to the beaches on Fort Myers Beach just up the road.