Marco Island's First Round-the-Island Paddle Has No Public Course Map. Collier County Has Already Mapped the Water in Pieces.

At 7:30 on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 21, a line of stand-up boards, outrigger canoes and surfskis will push off the beach in front of the JW Marriott at 400 S. Collier Blvd. Some time later they will land on that same stretch of sand. In between, they will have paddled 22 miles around Marco Island, around Goodland and through Caxambas, according to Coastal Breeze News.

The event is called Conquer the Rock, and this is its first year. Its organizers call it "a rare full circumnavigation of Marco Island." The full loop is rare as a single event. The water itself is not. Every stretch of a lap around the island already shows up in Collier County's published paddling trail segments, and each segment starts at a public launch you can reach from your own driveway.

What Happens on the Beach Before 9 a.m.

The registration page lays out a tight morning.

1. 7 a.m. Racer meeting
2. 7:30 a.m. The 22-mile paddle starts
3. 8:30 a.m. The five-mile all-craft sprint starts
4. 9 a.m. The two-mile beach walk and cleanup begins

The 22-mile solo entry, the 22-mile SUP relay and the five-mile entry are each listed at $99, and every paddler also commits to raising at least $250. An earlier Coastal Breeze story gave the fee as $100, so check the registration page for the current price. Registration for the 22-mile paddle closes Monday, Nov. 16, and there is no same-day sign-up.

The official event page lists these race divisions: SUP, prone, OC-1, OC-2, OC-6, surfski and kayak. Coastal Breeze's list of seven competitive classes leaves out kayak. It splits SUP into men's and women's unlimited and adds two-person and four-person relay options. A kayaker planning to enter should confirm the division with the organizers.

The event raises money for Piper's Angels Foundation, which supports people with cystic fibrosis and their families. The Marco race grew out of the Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis. That paddle started with four people crossing 82 miles from Bimini to West Palm and now runs every year.

The Route Is Described but Not Mapped

Coastal Breeze reported in late spring that the route had been mapped. As of early October, no route map, GPS track or direction of travel appears on the event pages, and the five-mile sprint course isn't described anywhere public. The official page describes what the 22 miles pass through, "from serene mangrove tunnels and natural backwaters to man-made canals and stunning Gulf beaches."

That description leaves out the passes and bays. Anyone who has run a boat out of Caxambas or Goodland can sketch a rough version of the loop from it, and the county has already drawn most of it in sections.

Collier County Already Charted the Pieces

Collier County's Paradise Coast Blueway is the county's designated saltwater paddling trail. Its guide includes these segments on and around Marco:

The Blueway map names the waypoints a Marco boater already knows: Big Marco Pass, Big Marco River, Caxambas Pass, Coon Key Pass and Johnson Bay. The South Beach–Tigertail segment covers the Gulf-front sand where Conquer the Rock starts and finishes. Across the tidal bay from Tigertail sits Sand Dollar Island.

The state's own route through these waters gives a sense of the inside passage. Florida DEP's Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail describes a protected alternative through Johnson Bay. It passes under the SR 951 bridge and follows the Big Marco River to Goodland, then turns south into Gullivan Bay and east toward Whitehorse Key.

For a hard day out of Goodland, the Florida Paddling Trails Association's Coon Key Pass Loop runs south down Coon Key Pass, past Tripod Key and Brush Island, and then north to Palm Bay. The association rates it advanced, at 10.8 miles and roughly five to six hours. That pace works out to about two miles an hour on half the race distance. It shows how much water the 22-mile entrants will cover in a single morning.

Where Each Piece Starts

Each of these county launches puts you on one stretch of the loop:

• Caxambas Park, 909 Collier Court. A boat ramp with access toward the northern Ten Thousand Islands or the Gulf. This is the starting point for the Helen Key and Caxambas Bay loops.
• Goodland Boating Park, 740 Palm Point Drive. A two-lane ramp on Goodland Bay. The Blueway guide lists the address as 750 Palm Point, while the county's park page uses 740.
• Margood Harbor Park, 321 Pear Tree Avenue, Goodland. A canoe and kayak launch.
• Isles of Capri Paddlecraft Park, 1295 Capri Boulevard. The county facility built only for launching non-motorized craft, with access to McIlvane Bay.
• Collier Boulevard Boating Park, 3620 Collier Boulevard. Two ramps just north of the Marco Island bridge.

Tigertail Beach at 480 Hernando Drive is a public beach with boardwalks. The county's sources don't list it as a formal paddlecraft launch.

The Speed Zones Stay the Same on Race Day

No event-specific boater notice, channel closure or no-wake advisory for Nov. 21 has been published. Coastal Breeze reports that volunteers and water patrol will be out that morning and lists Sea Tow Marco as a sponsor. It doesn't say who will run the patrol boats.

The rules that will apply are the ones that apply every Saturday. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Collier County manatee zone map marks these waters as follows:

• Goodland Bay and Coon Key Pass are slow speed all year.
• Collier Bay and the connected waters north of SR 92 are idle speed all year.
• Caxambas Bay and the waters south of SR 92 are 20 mph all year.
• Caxambas Pass and Caxambas Bay west of marker 3 are slow speed all year, with exceptions for marked channels shown on the map.

Every one of those zones is labeled "All Year," so none of them changes for November. The map's state-zone configuration is marked accurate as of January 2021, and FWC tells boaters to follow the regulations posted on the water. A captain running out of Caxambas or Goodland that Saturday morning will be sharing those zones with racers moving at paddling speed.

Joining In Without a Board

The two-mile beach walk is open to the public. It is hosted by the JW Marriott and sponsored by 4Ocean, which will run a beach cleanup during the walk. Entry is free. Walkers are encouraged to raise $250 for Piper's Angels. The two sources give different deadlines. Event director Josh Ferris told Coastal Breeze that walk fundraising stays open until Friday, Jan. 1. The registration page says every attendee, beach walkers included, needs to reach the $250 by Dec. 1, 2026, or cover the difference. Before planning around the later date, check with the organizers.

After the morning events, everything moves to Veterans Community Park, which the organizers have rented in full. Rock Republic headlines, with five food trucks, refreshments from Carvelli Restaurant Group and several vendor tents. Tickets cost $20 in advance, on the day or at the gate, and all ticket money goes to Piper's Angels. Buying food or drinks, or getting into the main pit, takes the wristband that comes with a ticket. Event merchandise has been for sale at Jet Set.

The sponsor list shows how many island businesses are backing the first year. Marco Rock, Lusso Builders, Popoff Pools and Paradise Design-Build are $5,000 Island Sponsors. Rose Marina is the $2,500 Inlet Sponsor. Sea Tow Marco, Total Home Services and Sunshine Ace Hardware are $1,000 Beach Sponsors, and FCI Homes is among the $500 Bald Eagle Sponsors. Coastal Breeze reports that the organizers have more verbal commitments, and businesses that want to sponsor can contact Ferris directly.

Once the race is done, the Caxambas Bay Loop is still 4.3 miles from the ramp at 909 Collier Court, and any weekend you can paddle it.

Rose Marina is the Inlet Sponsor this year, and our dock looks out on the waters these paddlers will cover. The Sprigg Group works from that dock every day, helping boaters find homes, condos and slips where the launch is a short walk away. Create Your Paradise. Start your waterfront search with us.