The trip to the Gulf at Tigertail Beach starts on the wrong side of the water. You park, unload the chairs and cooler, and then face the lagoon. One option is to wade across without knowing where your feet will land. The other is the long walk around it, across the broad, flat beachfront near the South Seas Towers. That walk is one of the biggest obstacles for visitors, as the new concessionaire put it to Coastal Breeze News.
On Oct. 13, Collier County commissioners awarded the Tigertail Beach Park concession to Matt's Beach Shack, LLC. On the south end of the island, the ship store at Caxambas has been dark since September 2025, and the county says it is in final negotiations with a vendor. Both are Marco Island's county-run counters on the water, both have struggled to keep operators, and both are now being refilled in the same season.
A Kayak Across the Lagoon
Matt Loebs owns Matt's Beach Shack. He grew up in Southwest Florida, served in the U.S. Army, and has been visiting Tigertail since the 1980s. His main idea for the park deals with the lagoon walk directly. He told Coastal Breeze News he wants to carry visitors across the lagoon by kayak, taking them and their heavy gear from the parking lot to the beach. "I think that's probably gonna be one of the best services that we're gonna add out here," Loebs said.
The ferry tells you how he sees the park's problem. Tigertail's trouble has been getting people from the car to the sand. Loebs also plans environmentally sustainable packaging because the area is sensitive. He hasn't said yet what food will be on offer, but he said beer and wine are likely to come back.
His Lovers Key operation gives a sense of what a Matt's Beach Shack counter looks like. The company's Lovers Key page lists hours of 8 a.m. to sunset, along with kayak rentals, fishing equipment, beach chairs, umbrellas and beach setups. Florida State Parks also lists paddleboard rentals from the company at Lovers Key.
Six Years Without a Long-Term Vendor
The kayak ferry makes more sense once you look at Tigertail's recent history. The stand has changed hands several times, and none of the recent operators stayed long:
- Through 2020: Tony Smith ran the Tigertail concession for 32 years before leaving in 2020.
- 2021: Commissioners approved a new contract with SSG Recreation, as the Marco Eagle reported in March 2021.
- After Hurricane Ian: Nicky P's, the food operation under that contract, ran for a short time and closed after the storm.
- Oct. 13, 2026: The county awarded the concession to Matt's Beach Shack, the first business to operate there since Nicky P's closed.
Location explains part of this. In an August interview with Coastal Breeze News, District One Commissioner Rick LoCastro said Tigertail has some of the lowest attendance of any county park. He said that has kept several food trucks from staying long-term. Tigertail "is enjoyed by many," he said, but its numbers "have never been exponential compared to much larger beaches which have more beach and easier Gulf accessibility."
"Easier Gulf accessibility" is the same problem the kayak ferry is meant to solve. If crossing the lagoon gets easier, the concession gets more customers.
The Plan Leans on Events
A ferry gets people to the beach. Giving them a reason to come back is the second half of the plan. Loebs described the concession stand as the heart of the park and pointed out that it sits next to both the playground and the lagoon. Here are the event ideas he shared with Coastal Breeze News:
- Running clubs
- Parent nights at the playground, with separate evenings for moms and dads
- Wildlife sightseeing contests with free ice cream as the prize
- A farmers market
- A seasonal movie night shown on a floating screen in the lagoon
"That's the soul of the business: to bring back local staples from when we grew up here as kids," Loebs said.
At the end of October, Loebs told Coastal Breeze there was no firm opening date because the concessions and the ferry service still needed permits. He also said he plans a meet-and-greet to hear what neighbors want from Tigertail. On Nov. 5, the Marco Eagle passed along LoCastro's newsletter, which said Loebs plans to reopen as quickly as possible and before full season begins.
Caxambas Has Been Closed for More Than a Year
The second county counter is a short drive from Tigertail, at the island's southern tip, and it has been closed much longer. BluWater Florida held the county's contract for four marina ship stores: Caxambas, Goodland, Cocohatchee River Park and Port of the Islands. According to a county spokesman quoted by the Marco Eagle, the company stopped operating all four on Sept. 15, 2025, without notice. The Naples Daily News also covered the shutdown.
The county took over marina operations on Sept. 22, 2025. It restarted fuel service at Port of the Islands and Cocohatchee River Park, the two locations that had offered fuel. The Caxambas and Goodland stores stayed closed. To cover the gap, the county asked its approved food truck vendors to operate at its locations Fridays through Sundays and, if possible, to sell bagged ice, water, sports drinks and soda.
Those stores had handled a lot more than snacks. Under the BluWater contract, the operator ran the ship stores, sold live bait and fuel, assigned dry slips, handled marketing and cleaning, and paid the county 6% of fuel sales and 8% of all other sales.
Nine months after the shutdown, the situation hadn't changed much. On July 1, 2026, the county answered a bidder's question on its procurement Q&A page. It said it was running the marinas with limited staff, it was "currently only selling fuel," and "the ship stores are not operational."
What the Next Ship Store Operator Signs Up For
The county released a revised Invitation to Negotiate, ITN 25-8613R, on June 19, 2026. It covers Port of the Islands, Goodland Boat Park, Cocohatchee River Park and Caxambas Boat Park, and proposals were due July 10. The procurement page lists the solicitation as award pending.
The county's answers to bidders spell out what a reopened Caxambas store will and won't control:
- Fuel: The operator buys and maintains the fuel inventory and keeps the fuel revenue. The markup over actual fuel cost is set by county fee policy, and the operator can't change it.
- Parking, launch and slips: Bidders quoted the solicitation's terms stating that the county keeps parking fees, launch fees, and wet and dry slip revenue.
- Rentals: The winning vendor won't get exclusive rental rights. Other businesses with permits can keep operating from their currently permitted locations.
- Hours: Store hours can be adjusted, but they have to stay within the county's park hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
That gives the new ship store operator the same task Loebs has at Tigertail. The county keeps the parking and launch revenue, sets the fuel margin and allows rental competition. So the operator has to earn its business through what it sells at the counter and how it runs the store. As of the Marco Eagle's Nov. 5 report, LoCastro said the county is in final negotiations with a vendor to take over all four stores, including Caxambas and Goodland.
Two Counters, One Season
At the north end of the island, Tigertail has an operator who wants to carry people and their gear across the lagoon and make the stand a regular stop for families. At the south end, Caxambas is close to getting a vendor for a ship store that has been closed since September 2025. Its rentals, fuel pricing and hours will all run under the county rules listed above.
The next public steps are Loebs's community meet-and-greet at Tigertail, the permits for the concession and kayak ferry, and the county's announcement of a marina operator for Caxambas, Goodland, Cocohatchee River Park and Port of the Islands.
Our office sits at Rose Marina, so marina and ramp news gets our attention, and we're following both of these closely. If you're planning a winter on the water around Marco Island, including where you'll launch, keep a boat or tie up for the season, The Sprigg Group can help with the marina details. Create your paradise, and start your waterfront search with us.
