For kids, The Ritz-Carlton, Naples is more than a hotel; it’s a living, breathing adventure lab by the sea. Through immersive educational programming, hands-on wildlife experiences, and a vibrant new Ritz Kids space, the resort invites young guests to engage with Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystem in fun, enriching ways. Young travelers (and their parents) will love how The Ritz-Carlton, Naples offers an array of experiences that turn beach days into best days.
Play and learn at Ritz Kids
The three-mile beach becomes a child’s classroom with Ritz Kids’ Explore the Shore program
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
The recently expanded Ritz Kids facility is one of the most ambitious children’s spaces in the Naples area. Designed by Creative Arts Limited, Inc., the interactive environment blends education with play, including demonstration stages, craft areas, self-discovery stations, vivariums, terrariums, and aquariums. Projected seascapes shift throughout the day to mirror local tides and habitats, creating an immersive sense of place.
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples’ Ritz Kidz Room
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
Programming features seven daily themes, such as Sea Creatures, Wildlife, Shoreline, and Environmental Responsibility. Activities range from ocean bingo and hands-on crafts to board games, beach cleanups, and multi-sensory science experiences, all tailored to ages 5 to 12.
See Naples wildlife with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Kids discover the Gulf Coast’s diverse ecosystem with Ritz Kids hands-on learning.
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples’ purposeful partnership with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida taps into one of the Gulf Coast’s most important environmental guardians. The organization protects more than 30,000 sea turtle hatchlings every year and leads the charge in safeguarding the region’s delicate ecosystems.
The collaboration threads through the resort’s family programming in thoughtful, firsthand ways, including complimentary tours of the Conservancy’s 21-acre Nature Center. During a stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, between splashing in warm Gulf waters, kids get to join guided tours to see how to identify local shells, meet the biologists and naturalists who protect the creatures living among them, and learn that the beach is more than a place to play, but a living organism worth protecting.
Splash at The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón’s water park
The Reservoir at The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón is a water park with a lazy river and water slides.
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples’ sister property, The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón delivers pure, sun-splashed fun a complimentary shuttle ride away. The Reservoir is the property’s tropical water park; a cheerful, free-form expanse of three swooping waterslides, a winding lazy river, and a splash zone that keeps little ones gleefully occupied for hours.
Older kids can experience Naples’ celebrated reputation for golf at the resort’s two Greg Norman–designed courses, which regularly host professional tournaments. Even non-golfers can feel the thrill of stepping onto the same fairways the pros play.
For racket-sport aficionados, The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón brings another unexpected delight. It’s home to the first Mouratoglou Tennis Center in Florida, founded on the method created by Serena Williams’s longtime coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Whether your child is learning their very first backhand or an ambitious adult is trying to rediscover their serve, everyone finds their stride.
Relax in a dedicated family pool
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples has three swimming pools catering to different groups and needs. The family pool was extended as part of the resort’s recent $100 million renovation, thanks to design studio Parker Torres Design and architect Cooper Carry.
There’s room to spread out, ample shade, kids’ chairs, and attentive, uniformed pool staff circulating with cold towels and drinks. Languid days spent here mean family groups never have to worry about disturbing the novel-reading grownups at the adults-only pool or the cocktail-sippers lounging at the main pool.
Enjoy the gentle waves of the Gulf Coast beach
With its gentle Gulf waters and a three-mile sweep of sugar-white sand, the beach at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples is ideal for children and the adults who trail behind them with sunscreen and snacks. Getting there feels like its own tiny adventure.
A picturesque, elevated boardwalk carries families over mangroves and palms to spot otters, pelicans, or the spotted gar fish that call these wetlands home. Then, the greenery parts, and you step down into powdery, soft sand. Here, little feet can paddle, splash, and test their confidence in the warm, placid water. Bigger kids can graduate to open-water swims, paddleboarding on water that’s famously flat and forgiving, or taking on a world of high-octane water sports.
Play classic arcade games in the game room
For indoor downtime, the resort’s game room offers a full lineup of complimentary activities for young ones. The greatest hits include air hockey, ping pong, Skee-ball, basketball, pinball, and traditional arcade games. Located just across from the spa at the front drive, parents love the game room because it solves the two trickiest vacation hours—pre-dinner restlessness and rainy afternoons—and kids love it because it feels like a world built entirely for them, fondly remembered as the place where the buttons lit up and the friendships came easy.
