Why the Markers on the Run South From Gordon Pass Are Changing This Season

When you clear Gordon Pass and turn south toward Keewaydin, which daybeacon do you steer by? If the answer is a mental picture of last season's channel, check it before your first run of the 2026–27 season. The fixed markers on the inside route to Marco Island are being written off because the sand has moved around them. In their place, the federal agencies responsible for the channel are proposing a channel that moves with the shoals.

That one change explains most of the paperwork now piling up around a stretch of water that Port Royal boaters have run for years.

The Coast Guard Can't Reach Its Own Markers

The Coast Guard's weekly Local Notice to Mariners for District 7 has carried the same story through October. The October 21, 2026 notice still lists multiple Big Marco Pass–Gordon Pass daybeacons as destroyed or missing. Daybeacon 27A is flagged as a hazard to navigation with a destroyed, truncated structure, and Daybeacon 18A is listed as temporarily discontinued. The same discrepancies appeared in the October 7 and October 16 notices.

The bigger item sits further down in those notices. The Coast Guard has proposed converting 13 fixed daybeacons in the channel to unlighted floating aids, and its stated reason is blunt: "Coast Guard assets are unable to access the fixed structures due to shallow water depths." The service argues that floating aids "will allow for timelier relocation of Aids when shoaling evolves," which it says will give mariners a safer and more reliable channel.

The 13 daybeacons named in the proposal are:

• DBN 1A, 2 and 2A
• DBN 17
• DBN 28A
• DBN 36 and 40
• DBN 53
• DBN 60
• DBN 65, 66, 67 and 68

Comments on that proposal had to be received by November 2, 2026. As of the latest notices, the conversion is still a proposal. A pole you have passed for years may soon be a buoy that sits wherever the deep water has gone, and that position can change from one month to the next.

"Uncontrolled" Is a Technical Term, and It Fits

The floating-aid proposal reads differently once you know how this channel is defined. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers describes the federal project from Naples to Big Marco Pass as Gordon Pass, Big Marco Pass and an "uncontrolled" channel between them. In the Corps' words, "uncontrolled" means a navigation channel that "follows best water (naturally deep areas) rather than an exact alignment specified in the project authorization reports." The channel has an authorized depth and width, but its path is not fixed to coordinates.

A channel defined by where the water happens to be deep is a poor match for markers driven into the bottom, and a good match for buoys that can be moved when a bar shifts. The Corps' own account of the south end makes the point. It describes Big Marco Pass as a shallow-draft inlet "less than 14 feet deep" and "prone to shoaling and considerable shifting of the shoals," which it says creates "severe and unpredictable navigational hazards" for commercial and recreational boaters. The Corps also notes that the Coast Guard has raised safety concerns about existing shoaling in the channel directly with the agency.

That area has a history of moving. The Corps traces Capri Pass to a breach of Sea Oat Island sometime between the early 1960s and early 1970s, which left Coconut Island standing between Big Marco and Capri passes.

The Dredging Plan Stops Short of Gordon Pass

Moving the markers is one response to the shoaling. Removing the sand is the other, and that plan is out for public comment now.

On October 13, 2026, the Corps' Jacksonville District issued a draft Environmental Assessment and proposed Finding of No Significant Impact for maintenance dredging from Naples to Big Marco Pass. Comments are due November 12, 2026, according to the District's environmental documents page.

According to the Corps, Gordon Pass has been maintained since it was first built in 1960, most recently in 2025. Big Marco Pass has not been maintained since its original construction, in part because of limited placement options for the sand. The Coast Guard identified the need for dredging at Cuts J–O and Uncontrolled Cuts 1–3 in 2024, and the environmental review for those cuts had never been completed before.

The 2025 work at the north end came under a separate contract. In September 2025, the Corps announced a $3,045,784.37 award to Southwind Construction Corp. for Gordon Pass Cuts 1–7. The contract was funded through Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations, and construction was expected to begin in November 2025.

So the pass at the end of Port Royal has had recent attention. The water past it, the stretch you run to reach Keewaydin's south end, Capri Pass or the Marco River, is what the current proposal covers. The draft sets no construction start date, and the proposal stays a proposal until the review is finished.

The Corps also points out how much traffic this route carries. It cites a 2013 study finding that trips through Capri and Big Marco passes made up 19% of all recreational boating in Collier County.

Where the Run South Ends Up This Season

Some of the destinations at the end of the run are in flux along with the water.

Keewaydin. Visit Naples describes the island's southern end as the main gathering spot, where boats anchor off the beach or pull up onto the sand, particularly on weekends. It also asks visitors to respect private parcels and posted nesting zones. Rookery Bay sets the ground rules: no unleashed domestic animals, no glass on the beach or at access areas, and restricted access to posted shorebird nesting areas from March through August. Keewaydin is also one of the placement sites named in the Corps' draft, so sand from the channel could end up on the beach you anchor off.

Rose Marina. Rose Marina is the big change at the south end of the run. Hurricane Ian's storm surge in 2022 destroyed Jack's Lookout, the marina's boaters' bar. General manager Daniel High told WINK News it was "a dive bar, but a very loved dive bar." The Marco Eagle reported that at 12:55 a.m. after its September 10 meeting, the Marco Island City Council completed the three approvals the marina needed to move forward with a 200-seat restaurant, expanded parking and reconfigured docks. WINK reported that construction will not shut down the marina but could affect businesses that use it. Key West Express, which runs from Marco only in season, from December 26 through March, is taking a year off from Marco because of anticipated work affecting dock space and will keep running from its Fort Myers Beach location. High expects the service back on Marco for the 2027–28 season. No construction schedule has been published, so plan on dockside conditions there changing over the season.

Fuel closer to home. The Naples Yacht Club's marina page says the marina is closed for construction, with fuel, dockage and pickups unavailable. That leaves Naples City Dock on Naples Bay as the public fuel stop at the home end of the run, with Rec 90 ethanol-free gasoline and off-highway dyed diesel. Rose Marina is the confirmed fuel stop at the far end.

Before the First Run South

The channel you run in November may be marked differently by spring.

1. Read the newest Local Notice to Mariners. The Coast Guard publishes them weekly by district through NAVCEN. Look for Big Marco Pass–Gordon Pass entries, since the list of missing and discontinued daybeacons has stayed the same week after week.
2. Watch for the floating-aid conversion. If it goes ahead, the 13 daybeacons listed above become unlighted buoys, which matters most on a run home after sunset.
3. Follow the Corps review. The draft EA and its appendices are on the Jacksonville District's environmental documents page, with comments due November 12, 2026.
4. Give Big Marco Pass extra margin. The Corps itself calls the shoals there unpredictable.

You won't need the channel for the season's biggest night on the water. The Marine Industries Christmas Boat Parade runs on Naples Bay on Saturday, December 19, 2026, from 6:15 to 8:30 p.m. Viewing spots include Naples City Dock, Bayview Park, Naples Landing, Kelly's Fish House and The Boat House on Naples Bay.

For a Port Royal home, a dock and quick access to Gordon Pass are part of what you own, and changes in the water past the pass affect that. If you're weighing how boating access figures into buying or selling on Port Royal's canals this season, Angela Graziano can walk you through what matters for your property. Schedule Your Free Consultation.