← THE REGISTER / SOUTH FLORIDA / COLLIER COUNTY
Cape Romano Dome House
Marco Island, Collier County
RUIN · UNDERWATER
9STRANGENESS
OUT OF TEN
OUT OF TEN
WHAT IT IS
Six white concrete domes standing in the Gulf, several hundred feet offshore from a beach that used to be under them.
An oil producer built a self-sufficient solar house on a Cape Romano beach in 1980. The beach moved. Storm by storm the shoreline retreated and the domes were left standing in open water, then partly collapsed by Irma. What remains looks like a landed spacecraft or a ruined temple, depending on the light, and is now a reef. Kayak and boat tours go out from Marco and Goodland.
HOW IT SCORES
Rarity10/10
Is there anywhere else like it?
Backstory9/10
How did this come to be?
Disrepair10/10
What is holding it together?
Commitment6/10
How far do they take the bit?
NEARBY
BEFORE YOU DRIVE
- ENTRY FEE
- Boat charter, from $75
- HOURS
- Charter dependent
- BEST TIME
- Calm morning water. Low tide shows more.
- HOW LONG
- Half day
- PARKING
- At your charter's marina
- PAYMENT
- Cards accepted
- ACCESS
- Boat or kayak only
COORDINATES
25.8578° N, 81.6672° W
Off the southern tip of Cape Romano. Charter from Marco Island or Goodland.
OPEN IN MAPS →DETAILS COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. FEES CHANGE. CALL AHEAD.