My First Urbex Adventure: The Port of the Islands Hotel
It was a week into the pandemic. The world was shutting down, and oddly enough, the only “open” places were the ones that had been abandoned for years. In other words, it was the perfect time to finally try something I’d been wanting to do for a long time: urban exploration, or “urbex” for short.
The Obsession Is Born
My obsession with urbex started way back when I was 16, thanks to a creepypasta called Abandoned by Disney. That story sent me spiraling down a rabbit hole about Disney’s forgotten Discovery Island and, eventually, into the entire world of exploring abandoned places. Fast forward to 2020: after a week of working from home, I decided it was time to just go ahead and do it.
I’d been a fan of Abandoned Florida’s website for ages, frequently fixating on the photos of forgotten landmarks. So, I scrolled through their archives and decided on a place that seemed perfect for a beginner explorer like me: the Port of the Islands Hotel.
This spot had everything: decay, a story, and it was easily accessible. Also, yeah, it was a dump and totally trashed… but, whatever, I was super excited to go see it.
The Journey Begins
I found the address on an old MapQuest page, and plugged it into Google Maps. Three hours away. Oof… but it’s not like I had anything better to do. So my partner and I hopped in the car and started driving.
At the tail end of the three hour drive, the GPS led us through what looked like a very nice Naples neighborhood of townhomes – mowed lawns, shiny SUVs, white picket fences. “This can’t be right,” I thought. But then, there it was: the crumbling, desolate hotel looming from behind the pristine suburb like a scene straight out of Edward Scissorhands.



The First Steps Inside
My heart was pounding. This was it – the moment I’d been dreaming about for years. But as we parked in the sketchy lot, my nerves started to set in. What if I got arrested for trespassing? What if someone yelled at us? What if leaving the car here was a terrible idea? It was only three hours back home – I could still chicken out, right?
Thankfully, my partner talked me into committing. With adrenaline kicking in, I grabbed my camera and we made our way in. Below is the gallery of what we saw:

The air felt thicker inside, probably because of all the dust floating around. The floor was littered with broken glass, but luckily we both had good shoes on. You could tell teenagers from around the area liked to hang out here based on some of the messages spray painted on to the walls.














On the drive home, I felt pumped, already thinking about the next abandoned place to explore. I had officially caught the urbex bug. Over the years, we went on to explore several more abandoned sites, but this one remained my favorite.
Unfortunately, the Port of the Islands Hotel has since been demolished. If you ever decide to try urban exploration for yourself, please remember to respect these sites. Follow the old cliche: Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints. Destruction ruins these places for future explorers.

