Why did Sandbar stop seating at 4 p.m. in October, and why was only the bar open at Marker 36? The Pelican Bay Foundation's FY2027 Approved Budget Package lays out food and beverage hours month by month for the full fiscal year. That table puts the two beach restaurants on staggered schedules. When one closes, the other is planned to stay open, and the overlap is the exception.
That exception starts in November. Here's how the schedule works and what fills in around it this season.
Two Beaches, One Calendar
Sandbar is at South Beach. Marker 36 is at North Beach. Read side by side, the Foundation's planned hours for FY2027 look like this:
| Month | Sandbar dining | Marker 36 dining |
|---|---|---|
| October | Opens 10/15, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Closed; bar and lounge open 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. |
| November to April | 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. | 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. |
| May | 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. | 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| June and July | 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. | Closed |
| August and September | Closed | Limited capacity; bar open 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. |
The handoff shows up in every off-peak month. Sandbar carries the beach through June and July while Marker 36 is dark. Marker 36 runs at limited capacity through August and September while Sandbar is closed. In October, Sandbar is back for lunch, and Marker 36's bar is the only full-evening option on the sand. Across the fiscal year, there is no month when neither beach has something open.
These are budgeted hours from the Foundation's planning document, so the clubs' own pages and posted notices are the final word on any given day.
Why October Felt Half-Open
October is the month when both restaurants are only partly running. Sandbar's planned October hours stop at 4 p.m. for indoor dining, outdoor dining and the bar. Marker 36 keeps both dining rooms closed for the month and runs only its bar and lounge, which stays open until 8:30 p.m.
That makes October lunch a South Beach affair and an October evening drink a North Beach one.
One counter ignores the calendar entirely. The Nest, just south of Sandbar, runs its take-out bar from noon to sunset in every month of the fiscal year, weather permitting. In the shoulder months, it's the one food and drink stop on the beach with fixed hours that don't change.
The beaches open daily from 9 a.m. to sunset. The open-air electric trams stop at eight stations along the raised berm, and those stations link to the boardwalks through the mangroves. Those boardwalks lead to both restaurants. The schedule decides which one is worth the ride on a given evening.
The Six Months Both Kitchens Run
From November through April, both restaurants are planned to serve indoor and outdoor dining from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. No other stretch of the fiscal year has both kitchens running a full dinner service. Sandbar keeps going at those hours through July, while Marker 36 shortens to lunch hours in May. So the November-to-April overlap is the full window for picking a beach to dine at instead of going wherever is open.
The relay continues even inside that overlap. The Foundation's dining pages put the live music on alternating nights:
- Sandbar, South Beach: music Mondays and Wednesdays, 5 to 8 p.m., with Monday billed as dance music and Wednesday as dinner music.
- Marker 36, North Beach: music Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5 to 8 p.m.
Neither page lists dates for those weekly series, so they're best read as the standing pattern. Taken together, though, they give the two beaches four music nights a week with no night doubled up, the same handoff as the monthly calendar.
Sandbar comes into the overlap with a renovated room. The Foundation describes sliding glass doors that open toward the beachfront.
The Foundation Is Spreading Out the Rest of the Week, Too
The same budget package shows the Foundation applying that coverage approach beyond the beach. In written answers to member questions, Foundation leadership says it plans to extend Community Center hours into evenings and Saturdays "to meet increasing demand for meeting space and to enhance service delivery to members."
Programming is growing in the same document. The answers list a new Welcome Back Party and weekend entertainment, plus more money for the End of Season Party "based on increased participation in FY 2026." The October 2026 issue of the Pelican Bay Post put a Welcome Back Weekend on its cover, with music, dining, racquets and activities. The Foundation is also adding fees for some of those spaces. Projected Community Center and lifestyle revenue rises from about $27,300 to $100,000, which the Foundation attributes to new member organizational usage fees, meeting room rentals and more fee-based programming.
A full renovation of the Community Center itself is listed among projects under consideration, with no FY2027 capital spending projected for it. For this season, the building will be busier on more days in its current form.
Branded merchandise is following the same spread. The Foundation projects retail sales nearly doubling, from about $184,000 to $383,000. The plan adds new points of sale at the Community Park, The Nest, Marker 36 and Sandbar, plus an online store for members. Today, retail runs out of the Community Center and South Tennis. This season it moves to both beaches and the new courts.
The Courts Are Starting Their First Full Season
That new location on the retail list, the Pelican Bay Community Park, is the biggest addition to the amenity map since last season. It sits at 764 Vanderbilt Beach Road on a county-owned site of nearly 15 acres. Naples Press described it as a $6 million public-private project funded by the Foundation.
The Foundation says the Community Park Racquets Center has eight Har-Tru tennis courts and 20 outdoor pickleball courts. Three of the tennis courts and 10 of the pickleball courts are set aside for Pelican Bay members and guests. The racquets facility held its grand opening on February 16, 2026, with an exhibition and panel featuring pickleball player Ben Johns. In May 2026, USTA Florida reported the tennis upgrade complete, with six existing courts renovated, two added and lights on all eight.
The grand opening came in mid-February, so last season the park opened partway through. This is the first season it has been open from the start, and the first time it lines up with the November-to-April stretch when both beach kitchens are running.
The Other Season Opening Next Door
Artis—Naples, at the edge of Pelican Bay, opened its exhibition season the same week Sandbar was finishing its first days back. The Baker Museum's "The Surrealist International: Fifty Years of Dreams," drawn from Tate's collection, runs from October 17, 2026, to February 14, 2027. "Florida Contemporary 2026–27" opened the same day and runs through June 27, 2027. "Linling Lu: Fugue in 3 Voices" has paintings inspired by composers in the Naples Philharmonic Masterworks series and closes January 3, 2027. "Baron Wolman: Capturing the Sound of an Era" opens December 5.
On the performance side, WGCU reported that the 2026–27 season, "To Light: The Art of Hope," has Alexander Shelley leading all nine Beethoven symphonies. Yo-Yo Ma, Audra McDonald, Itzhak Perlman, Sutton Foster and Kelli O'Hara are also on the bill. For more on the community around these venues, see our Pelican Bay neighborhood guide.
If you're planning the season around Pelican Bay's calendar, or want to know how its amenities compare with other North Naples communities, Abreu Group is glad to talk it through with you. Schedule a Private Consultation.
