Pelican Bay's Season Starts October 15, a Month Before the Party

When does the season actually start in Pelican Bay? The official answer is Welcome Back Weekend, November 13 to 15. The season actually starts earlier than that. In the October 2026 Pelican Bay Post, two of the weekend's signature events, the Saturday racquets kickoff and the Sunday brunch debut at Marker 36, were already marked sold out.

Meanwhile, the switch that changes daily life happens on Thursday, October 15. That's the day the beach restaurants go to full seven-day hours. The courts at Pelican Bay Community Park are already in their fall programming by then, and two days later The Baker Museum at Artis-Naples opens a Surrealist exhibition built around works from Tate. The month between October 15 and November 13 is when everything is running and the calendar still has room.

What changes at the beach on October 15

The Foundation's restaurant hours for October come in two blocks, and the line between them is the 15th.

The change at The Nest is the one that reshapes a beach day. The Foundation lists its beaches as open daily from 9 a.m. to sunset. Until the 15th, The Nest closes about two hours before the sand does. After the 15th, it stays open as long as the beach does, so a late-afternoon walk can end with a drink without a trip back up the boardwalk.

Dinner moves earlier at Sandbar too. It goes from a 4:30 p.m. start on its dinner nights to 3:30 p.m., the same as Marker 36. With both restaurants starting dinner at 3:30, there's a clean handoff from lunch at either end of the beach.

Getting there doesn't change. The Post's beach-safety notice puts the beach-to-parking tram window at 13 minutes. It also explains that beach staff may raise the yellow Caution Flag before the Thor Guard lightning system enters "Caution Mode," based on frequent radar checks. Better visibility into tram arrivals and service disruptions is one of the priorities the Foundation's Connors Group study is weighing, along with restaurant access and capacity and the Community Center's space needs. As of the July/August/September Post, that study was moving into a phase meant to produce design requirements and several implementation options for the Board. No construction plan or schedule has been announced.

New kitchen leaders, starting before the crowds arrive

The October 15 reopening is also the first full stretch for the Foundation's new food and beverage leadership team, which the October Post introduced as "Five leaders. Three restaurants."

• Marco Garnica, Director of Food and Beverage, overseeing all three venues
• Chef Fabio Bermudez, Director of Culinary, North, at Marker 36
• Christopher Wright, Director of Operations, North, at Marker 36
• Chef Rushaune "Rush" Thompson, Director of Culinary, South, at Sandbar and The Nest
• Kevin Adames, Director of Operations, South, at Sandbar and The Nest

According to the Post, the team's mandate is "consistently good food, attentive service and a dining experience that feels welcoming and personal." Each restaurant keeps its own personality, and the five leaders work across all three to make quality and service more consistent. The Post also says members can expect to see these leaders in the dining rooms working alongside their teams, and it invites members to introduce themselves and share what they enjoy.

That puts a month of regular lunches and dinners between the leadership change and the first big event, the debut of Sunday Brunch at Marker 36. The opening brunch on November 15 runs 9 to 11 a.m. as a special buffet, with Foundation leadership and management joining the Marker 36 team, and it's already sold out. The Post hasn't yet published a schedule or format for brunch after opening weekend.

The courts filled in first

The racquets side of Pelican Bay started its season well ahead of the dining rooms, and the reason is the courts themselves. USTA Florida reported in May 2026 that six HydroCourts at Pelican Bay Community Park were renovated, two more were added and all eight are now lit. The courts are in year-round use, and USTA League Play has returned.

With lights, there's room for after-school and evening programs that a daylight-only court can't run. The fall schedule in the October Post shows it.

• Little Legends tennis, ages 4 to 10, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., with monthly registration
• Junior Legends, ages 11 to 16, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m., with weekly registration
• Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday camps, announced when the program was introduced over the summer

Pickleball has an expanded schedule for October through December, with programming for first-time players up to 4.0-plus players. Courts are open 8 a.m. to dusk, open play runs all day, and court reservations cover noon to 4 p.m. Social Round Robins run 90 minutes on two courts, 8 to 9:30 a.m., at $15 per member:

Two October events at North Tennis sit squarely in the window before November. The Halloween Doubles Mixer, Disco Edition, is Thursday, October 22, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The FGCU Collegiate Invitational Exhibition follows on October 30 and 31.

This is why the November 14 Tennis and Pickleball Kickoff was already sold out in the October issue. By the time the kickoff arrives, the racquets community has been playing under the new lights for weeks.

Inside the Community Center, the year-round calendar keeps going

The Community Center doesn't wait for November either. October fitness drop-ins cost $18 per one-hour class, and walk-ins are welcome if there's space. The schedule rotates Pilates II and Functional Fitness on Mondays and Wednesdays, Full Body Flow and Yoga Fusion on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Functional Fitness on Fridays. Intermediate Bridge Lessons with JoEllen Blandford meet Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. in Hammock Oak 3, at $160 for a flexible four-week package.

The Year Rounders Book Club meets on the third Thursday of each month at the Community Center. This year that lands on October 15, the same day the restaurants reopen. October's book is "The Mare," and November's is "The Winner." The group is also hosting its Second Annual Year Rounders Halloween Bash at St. Raphael, 5 to 8 p.m., with DJ Omar Baker and a costume contest. The Post lists it as "Friday, Oct. 24," but October 24 falls on a Saturday this year, so check the date at the Community Center desk when you register.

Next door, the museum opens on October 17

Two days after the beach switch, The Baker Museum at Artis-Naples opens The Surrealist International: Fifty Years of Dreams. The show brings works from Tate by Magritte, Dalí and Miró, among others, and runs October 17, 2026, through February 14, 2027. Florida Contemporary 2026–27 opens the same day, with work by Dustin Harewood, Nicario Jiménez-Quispe, Savannah Magnolia and Anastasia Samoylova, and stays up through June 27, 2027.

The Surrealist show lasts four months, so it'll be on through the whole season. Opening weeks in mid-October, though, overlap with the same uncrowded stretch at the beach. The rest of the Artis-Naples 2026–27 season builds toward later highlights, including Alexander Shelley conducting all nine Beethoven symphonies over two weeks, plus Yo-Yo Ma, Audra McDonald and the Broadway tour of Hamilton.

There's also a Pelican Bay connection on the museum's shelves. Pelican Bay: A History of Our Home in Paradise, the 144-page hardbound book commissioned by the Foundation, won a 2026 Silver Medal in the Independent Book Publishers Association's IPPY Awards, in the Best Regional eBook, Nonfiction category. Copies are sold at The Baker Museum Store, as well as The Commons, the Community Center and the North and South Racquets Centers.

Across the street at Waterside Shops, Anthropologie closes its current store on Monday, October 19, to move to a new spot near Sephora. Waterside hadn't posted a reopening date as of its October 8 notice.

Welcome Back Weekend, and what's still open to join

By mid-November, the weekend celebrates a season that's already been running for a month. Here's where each piece stood in the October Post:

1. Friday, Nov. 13: Welcome Back Beach Bash, 5 to 9 p.m. at South Beach, with DJ Bam and "Never Stop Believin' – A Tribute to Journey," a complimentary welcome drink, chef-attended food stations and a cash bar. Registration required.
2. Saturday, Nov. 14: Tennis and Pickleball Kickoff, 9:30 a.m. to noon. Sold out.
3. Saturday, Nov. 14: Tuika's Polynesian Island Magic at Sandbar, 3:30 p.m., ending with a Samoan Fire Knife Dance. Reservations are closed, but members are invited to come watch the show.
4. Sunday, Nov. 15: Sunday Brunch debuts at Marker 36, 9 to 11 a.m. Sold out.
5. Sunday, Nov. 15: Beach Bocce in the afternoon with the Sports Center team. No experience or registration needed.

The beach bash still takes registrations. The Polynesian show and the bocce are open to anyone who shows up. The October calendar before all of that has seven-day dining, lit courts with programs every weekday, and a museum opening two days after the restaurants reopen.

If you're thinking about what the season ahead could mean for your Pelican Bay home, whether that's timing a sale or knowing how your building compares, Tricia Kowaleski is glad to talk it through over coffee, maybe at The Nest now that it's open until sunset. Request a Free Consultation & Home Valuation, and we'll start with what's changing in your part of Pelican Bay this season.