Getaways to the authentic Florida
Visiting here, I found myself happy that places like Anna Maria Island survive — a low-rise beach town with quaint cottages and a spectacular beach. Daytrippers will be happy to learn they can skip the weekend traffic and parking hassles with an affordable ferry service from Bradenton.
Like a lot of visitors, for years I had overlooked Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park on my visits to Key West because it is tucked away out of sight. But the historic fort and great beach are worth discovering.
Anastasia State Park’s four-mile beach shimmers in the Florida sun. Surfing, swimming, bicycle on the beach, coastal forest camping and paddle the lagoon a stone’s throw to historic St. Augustine.
Lovers Key State Park is a treasure in Fort Myers Beach. You can kayak a mangrove-lined trail and stroll an unspoiled 2.5 mile beach. The park has recovered from Hurricane Milton and its devastating storm surge a year ago.
Discover a less well-known string of islands — Gasparilla Island, Don Pedro Island and Manasota Key. Each holds a spectacular state park with top beaches.
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park has almost two miles of beach, lined with sand dunes covered with native vegetation. A summer treat: There can be good snorkeling from the beach.
Cayo Costa, a wild island with nine miles of pristine beach, can be reached for day trips and there are two companies that offer cruises. The lucky few who visit can explore a slice of paradise.
There’s no better time for surf fishing than late summer and fall, when the mullet run down the coast. Here’s the gear you need and how to fish from shore.
Secret beaches are the stuff of vacation dreams. But I found one — more than 5 miles of wild, broad unspoiled sandy shore, lined with thick native vegetation and without a condo or T-shirt shop in sight.
Florida A1A stretches the whole length of the state’s Atlantic coast. But the can’t-miss part is this 30 miles in Northeast Florida. Here are the best stops along that route, some you might miss without our tips.