Cortez Fishing Festival : Feb. 18-19, 2023
This tiny fishing village wedged between Bradenton and Anna Marie Island celebrates its rich heritage as a commercial fishing hub.
Paella is a popular seafood dish in Florida. (c) Can Stock Photo / AntonioGravante
Florida’s seafood industry accounts for more than 84 percent of the nation’s grouper, pompano, mullet, stone crab, pink shrimp, spiny lobsters and Spanish mackerel.
This tiny fishing village wedged between Bradenton and Anna Marie Island celebrates its rich heritage as a commercial fishing hub.
The Everglades Seafood Festival in Everglades City brings fresh local seafood, country music, carnival rides and arts and crafts to this historic outpost on the edge of the Everglades.
Nothing says Florida like a seafood festival, and the peak season kicks off in January.
Everyone wants to discover that funky inexpensive spot where locals go. In Key West, that would be Hogfish Bar & Grill on Stock Island, which wins raves for fresh off-the-boat seafood.
Stone crab season starts Oct. 15 and Everglades City, a small, isolated fishing village south of Naples, is a place to feast on this Florida favorite in an authenic Old Florida atmosphere. Two of our favorite stone crab restaurants are reopening Oct. 16 for the season after severe flooding from Hurricane Ian.
Due to Hurricane Ian, the annual Naples Stone Crab Festival has been postponed. A new date has not been announced.
Florida Seafood Festival celebrates Apalachicola’s vibrant fishing industry, which produces 90% of the state’s oysters. This guide features camping, lodging and things to do near Apalachicola. The 2022 festival is scheduled for Nov. 4-5.
Seafood festivals are common in Florida, but Cedar Key Seafood Festival is uncommonly appealing. Not only is Cedar Key historic and charming, it’s also clam capital of America.
A low-key destination for kayaking, fishing, snorkeling and camping in our guide for things to do in the Lower Florida Keys.
If you want to savor the flavor of the Florida Keys, spend a little time at a tiki bar. Our favorites profiled here are unpretentious waterfront spots where you’ll get good fresh fish, fried everything and a big serving of Keys atmosphere.
Deaths, arrests mar Florida lobster mini-season. The regular season begins August 6.
The Marathon Seafood Festival calls itself the Original Marathon Seafood Festival to emphasize it’s the real deal – indigenous and authentic. Marathon is a fishing town, and you don’t get fish any fresher than here, unless you catch it yourself.
The Grant Seafood Festival is put on by community volunteers and has been held every year since 1966 in this riverside enclave between Melbourne and Sebastian.
After a pandemic pause, the St. Augustine Lions Club Festival returns in 2022, reimagining its seafood festival past.
This isn’t frozen shrimp or imported shrimp or farmed shrimp. The huge boiling pots at the Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival are filled with fresh, right-off-the-boat Gulf pink shrimp. Members of the Lions Club have perfected the cooking technique over 50 years of Shrimp Festivals.
Fresh Florida seafood is best enjoyed in an authentic Florida fish shack, ideally with an outdoor deck overlooking the water. Here are a few of our favorites.