Honeymoon Island in Dunedin has a big, natural beach where you can get away from people, but also offers a cafe and bikes and kayaks to rent. Its history involves actual honeymooners drawn here during the Great Depression in a real estate scheme.

St. Petersburg is full of Old Florida treasures, from a beautiful brick 1927 comfort station next to the new bayfront pier to the Sunken Gardens, a cherished roadside attraction complete with a flock of flamingoes. St. Pete has grown younger and livelier, but it retains much of its original charm.

Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park in New Port Richey is not well known outside its area. But it’s a good place to kayak both to see springs in the park and to paddle into the Gulf to see historic stilt houses.

Egmont Key is romantic, remote and historic. Located in the mouth of Tampa Bay, accessible only by boat, it is home to an intriguing fort, gopher tortoises, beautiful beaches and more.

Withlacoochee River Park is a base camp for hiking and bicycling in the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve with one special characteristic — it’s also a “dark sky” park favored by amateur astronomers.

Floridians survive the heat and humidity of our brutal summers by turning to the state’s wealth of cool, clear, refreshing springs. These are our picks for the best springs in Florida.

Named the fourth-best beach in America, Caladesi Island State Park off Dunedin is a pristine white-powder beach with clear water. It’s a perfect kayak destination too.

An open-air Thai brunch and market draws throngs every Sunday morning to this beautiful waterfront temple in Tampa. The food is very good and moderately priced. The exotic gold-trimmed temple is worth visiting just because it’s beautiful, set among shady live oak trees decorated with orchids.

The beach is spectacular here — wide white sand, clear blue-green water. But the Old Florida charm of Pass-a-Grille, a community within St. Pete Beach, is what makes it stand out.

From beach camping on a tropical island to camping on rivers in dense forests, you might be surprised by these Florida state parks with camping in the state’s second largest metropolitan area. (5th in a series)