Caladesi Island State Park off Dunedin is a pristine white-powder beach with clear water. It’s a perfect kayak destination & one of the top 10 beaches in the US.
Summer outings
One of South Florida’s most scenic beaches, Deerfield Beach is a diamond in the rough.
There are few parks in Florida with as much to offer as Pinellas County’s Fort DeSoto Park. And no park in the state, not even Everglades National Park, attracts as many visitors.
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.
This laid-back beach town isn’t famous, but it charms visitors with its funky Florida history, gorgeous beaches and a cute downtown with interesting restaurants and shops.
Camping, kayaking, hiking, biking and a humongous swimming pool are the top features of this state park that straddles the Hillsborough River.
The park, home to hundreds of manatees in the winter, is beautiful and paddling opportunities are numerous. There’s something special year-round. In summer 2024, however, habitat restoration will close all swimming.
Tigertail Beach is for adventurers who love unspoiled beaches where you can walk for miles. You reach this beach by wading across a shallow lagoon. It’s full of seashells, wildlife and it’s a birding hot-spot.
Snorkeling in Florida doesn’t require a boat. Here are some great places where you can snorkel and see fish and other sea creatures right from the beach.
The Lido Key Mangrove Trail is a well-known scenic kayak trail in Sarasota. In addition to friendly cormorants and shaded mangrove tunnels, this trail is popular in summer because there is a sandbar where you can swim.
Jupiter Island offers a scenic two-lane beachfront road with well-kept landscaping, very little traffic and excellent biking. It goes on for mile after mile past the estates of the rich and famous. And you can build in a stop at a hidden beach.
Jetty Park, with a terrific beach, fishing jetty and a view of passing ships, has a campground and small cabins. It’s an appealing getaway, with a few catches.
Inexpensive and smothered in nature, these scenic campgrounds are the best for RV and tent campers within an hour’s drive of Disney World.
Hutchinson Island has an abundance of pristine beaches with easy public access, the way Atlantic beaches used to be. You remember the days — when you could just pull off State Road A1A almost anywhere, park on the sand and stroll through the dunes to the ocean.
People and birds alike enjoy the beautiful beaches and sandbars plus the pristine mangrove creeks at Bunche Beach. There are several routes for kayakers or it’s a great place for just combing the beach and enjoying the wildlife.
Archie’s Seabreeze is an iconic beach bar on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce that has been drawing a mix of tourists, locals, young & old since 1947.
Tucked into a corner of Hillsborough County is a quiet, well-shaded campground that packs a lot of nature into a small 160-acre preserve along the Alafia River.
The popular Lower Keys park is perfect for kayak outings. You can kayak around the island or head out to tiny picturesque Little Bahia Honda Island.
This laid-back beach town isn’t famous, but it charms visitors with its funky Florida history, gorgeous beaches and a cute downtown with interesting restaurants and shops. In 2019, it celebrates its 100th birthday.
The outstanding beach known as John U. Lloyd State Park is being renamed to honor Fort Lauderdale civil rights leaders Von D. Mizell and Eula Johnson.