8 Incredible Florida Adventures You Need To Do

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From swimming with manatees to Wild Bills Airboat Tours, check out these incredible Florida adventures for your next trip to the States!

What I love about Florida is it’s one of the most diverse states in all of America. Obviously they have some of the world’s best theme parks; that’s a given. But where else can you wake up swimming with manatees in the morning, go on a crazy airboat tour looking for alligators in the afternoon, before munching your way through an authentic Cuban sandwich in St Pete in the evening?

Let’s do a little check list of the outdoor adventures Florida has to offer:

• Crazy theme parks in Orlando
• Swimming with manatees in Crystal River
• Walking along one of the world’s best beaches in Clearwater and St Pete Beach
• Zipping around on an airboat through the Everglades looking for aligators
• Diving incredible shipwrecks at the Florida Keys (if you’re heading to the Keys, check out my amazing guide all about the Florida Keys!)
• Learning all about space exploration at the Kennedy Space Center

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg – there are so many more adventurous things to do in Florida! Basically, what I’m getting at is there’s really something for everyone, especially those of you with families.

To give you a little taster of what you can do there, watch my video on below!

With amazing weather and some of the world’s best beaches, I made it my mission to go on a number of Florida adventures. With stops in Crystal River, Pasco Country, St Pete and Tampa, I did everything from swimming with manatees to paddleboarding with dolphins and a couple of very alternative activities as well.

So, if you’re looking for some fun things to do, then I really recommend any of these – they are guaranteed good times!

Travelling to other parts of Florida? Then check out my guides to Fort Myers and the best cities. Also, you can visit nearby Atlanta and Charleston too!

Florida adventures at a glance

Where – The Nature Coast and Tampa Bay, from Crystal River south to Tampa
Distance – Around 90 miles end to end, roughly 2 hours’ drive
Best time to go – November to April for manatees and comfortable temperatures. Summer is hot, humid and stormy in the afternoons
Getting around – You’ll need a car. There’s no useful public transport between these places
Nearest airport – Tampa International (TPA), or St Pete-Clearwater (PIE) for the beaches
Budget – Around $250 to $350 per person for the boat and airboat activities, considerably more if you add the biplane
How long you need – Four to five days to do all of these without rushing

Map of Florida

To make planning a bit easier, I’ve put together an interactive map with all the best Florida adventures from this guide marked out on it. You can see exactly where everything sits along the coast from Crystal River down to Tampa, which should help you work out how to string them together into a road trip. Click any pin for a quick note on why it’s worth your time.

Swimming with manatees at Crystal River

Swimming with manatees is without a doubt one of the most popular things to do in Florida. Even though there are a number of spots on the west coast of Florida where you can swim with manatees, Crystal River has to be the most beautiful.

What I didn’t realise about swimming with manatees is you’re *almost* guaranteed to see them. During the colder months there can be up to 600 manatees in the area so all you have to do is float there and they’re all around you.

However, even when I visited in the quieter period, there were still about 20/30 manatees. I went on a manatee tour from the Plantation Inn and we spent the morning swimming with a mother and her calf for a good 45 minutes. Then we went onto Clear Water Creek for a swim in the clearest water I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s a reason why they call this place Crystal River!

Even though manatees are quite cumbersome in the water, they’re beautifully graceful too. And swimming with them is such an amazing experience – it really is a once in a lifetime activity.

Cost – This costs £51/US$69 per person for a three-hour snorkel tour swimming with manatees.

Wild Bill’s Airboat Tours in Inverness

For me, there’s something so Floridian about flying over the water on an airboat. Add in alligators and beautiful views, and that’s what Wild Bill’s Airboat Tours is all about. Wild Bill’s Airboat Tours is tucked away off the Florida 44 Highway on the Withlacoochee River and it is one of the best outdoor adventures in Florida. This was my first ever airboat tour and boy was it fun.

For the first half of the tour I was on the lookout for alligators. If it wasn’t for our guide I doubt I would’ve been able to find any, but along the banks of the river were a few gators sleeping in the sun. I mean, you can’t come to Florida without seeing gators, can you?

However, I think I preferred the second half of the tour even more though. Once we made it halfway up the river, it was time to turn around and open her up. I didn’t think airboats could go so quickly on water but we were absolutely flying – so scary and exhilarating at the same time! Definitely a must-do while in Crystal River.

Cost – $55 per person ($45 kids aged 3-10) for a one-hour tour with Wild Bill’s Airboat Tours

TreeHoppers Aerial Adventures in Pasco County

If you’re looking for a Florida family adventure then check this one out! I absolutely love a challenge, but TreeHoppers in Pasco County is on next level! TreeHoppers is an aerial adventure course where you make your way through the trees by using highwires and ziplines and it isn’t for the fainthearted.

I’ve been on aerial adventure courses all around the world but TreeHoppers was so much harder than I expected. All in a good way of course! The easiest course, the green course, takes about 30 minutes and is a mixture of cargo ropes, wobbly platforms, and ziplines. Obviously I had to try the hardest course though, the double black.

Apparently only 30% of people complete this course, and even though I managed to drag myself around it, I wouldn’t have got anywhere near the finish line without my guide helping me out every step of the way. He even pulled me up one of the platforms.

That’s what I loved about TreeHoppers though, how hard it was. A lot of aerial adventure courses I’ve been to will sell themselves as “EXTREME! THE HARDEST ADVENTURE AROUND” and it’s actually a walk in the park. Not TreeHoppers though.

Cost – $69 per person ($48 for children aged 7-11) for a three-hour climb ticket with TreeHoppers. All safety equipment and gloves are included

Riding a CraigCat around Port Richey

These little boats are hard to describe. Basically, they’re two bits of plastic strapped together with an engine on the back. That’s pretty much it. All I know is they’re so much fun to drive/ride/sail (?) They’re called CraigCats, and they’ve been built in Florida since 1990. You sit low, right down near the surface, with a stick steering system that takes about 30 seconds to get the hang of.

We took ours out from Port Richey and spent the first half of the trip cruising slowly along the Cotee River, peering into people’s gardens (one had the best life-size model dinosaur I have ever seen) and taking in the shoreline.

The second half was quite different though. Once we made it out into the gulf all speed restrictions were lifted and we could go as fast as we wanted. What. A. Ride. I have no idea how fast we were going, but when you’re in an open boat with your bums so close to the water, it feels like a million miles an hour. Exhilarating doesn’t even come close.

Out in the gulf you’ll also pass Port Richey’s stilt houses, wooden shacks perched out in open water that used to be moonshine stills back in prohibition. There’s a decent chance of dolphins on the way back too.

Cost – $75 per person for a two-hour tour with Riviera Water Sports at American Marina in Port Richey

Biplane ride over St Petersburg

No matter where I am around the world I love a biplane ride, but flying over the beaches of St Petersburg was particularly special. St Petersburg genuinely has some of the world’s best beaches (as voted by TripAdvisor), so seeing them from above is an experience like no other.

Our biplane ride went from Albert Whitted Airport, a tiny little airport in downtown St Pete. We were up in the air for about 40 minutes and flew over Fort de Soto, St Pete Beach and Treasure Island – three of the most popular beaches in St Pete.

Being up in the air really gives you a perspective on how long these beaches are – they stretch for as far as the eye can see, a perspective you just can’t ever get on the ground. One of the things I loved about this tour was flying in a 1941 Army Stearman, the plane that taught a generation of WWII pilots to fly. That’s vey cool. Also, when flying back to Albert Whitted Airport you get some of the best views of downtown St Pete too.

Cost – $400 for 30 minutes, $600 for 60 minutes with Biplane Rides. All equipment is provided.

Sunrise paddleboarding at Treasure Island

Now this is the perfect way to start the day on any trip to Florida. Located at Treasure Island, a beach just north of St Pete, is Suncoast Surf Shop. Here you can rent canoes, kayaks, surfboard but I was only interested in their sunrise paddleboarding tour.

This tour starts early at 6am, and when I arrived the sun was just starting to creep over the horizon giving everything a gorgeous pink hue. Jordan, our guide, led the way and we paddleboarded along the coast as the sun rose higher and higher.

Once we reached one of the inlets we double backed on ourselves and paddleboarded the estuary. And it being Florida, obviously we had to see a dolphin swimming next to us – as I said, the perfect way to start the day. Paddleboarding is such a peaceful activity and you really can’t find a more beautiful setting for it than at Treasure Island, especially at sunrise.

Cost – $50 per person per hour from Sun Coast Surf Shop

Riding waterbikes in Tampa

What are waterbikes I hear you ask? Well, they’re bikes you ride on the water. Yep, a new one on me too. Down by the marina in Tampa you can hire waterbikes and go for a little cruise on the water taking in the sites.

One of the best things about these waterbikes is they have cup holders. That means you can head over to The Sail, pick up a cocktail and bring it with you for the ride (we did ask first!) What I loved about the waterbikes is there’s nothing to them – you just hop on, peddle and slowly move in the direction you want. They’re as easy as that.

Also, keep your eye out for dolphins! On our tour we saw two dolphins and two stingrays all in about 10 minutes. When it comes to outdoor adventures in Florida, this is what I’m talking about. These waterbikes are such a unique way of seeing a city. I honestely don’t think it’ll be long they start cropping up everywhere. For now though you’re going to have to get yourself over to Florida!

Cost – $30 per person per hour from Tampa Waterbikes

Cycling the Tampa riverwalk

The Tampa Riverwalk runs for 2.6 miles along the Hillsborough River and it’s one of the best ways to get a feel for the city. The path is open 24 hours a day and it’s completely free. It’s perfect for walking, jogging, skating and just about any other form of transport, but my favourite way of exploring it is by bike.

You’ll need to rent one rather than grab a share bike, as Tampa’s bike share programme has now shut down. Tampa Riverwalk Rentals launch directly from the Marriott Water Street on the Riverwalk itself, and Tampa Bay eBikes is worth a look if you fancy a bit of help with the pedalling. E-scooters through Lime and Bird are all over downtown too, though you can’t ride those on the Riverwalk itself, so you’ll need to skirt it on the side streets.

The Riverwalk takes you past the Tampa Museum of Art and Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, all the way north to Armature Works, an old streetcar building turned food hall that’s worth timing your ride around.

If you’ve got a couple of days in Tampa then hiring a bike and cycling the riverwalk is such an easy and fun outdoor adventure. This is what Tampa is all about and I love how close the city is to the water everywhere.

It’s amazing how many activities you can do on a tiny stretch of coast from Crystal River to Tampa. I love how you can do something different every day without having to drive for hours.

So, if you’re heading to Florida sometime soon and you’re looking at some amazing adventures then I’d really recommend any of these – they’re such unique things to do in Florida. Now go and enjoy them!

My trip to Florida Alberta was in association with Visit Florida showcasing some of the amazing things you can do there. As always, views are entirely my own and without bias.

Out of these Florida outdoor adventures, which one would you go for? Swimming with manatees or flying over the beaches in a biplane? Let me know in the comments below!

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