Sport and outdoor pursuits for holidays in Florida
If you love the great outdoors, you’ll love taking holidays in Florida. Indeed, the opportunities for sport and outdoor activities lead many Brits to buy apartments and villas in Florida. So whether your passion is for golf on Florida’s superb greens, watersports or fishing in warm waters, walking, cycling, or simply watching the birds, the Sunshine State is the place to be.
Watersports: surfing, diving and snorkelling holidays in Florida
Florida´s Atlantic coastline is home to some quality surf spots but its swells are too inconsistent for the world’s top surfers who tend to prefer Hawaii and the west coast of America. However, the state is considered a great place to learn to surf. So whether you are on your holidays in Florida or have recently bought yourself a condo or villa in Florida’s coast, hire yourself a board and get surfing. If you don’t get the hang of it quickly, at least the water is warm! The most famous and busy surfing spots are Cocoa Beach and Sebastian Inlet.
There is plenty of good diving all around Florida’s long coastline. Some of the best is in the Keys (the dive capital of the world is Key Largo) which have the only living coral reef in the state. There are also several thousand dive sites on artifical reefs and wrecks where you can explore submerged bridges, planes, tanks and cars as well as Spanish Galleons. Snorkelling is simpler so, if you fancy incorporating a little snorkel into your holidays in Florida, you will find equipment hire in most coastal areas.
From your hotel, your apartment or your villa in Florida, it’s easy to find great walks
Look beyond the theme parks and beaches of traditional holidays in Florida and you may be surprised to find a walkers’ paradise. As those who move here permanently soon discover, stretching your legs can include everything from a remote wilderness hike to a stroll along the prom beneath fashionable beachfront apartments and villas. Florida takes its walking seriously with numerous ‘greenways’ and trails. Download the brochure ‘Florida hiking trails’ from the State Department’s website.
One of the best opportunities for hikers is the 1400-mile Florida National Scenic Trail. This is a continuous wilderness corridor which enables hikers to enjoy the state’s many types of natural habitats and runs north from the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Everglades, encircles Lake Okeechobee and Central Florida, and reconverges en route to the Panhandle and Gulf Coast. There are many loops and short spurs on the trail, but choose your section carefully as some parts are incredibly remote and swampy. Most segments are free, others charge a small fee, and two require advance permission from the Florida Trail Association who can be contacted for maps and trail data. The Trail passes within an hour´s drive of almost every hotel and private villa in Florida so whether you are living here or enjoying your holidays in Florida you should be able to access it quite easily.
Permanent resident or tourist on holiday in Florida, get on your bike!
Just as walkers are well catered for in Florida, so are cyclists. The state has an excellent choice of paved and off-road trails that take in urban environments (Orlando and St Petersburg are two cities with good networks), coastal views, lush forests and open pastures, riverside monuments and quiet villages. Just hire yourself a bike and a helmet (legally required for any cyclist under the age of 16).
The Florida Bicyle Association provides advice about cycling in the state and you can download the brochure ‘Florida Bicycle Trails’ from the State Department’s website.
Fishing in Florida.
Florida has 3 million acres of freshwater lakes and 12,000 miles of streams and rivers, so fishing is a natural attraction for local residents and tourists on holiday in Florida. Beautiful big lakes are filled with huge bass which can be caught and barbecued on the same afternoon while bluegill, redfish, sea trout and snapper are plentiful in the shallow waters and meandering channels of the Everglades National Park. There are also numerous fishing charters available that offer bait, tackle and licenses to participants.
Florida Fisheries has an excellent site for fish identification, licence requirements and details of the best spots to fish etc.
Birdwatchers love holidays in Florida
Florida is a birder´s paradise, thanks to its diversity of habitats, its location on migration routes, the extent of its remaining wildlands, and its geographic span of both temperate and subtropical climates. More than 470 verified species occur here, including such sought-after birds as the rare Florida burrowing owl, the Florida scrub-jay and the snail kite.
In January 2006, the Great Florida Birding Trail was finally completed. It covers 200 miles and is a collection of 446 sites throughout the state selected for their excellent birdwatching or bird education opportunities. Traditionally, only local birders knew about the great birding sites in their area, but the birding trail makes it easy for all birders, whether they are permanent residents or tourists on holiday in Florida, to find them.
Golf in Florida
Golf in Florida is big business. The state claims it has more courses than any other destination in the world. Whether or not that is true, it certainly has an impressive CV. It is the home of the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour, LPGA, PGA of America, the World Golf Hall of Fame and possibly more professional golfers than any other state. Not surprising then, that so golf-mad Brits choose to buy an apartment or villa in Florida. It is also an excellent reason for taking a well-deserved holiday in Florida. Amenities at the 900-plus courses range from tuition, family programs, corporate meetings, tournament outings, and health spas so you should be able to find a perfect destination for golf in Florida.
