Two Must-Do Experiences in Florida (No, Not Disney)

I’m the first to admit I did not see Florida’s potential. After a family road trip to Disney as a kid, I crossed this state off my checklist and called it a day.

Little did I realize that the National Park Service designated three parts of southern Florida as national parks, which meant I needed to make another trip (or two) down to explore. As I researched, I realized what a beautiful area southern Florida is. And how underrated it is considering Miami and Orlando get all the attention.

Florida is home to Biscayne National Park, Everglades National Park, and Dry Tortugas National Park. These three parks are almost entirely on water. Biscayne National Park is comprised of 95% water, while the Everglades is actually the slowest moving river in the United States. Just one search of Dry Tortugas will show you Fort Jefferson – and the other six islands that make up this incredibly unique park.

Needless to say, I had my planning cut out for me. I drove down to Florida with the sole purpose of crossing two parks off my list, but it turns out, Florida has more to offer than theme park rides and Disney characters. I didn’t fit Dry Tortugas in this trip because despite being one of the most remote U.S. national parks, there is a convenient way to access the park. The mode of transportation is a ferry that costs $190 per adult and is sold out one to two months in advance. When I researched other options, I only came up with chartering my own seaplane. As cool as this would have been, my wallet was not prepared to take that kind of heat.

Dry Tortugas was out, for now. Here’s what I explored with my time in Florida on a budget:

Our sailboat guided by the wonderful Byron with the Biscayne National Park Institute.

1. Sail around Key Biscayne National Park (and kayak and snorkel too!)

What I did love about Dry Tortugas is that the ferry works with the National Park Service. Sure there is only one way to get there, but it’s safe and maintained. Key Biscayne is similar! You can either hop on your own boat (which I do not have) or take a tour with the Biscayne National Park Institute, an organization that gives back to the very waters they sail on. Can you figure out which route I decided to take?

I opted for the latter. I booked the Sail, Paddle, Snorkel, and Island Visit tour and can’t recommend it enough. The tour is $189 a person, but for an all-day excursion in a national park that’s almost entirely on water, I found it exceptionally valuable. The tour has a maximum of six people, and with our luck, we booked a day where we were two of five.

Our instructor was extremely experienced and let me try out steering the boat a bit, while he taught others how to let down the sails. As we sailed, he told us historic tidbits about these majestic waters. From fascinating tales of the inhabitants on the very thin stretch of land I could hardly make out if I squinted enough, to all the critters that live beneath the water.

Once we docked, the tour continued via kayaks. We paddled our way through parts of the water the boat couldn’t navigate to and were able to get a closer look at what lived in the water. As we neared very shallow waters, our guide told us to gaze on the spots on the water’s ground.

Fascinating Wildlife

Turns out those “spots” were jellyfish! He picked one up and let us touch the gooeyness. It reminded me of the middle school slime my students were obsessed with making a few years ago.

The Biscayne National Park Institute’s tour features kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) and they supply all the necessary equipment.

When kayaking ended, we hopped (more so wobbled with flippers on) into the water for the snorkeling portion of the tour. I saw a multitude of fish that our guide had introduced to me in the stories along the morning’s ride, including gnarly-looking crustaceans if you peered into the crevices of stone and searched for daddy-long-leg-like claws. The return ride was soothingly smooth as our crew chatted about places we’ve been and places we’re hoping to venture to while laying out on the front of the boat.

Other Tours

The Biscayne National Park Institute also offers a handful of other tours, including one to a Key Biscayne lighthouse (another historic gem) that parks along the water and lets you head up the top of the lighthouse. As a lighthouse lover, this tour was next on my list if I had another day here.

2. Ride an Airboat through Everglades National Park

After Key Biscayne, I noticed geographically how easily it would be to explore the Everglades. Despite never having a desire to travel to Florida again, at the very least the state was cognizant of placing its attractions in close proximity to each other. With my homebase in Homestead, Florida, the Everglades were a short drive away.

The one thing I knew I had to experience in the Everglades was an airboat tour. Like its two sister parks in the state, majority of this park is on the water. It’s also the third largest national park in the lower forty-eight states.

Airboats aren’t your typical boats. They’re iconic for their large fan in the rear of the boat that propels them forward. Riders feel a rush as the captain steers, making sharp lefts and hard rights. Tall, thin grass briefly slides against your arm as the boat speeds past miles and miles of the stretched sawgrass.

Along the way, the guide points out gators both in the thick of the grass and in the boat’s clearcut path. I saw about ten alligators total during the thirty-minute tour.

Like the other parks, there are designated companies that gained the seal of approval from the National Park Service to operate within the park. As you drive around the area, you’ll inevitable pass by countless companies offering airboat tours, but only the national park designated ones take you through national park waters. The authorized airboat businesses inside Everglades National Park include: Coopertown Airboats, Everglades Safari Park, and Gator Park. You can find more on these three companies here. I went with Everglades Safari Park and wasn’t too impressed with the guide, so definitely check out the other options! I wish we learned more about the history of the park as we were on the boat navigating the waters.

A beautiful day for an airboat ride through the Everglades.

Which of these experiences are you adding to your bucket list, or have already crossed off?