Florida - where to visit?

[AqCons]

We are going to Indian Shores, Florida in a few weeks. Indian Shores is on the gulf side. Just wondering if anyone here has any comments about where to visit (aside from theme parks). We have 2 girls 15 and 8. I'm sure they'll want to go shell collecting, shopping (not the common type stores), etc. We will have a rental car but we need to be able to come back to Indian Shores at the end of the day.

Thanks for any advice!

P.S. Any snorkeling around there

Any dolphin encounter type things around there?

 

[Surferlopez]

plenty of things to do in the tampa bay area, yes there is the theme parks and what not, but if you have any free time- you should check out the florida aquarium, Honeymoon and Caladesi Islands, for shopping I would recommend International Plaza, If you are into a little gambling, there is also the Hard Rock casino- plenty to do in the bay area

you can probably check out the Tampa Bay Reef Club Forums and I'm sure there will plenty of opinions on where to go.
Danny

 

[natex]

Gator Land. 'nuff said.

*they actually bill it as Central Florida's best half day of entertainment

 

[nickels]

Key Largo has the best snorkling.

 

[Steve M UK]

I agree that the bet snorkling is down in Key Largo. The following link gives you some information.
http://www.pennekamppark.com/snorkeling.html

Dolphin encounters can be found at either Discovery Cove in Orlando
http://www.discoverycove.com

or at Miami's Seaquarium
http://www.miamiseaquarium.com/content/view/18/87/

Sea World in Orlando is a great opportunity to see loads of water life and there is a dolphin experience in as much as you can feed them and stroke them.

All of these could be done as a day trip (just take some entertainment for the girls during the car journey!!)

 

[Markk96]

[moved]

 

[BankerJohn]

I'm not completely sure where Indian Shores is... and I am a Florida Native. One the Gulf Coast, look north of Tampa on the coast for Crystal River. In Crystal River, you can snorkel with Manatee's; see http://www.birdsunderwater.com/

A great fun day trip for different types of shopping would be the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs (a GREAT little greek community founded on the sponge industry on 1905) which is located on the North border of Pinellas County; see http://www.tarponsprings.com/sponge.html

Another short day trip for great sights and the REAL Florida would be to the town of Cedar Key; see http://www.cedarkey.org/

You may also want to purchase a book called "One Tank Trips" which is published for the sole purpose of making day trips throughout the state of Florida. See http://www.wtvt.com/onetank/onetanktrip.html

I hope this helps...

 

[BlitzK]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6824052#post6824052 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BankerJohn
I'm not completely sure where Indian Shores is... and I am a Florida Native.

http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=Indian+Shores,+FL

 

[college429]

Two words.......

Two words.......

Two words.........
Busch Gardens. Great theme park!!!

 

[mrferrit]

i would say do the dolphin cruise or egmont cruise or shell island curise out of johns pass my fav. is the hubbards marina for boats there real nice people there. you could also do a dinner cruise on the starlight princess. you could go downtown st pete for museams (sp?) if you can get a boat to snorkle around egmont its pretty nice. water still a bit chilly though.

 

[AqCons]

Thanks for all the info! I will look into all this before we go. We have been to Indian Shores before and absolutely loved it. It's not quite as crowded as Clearwater. Last time we were there we rented a boat, went to Disneyworld, and drove to St. Pete's beach. But we didn't have as much time as we wanted there. We were originally going to stay in Orlando but decided at the last minute to go to Clearwater. But Clearwater was too crowded for us and we kept driving until we found what we were looking for. We stayed at Sand Glo Villa last time and loved it so much we are going to stay there again this time. This time I'm going to be much more prepared in regards to what there is to do around there.

Thanks again!

 

[BLUE OASIS]

There are many places to visit while you are here.

There are of course the theme parks (Bush Gardens-about 45 min from you, Disney,Seaworld - about 1 1/2- 2 hours away.)

Indian shores is down the block from Johns Pass, which has little shops to shop in, but nice to walk on during dusk.

Clearwater beach is nice and pier 60, you can take a boat ride or rent wave runners and is also a nice place.

if you are interested in more to see e mail us at blueoasis5@aol.com

N & G