If you had told me that northern Florida was secretly a tropical oasis full of crystal clear springs and wild beauty, I would have been absolutely shell-shocked. But after road tripping from Tennessee all the way down to the Everglades for spring break, I couldn’t believe how much I’d fall in love with northern Florida, and now I’m dying to return to adventure and explore there even more on a future vacation. Northern Florida is somehow under-the-radar, likely overshadowed by the beaches of South Florida and Disneyland, but it is well worth a visit in its own right. 

In this northern Florida travel guide I’ll be sharing an adventurous, outdoorsy take on what things to do, where to eat, where to stay, and why underrated northern Florida and not Miami should be your next spring break destination!

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The only downside is that it is privately owned, so the costs of visiting can rack up quickly: $15 admission for each individual plus a $12 rental each for a paddleboard. That being said, I thought it was well worth it for a full day of adventuring. The upside of it being privately owned is that they have a ton of facilities: a shop, rentals, bathrooms, and showers.

Want to paddleboard closer to Orlando? Try this paddleboard tour in Longwood – the guide will help point out wildlife and teach you more about the unique Florida ecosystems!

If you want to enjoy beautiful waters at a half of the price, go swimming at Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park, which is owned by the state and will only cost $6 per car to visit. There are also bathrooms and showers here plus a few picnic benches (with campgrounds too!), so bring some camp chairs and prepare to spend a full day by the waterside.

There is a separate swimming area that is set aside, but past that you can go kayaking or paddle boarding up the river. We didn’t get a chance to enjoy this section on the river on our trip, but I definitely want to come back with my own gear and explore more.

We took a scenic drive through Ocala National Forest and then spent a morning doing the Black Point Wildlife Drive, a seven-mile long auto birding tour at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. It cost $10 to visit the park, and I have to say I honestly enjoyed it so much more than the Everglades! Drive slowly, put your window down to listen to the bird calls, and look out for gators as well as plentiful Roseate Spoonbills, Anhingas, Wood Storks, White Ibises, Tricolor Herons, Glossy Ibises, and more!

If birding isn’t your thing but you still want to see wildlife – you can also paddlboard to watch for manatees and even catch bioluminescence here at night if you’re lucky!

Cocoa Beach features beautiful white sands and a pier with shops (with lots of ice cream shops!). You can find parking right by the pier, which made it super easy to visit and enjoy. I loved just watching the waves crash, it was such a soothing place, and definitely less busy than the beaches in the south!

There’s also a TON of fun activites you can do here – from a dolphin watching tour to learning to surf to doing a walking food tour.

For the ultimate bucket list experience, visit Devil’s Den and snorkel or scuba dive in a CAVE (!!!). It looked and felt like a Mexican cenote, and it was easily one of the most stunning places in all of northern Florida.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to visit at first, because this is another privately owned place and it is NOT for casual swimming; you must pay a $15 admission fee and then either bring your own gear or pay $10 for a snorkel rental. But I am so happy a few locals talked me into it because it was just incredible – you can see little fish and sometimes even a turtle in the freshwater! When you go, please be super respectful of the divers, because this is actually a scuba diving training center and not set up to be an Instagram hotspot, and it gets quite packed so try to avoid the peak times.

Visit some of the local springs in March through September (they tend to come later to northern Florida than southern Florida where the waters are warmer) to see these incredible creatures. If you see one in the water while you are kayaking, swimming, or paddle boarding, please still maintain a safe distance because all wildlife is unpredictable, no matter how friendly (and don’t ever feed wildlife!).

There are soooo so many incredible state parks in northern Florida; I feel like we barely scratched the surface. For the price of just a few dollars, you can hike, swim, float, camp, and more in jaw-dropping, tropical landscapes. I saw some of the bluest water I have ever seen in my life, and I honestly could not believe these locations existed within the United States.

I’m someone who loves gifting experiences > things so I’d definitely recommend checking out some of Tinggly’s Northern Florida experiences – my friend gifted me a kayak tour in Florida and we had the BEST time!

Here are some standout experiences for both Northern Florida & the surrounding areas to add onto  your trip:

🏨 Two night hotel getaway for a perfect, sun-soaked weekend

🚣‍♀️ A clear kayak tour in St. Petersburg or a clear kayak in Crystal River

🌴A zipline adventure in Tampa

⛵ A sailing charter from Fort Lauderdale

🐊 Fun together in Florida gift experience box with 460+ experiences to choose from for 1-4 people

PS as for MY gift to you – you can use code “REBECCA” FOR 20% off any of these experiences!

How long should you visit northern Florida for?? I think 5-7 days is just perfect, so you can fit it perfectly into your spring break or take a quick summer trip. But if you have more time, here are a few options to tack onto your northern Florida travels:

• Venture west to explore the beaches near Pensacola
• Take a scenic drive through Ocala National Forest and keep going east to spend sunset at Daytona Beach
• Head down south and take a boat tour of the the Everglades – here are a couple of tour options to increase your chance of seeing some amazing wildlife
• Explore even more springs: Rainbow Springs State Park, Madison Blue Springs State Park, Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, and many more!
• Spend time in Orlando on your way in or out of town and check out sealife at the Orlando Aquarium
• Go camping, visit more state parks, or go on a full southern road trip up the state and into Georgia, South Carolina, and beyond!

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