Things to Do in Clermont

Having seen an upswing in interest in one of the world’s oldest dance styles, Johanna and Karen started a belly-dancing collective in 2004 as a way to create a community for both professionals and students and an audience for monthly showcases. They gave these enthusiasts a brick-and-mortar hangout in 2008 when they opened their first center for classes and events, which has since blossomed and moved into a new space nearly four times the size of the old studio.

Today, Hip Expressions offers drop-in and ongoing classes led by seasoned instructors. Classes focus on introducing newcomers to the art form’s fundamental isolation techniques that keep hips and waists from arguing over the remote. In addition to belly dancing, classes include a variety of other dances and fitness crazes such as Zumba, yoga for dancers, or active isolated stretching.

The black-belted trainers at Florida Martial Arts and Fitness Center condition and arm students with self-defense skills that may come in handy in real-life situations. Students can focus solely on self-defense techniques with krav maga, an intuitive street-fighting style developed by a decorated Czechoslovakian athlete in the 1930s, or tae kwon do, which builds a sense of confidence as well as snappy reflexes and a collection of stylish belts. Participants in one-hour kickboxing classes can burn up to 1,000 calories, and yoga classes build inner strength and balance. Field-day classes take fitness training outdoors for sunshine and fresh air. Athletes who attend a monthly weapon-disarming seminar learn to strip assailants of knives, guns, or wooden marshmallow spears.

Helmed by a crew of Coast Guard-licensed captains, Daytona Beach Parasail orchestrates coastal adventures that include parasailing, fishing charters, and kayak rentals on local clear waters. Beneath puffy horizon-skirting clouds, banana-boat rides slice through waters just offshore, pulled behind a high-speed watercraft manned by a captain with at least one banana tattoo. Some of the best underwater views come courtesy of the company's eco tours, in which flat-bottomed boats provide closeup views of leaping dolphins, swimming manatees, and gracefully moving stingrays beneath the water's surface.Daytona Beach Parasail also provides shuttle service to and from nearby hotels for no extra charge.

Judie Dazzio believes that everyone can be an artist. And at Dazzio Art Experience—a comprehensive art school—she helps everyone from children to adults and novices to professionals harness their creativity. Though she's a painter herself—having won awards for her work with watercolors and acrylics—she caters to range of artistic interests, offering classes in acrylics and watercolors but also branching out into sculpture, illustration, and Photoshop. For the experienced artist, she and her instructors provide developmental classes to help them produce portfolio pieces and host group critique sessions.

Beyond teaching her students the techniques to create, she also displays their works in a gallery attached to her school. Here, rows upon rows of painted canvases, sculptures, and handcrafted jewelry showcase their newly acquired talents.

The indoor and outdoor attractions at Easy Street Family Fun Center make it their mission to entertain visitors both young and old. Driven to succeed by Honda motors, single and double gasoline-powered go-karts whip around an outdoor track during seven-minute heats, speeding down straightaways, roaring through turns, and dodging spiked tortoise shells. The 18-hole mini golf course draws the eye with creative scenery such as a downed, half-submerged plane, and each hole takes players up hills, around rocks, and over bridges in search of low scores. Inside the fun factory lies an arcade with 60 games and an indoor gym where kids 2 and older can pretend to be intrepid explorers climbing a mountain made of jungle-gym parts. After fun and games, the snack bar kindly offers to refuel families and friends with pizza, burgers, and high-octane ice cream.

Once a support vessel that transported oil-rig workers around the Gulf of Mexico, the 100-foot-long Pastime Princess now takes up to 100 anglers on deep-sea fishing trips between 11 and 23 miles off shore. Beyond transporting fishermen into these Atlantic waters, the Pastime Princess maintains guests' comfort with air conditioning, bathrooms cleaned daily, and a galley where chefs prepare a menu of grilled fare. The boat's crew supplies anglers of all skills levels with necessary gear, including bait, and furnishes passengers with fishing licenses. They also clean catches, which guests can tote home or have cooked at Dolphin View Seafood Restaurant upon returning to land. To enhance revelry aboard the boat, hands organize a winner-take-all jackpot for whoever catches the largest edible fish or still-useable mattress. An FAQ page anticipates common questions and lists some recommendations, such as advising anglers to arrive 45 minutes before departure and to bring coolers no larger than 20 inches.