Cocoa Beach, FL Outdoor Activities

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.

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.

Renowned golf-course architect Bobby Weed aims to fill his courses with the kind of rich details typically produced only by Mother Nature herself. His 2008 overhaul of The Deltona Club completely transformed the course: today, blowout-style native-sand bunkers bear roughly scalloped edges that call to mind a raw desert landscape, and the elevation rises in craggy steps as the course progresses, giving players a sense of conquering the land itself. The course's resulting beauty, sense of challenge, and secret bonus level snagged the club a spot on Golfweek's list of best Florida courses in 2012.

Daytona Ice Arena sends skaters glissading across an ultra-smooth, NHL regulation-size sheet of ice. Bleacher seating with room for more than 300 spectators looms behind the glass on one side of the rink, and above, a snack bar overlooking the facility doles out refreshments. While escaping Florida's heat and the panhandling paddleboards that come with it, visitors to the frosty, 35,000-square-foot arena can soak up extra relaxation at the Penalty Box Sports Pub, which accompanies elevated views of the ice with an arsenal of big-screen TVs. The building—located just minutes from the beach—buzzes daily during public skating sessions but also plays host to a medley of other ice-tied triumphs including learn-to-skate programs, birthday parties, and youth and adult hockey leagues.

One of the few undisturbed black-water streams still coursing through Florida, Spruce Creek teems with endangered wildlife flitting through placid waters and along its verdant shores. The outfitters at Cracker Creek Canoeing equip adventurers to explore those backwaters with kayaks, pontoons, and even hydro bikes, which chart courses through dense hardwood forests, cypress swamps, and coastal marshes. Additionally, Cracker Creek Canoeing’s launch point occupies a 20-acre 1930s homestead retrofitted with picnic tables, restrooms, and maps for hopelessly lost tugboat captains.

For years, New Smyrna residents have paddled throughout the marshy backwaters of the Indian River lagoon, finding solace among the area's gentle tides, unclouded skies, and abundance of marine life. United by a respect for their natural surroundings and a knack for paddleboarding, a local family joined forces to form the award-winning New Smyrna Stand Up. With dolphins and manatees swimming below and ospreys sailing above, the experienced guides lead tours down the river, journeying out into the ocean when weather permits. In the summer months, the center conducts children's camps, in which youngsters learn paddleboarding techniques while exploring the area's ecosystem. They study local wildlife and marine creatures and learn to identify the origins of passing inner-tubers by the shape of their heads. In addition to tours and camps, the staff offers paddleboard rentals and standup-paddleboard surfing lessons.