Destin, FL Outdoor Activities

Although true time travel is still a thing of science fiction, Teddy and Jenny Meeks have captured a similar sensation at Pier Park. In 2009, the couple purchased the 1964 Allan Herschell Carousel that had been an iconic attraction at the now-closed Miracle Strip Amusement Park. The 30 horses and two chariots were immediately swarmed with giddy riders—some children, and some adults who fondly remembered feeding the horses wooden apples at the carousel's former home. The spinning steeds so charmed the locals that Teddy and Jenny began a more comprehensive revival. They bought Miracle Strip's 1985 Balloon Race and 1952 Red Baron rides, and when they couldn't find the park's original 1975 Ferris wheel, they hunted for one of the same make and model.

The Big Eli wheel now awards its guests views over the Gulf of Mexico and several other classic rides, including a Tilt-a-Whirl and train cars that kids crank by hand. Flowers cloak hanging baskets, and topiaries mimicking animal figures accent sandy paths, adding to the venue's picturesque nostalgia. Teddy and Jenny have also installed a butterfly pavilion, about which Bay Life magazine reports that visitors can glimpse 700 flying specimens, hatching cocoons, and caterpillars drawing up blueprints for wings.

Panama City visitors and natives are never more than a hop, a skip, and a parasail away from aquatic amusement, thanks to Adventures at Sea’s more than 60 locations, most stationed behind Panama City Beach's hotels and condos. The staff rents out pontoon boats for trips to Shell Island and pulls up to six riders on inflatable banana boats with a speedy jet ski. Experienced crews captain charter fishing trips and give fishers everything they need to catch trophies such as king mackerel, red groupers, and Stanley Cups that got away. After action-packed days filled with sunny memories, visitors can rent a lounge chair and soak up the sunset.

A 5,000-square-foot splash park, 50-meter Olympic pool with diving well, covered picnic shelter, and full concession stand await visitors to PCB Aquatic Center, which invites bathing-suit clad citizens to revel in its refreshing, state-of-the-art facilities. After emerging from locker rooms with heated showers, patrons can plunge into classes on lifeguarding, water-aerobics instructing, or basic and advanced pool figure-drawing or just relax and lap alongside other swimmers in the temperature-controlled waters. As scuba-geared divers explore underwater views in certification courses, children can splash their way into swim lessons led by certified water-safety instructors, before winding down from their amphibious education by winding down one of several water slides.

Chief aviator Evan Jordan of Jordan Aviation take cloud-gazers into the skies in services that range from scenic rides to full pilot-certification programs. The outfit's educational fleet of well-maintained Cessna 172N aircraft, act as aerial classrooms for students logging hours en route to a pilot's license and novices getting a first taste of flight. Instructors begin Discovery Flights with a brief overview of plane operation, from instruments in the cockpit to the propellers that chop clouds into Mentos. Once aloft, they allow the student to take the controls if they so choose. Jordan Aviation calls Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport its home base and schedules flights Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Parachuting and boating fuse into a single sport at Goin’ Coastal Parasailing. The company's CWS motorboats pull visitors harnessed to rainbow-hued parachutes on airborne adventures above the waves as a United States Coast Guard-certified captain helms each boat. Staff ensures safety with new equipment that's checked daily for wear and tear or hostile seagull graffiti. Posttrip, they help adventurers commemorate their one-, two- or three-passenger rides with video footage and T-shirts. To mark special occasions, the captains also embark on chartered parasailing journeys.

Just off the beach, a man floats over the water, suspended in the air by streams of water jetting from his hands and feet as though he were testing an Iron Man–inspired apparatus. This back-mounted pack—called a Flyboard—works through a propulsive system that continually intakes and rapidly expels water, pushing the rider into the air or wherever he or she directs it to fly. The Flyboard, along with aqua trikes and motorized surfboards, comprise the unique rental fleet of Power Up Watersports. With these advanced watercrafts, Power Up’s team hopes to evolve Destin’s watersports scene, which includes plans to train the area’s dolphins to serve drinks.