Things to Do in Hobe Sound
Recommended Things to Do by Groupon Customers
The instructors at Fantasy Farms Equestrian Center help students become comfortable with horses both on and off the saddle. During private lessons, instructors focus purely on riding technique. And during more advanced horsemanship and riding sessions, the educators show serious riders how to tend to essential horse-maintenance duties, such as remembering to top off the tank with unleaded hay. The Fantasy Farms team also shares equine enthusiasm in the form of therapeutic riding sessions, which give children with autism and other cognitive disabilities the opportunity to pet and ride horses in a safe, controlled environment.
A sea turtle proudly displays its intricately patterned shell. A stingray safely brushes its sleek skin against a child’s hand, grazing the top of a 10,000-gallon tank. A bird splashes into mangrove swamps to snatch fish. Sensory experiences like these occur on a regular basis at the 57-acre Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center on Hutchinson Island, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River Lagoon. As the headquarters for the nonprofit Florida Oceanographic Society, the center strives to both educate the public and inspire environmental stewardship of Florida’s coastal ecosystems.
Among the center’s many activities, visitors can high-five crustaceans at the Sea Star Touch Tank Pavilion and watch a live feeding at the 750,000-gallon Game Fish Lagoon. Educational programs throughout the day explore the lives of sea turtles and explain how to identify local fish that refuse to wear nametags. Just past a colorful butterfly garden and aquariums at the Frances Langford Visitors Center, guests can find nature trails that wend through mangrove swamps and hardwood hammocks. Here, they can see the natural state of a bio-diverse estuary, along with endangered plants and animals that the Florida Oceanographic Society is striving to save through research as well as educational and restoration initiatives.
Every day, Cynthia, manager of Jupiter Pointe Paddling, opens her hibiscus-adorned rental hut to let adventure seekers set sail from the sandy banks of a crescent-shaped private beach. A complimentary lesson accompanies every kayak or paddleboard rental, letting beginners get their bearings before they glide toward a nearby sandbar to spot sea turtles, manatees, and majestic stingrays. More experienced water skimmers can paddle up to the Jupiter Lighthouse, which grants a glimpse of 120 palm-studded acres punctuated by 25 special-status species of wildlife and one boring labrador. The staff of water warriors also mixes up the aqueous activities with Mommy and Me sessions, standup-paddleboard-yoga classes, and kids' lessons, along with exalting the outdoors with full-moon celebrations and sealife-spotting tours.
The walls of their studio brim with paintings from their classes, ranging from sunlit beach scenes to bolder, more abstract compositions. Specialty classes reach beyond the canvas to adorn household ornaments such as wine glasses, candleholders, and boring old family tintypes.
The pro instructors at Jupiter Equestrian Center welcome every opportunity to blend their two passions: horseback riding and the gorgeous scenery of the gated Ranch Colony community. Along the facility’s 20-acre expanse, equestrians demonstrate horseback-riding and handling skills through lessons, trail rides, camps, and competitive shows. During lessons, riders master basics such as grooming and trotting or more complicated skills such as leaps and elective hoof surgery. At day camp, kids ride horses for part of the day and spend the remaining hours with an array crafts, games, hikes, and time aboard boats or in pools. Guides from the center's sister program, Sandi Trails, captain adventures into nearby wilderness on trail rides, some venturing into the sun-drenched depths of state park forests. Birthday parties stay on site, unleashing revelers and school-aged horses in a petting zoo or picnic area.
