Things to Do in Pensacola

Run by the adventurers at Wild Native, City Safaris' urban expeditions invite participants to discover the unlikely thrills hidden within some of Mobile's stateliest settings. Whether they're recreating the festive fun of Mardi Gras, exploring downtown's historical haunts, or snooping through the inside of the U.S.S. Alabama and the surrounding grounds at Battleship Park, participants compete with one another while flexing their problem-solving muscles. Since friendly competition often brings out a participant's true nature, Wild Native's adventurers also schedule singles hunts that pair up prospective dates for an evening of strategizing.

Just off the white-sand coastline of northwest Florida, Lanier Sailing Academy teaches students to captain their own aquatic adventures with classes in cruising, chartering, and navigation. Classes include programs for beginners to advanced students, starting with the Practical Sailing for Basic Keelboat Certification course, in which novice navigators learn to steer boats, trim sails, and avoid swashbuckling sea otters. While working toward certification in various programs, students explore the Intracoastal Waterway and its bounty of dolphins, rays, blue pelicans, and myriad fish. Lanier Sailing Academy’s experienced members earn membership into the Buccaneer Sailing Club and are able to rent and sail 22- to 25-foot boats at their leisure.

Cypress Lakes Golf Club’s course was designed by William Amick to rise and fall across the natural landscape for 6,396 yards of fairways hugged by gentle waters and towering trees. Unlike most Floridian links, the course unfurls across somewhat mountainous terrain, where cresting hilltops can obscure distant targets, leading to blind shots that aren’t just the result of opponents kicking sand in your eyes. Fairways bob and weave around groves of leyland cypress trees, more than 300 crepe myrtle trees, and 500 lush azaleas, giving advantage to players who can work drives and approaches around the arboreal impediments. A circuit of streams ebbs and flows across the picturesque par 71, adding to the native obstacles and striking fear into the caramel hearts of hydrophobic golf balls. A roaming beverage cart slakes midround thirsts, and the club also boasts a driving range with grass hitting areas and a fully stocked pro shop.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by William Amick

• 18-hole, par-71 course

• Length of 6,396 yards from farthest tees

• Course rating of 70.4 from farthest tees

• Slope rating of 118 from farthest tees

• Four tee options

Winding through dense, verdant forests, the peaceful waters of the Perdido River form an aquatic highway for Perdido Natural Adventures' fleet of canoes, kayaks, and tubes. The company's rental watercrafts facilitate journeys into the natural habits and underground gambling rings of bald eagles, wild turkeys, beaver, and deer. As vessels float along the bass-filled river, white sand beaches beckon adventurers to swim and play in the water. Perdido Natural Adventures' shuttle facilitates each expedition, carrying rentals or customers' own vessels from Fran's Country Grill to various launch points along the river. The staff can also arrange overnight camping trips with the centaurs that manage the forest.

Emerald Coast Tours' knowledgeable guides champion the bicycle as Pensacola's ideal mode of transport. They strive to serve as ambassadors to city visitors, customizing sightseeing biking tours to suit cyclists' interests and happily recommending travel destinations to patrons seeking daylong rentals. Their shop's single-speed Sun Revolutions cruisers prove ideal for coasting down city streets and laying siege to sand castles along the coastline.

Steve Hill was frustrated. An avid paddleboarder, he was unable to find a shop in Florida's panhandle that demoed and sold equipment. Undeterred, he took matters into his own hands and opened GUSU Paddlesports, filling the shop with colorful racks of boards ready to lend their buoyancy to everyone from beginners to surf paddlers to racers.

GUSU Paddlesports' staff builds their business around the motto "try before you buy." They offer a full lineup of demo equipment that customers can test before sliding a giant wedding ring onto boards from brands such as Jimmy Lewis, Ohana, Tahoe SUP, and paddles by Quickblade and Kialoa. In addition to sales and rentals, the crew also teaches paddleboarding classes and leads scenic tours into nearby Destin Harbor.