Page 24 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to Florida

SPORTS
KEY WEST SAILING REGATTA • ANDY NEWMAN/FLORIDA KEYS NEWS BUREAU/HO
It is staged in late March at the Hard Rock Stadium in the city of Miami Gardens.
RACING TO WIN
It doesn’t get any bigger and better than the DAYTONA 500 in Daytona Beach, occurring in February. It’s NASCAR’s speedy answer to the NFL’s Super Bowl.
Sebring, in Central Florida, hosts the popular MOBIL 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.
Just south of Miami in Homestead, the Homestead-Miami Speedway hosts the Dixie Vodka 400, a NASCAR Cup Series race held in October.
FAB FISHING
You’ll be reeled in by all of Florida’s phenom- enal fishing possibilities. Amazingly, Florida has over 8,000 miles of shoreline if you include inlets, bays and capes. Better still, the weather is warm year-round so you can fish any day of the year.
Marinas for deep-sea charters are located in all parts of the state. Two of the most noted are Islamorada in the Keys, which is known as the “Sport Fishing Capital of the World,” and Destin in the Panhandle that’s been dubbed “The World’s Luckiest Fishing Village.” There are also numerous piers, docks and bridges where you can drop a line and make a big saltwater catch as well as reefs and wrecks offshore where fish congregate.
For freshwater enthusiasts, Lake Okeechobee and rivers in the Everglades are great spots to fish for largemouth bass, bluegills and sunfish. Throughout the state, a network of lakes, canals and channels provides excellent places to fish for largemouth bass, catfish and crappie.
EXPLORE THE SEA
One of the appealing aspects of snorkeling in Florida is the wide variety of “shore dives” possible. You don’t have to swim far to see amazing marine life.
The Florida Keys has dozens of intriguing spots such as Cannon Beach at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, where you can see placed remnants of an early Spanish shipwreck about 100 feet off the beach, and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park off Key West, where you can view tropical fish
Tallahassee’s Florida State Seminoles and Miami University’s Hurricanes. The Gators have won three national championships, the Seminoles have won three and the Hurricanes have captured five. Other colleges with top-flight Division 1 programs where you can experience the game with all of the colorful pageantry are the University of Central Florida in Orlando, University of South Florida in Tampa and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
At the end of each season in December and early January, Florida hosts several major college football bowl games, including the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl and ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa; RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton; Capital One Orange Bowl at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens; Cheez-it Citrus Bowl, and The Duluth Trading Cure Bowl are played at Camping World Stadium and Exploria Stadium in Orlando; and, TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.
SOCCER IN THE SUN
Florida has quietly become a haven for great professional soccer. Orlando City SC of the MLS plays to record-breaking crowds at Exploria Stadium in downtown Orlando. The team has a loyal fan base as well as fun tailgating parties before the games. Another MLS team, the Inter Miami CF, is a team co- owned by David Beckham. They play at the DRV PNK Stadium.
Fortunately, there are plenty of opportu- nities to see the sport in Florida. The National Women’s Soccer League is represented by the Orlando Pride and there are several Florida-based teams in the National Premier Soccer League.
OWN THE ICE
With two NHL teams in the state, Florida offers fans superb opportunities to see first- rate hockey on their visit. Playing their games at Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa, the Tampa Bay Lightning have qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs 13 times in 28 seasons and won the cherished trophy three times— once in 2004 and with back-to-back wins in 2020 and 2021. Farther south, in the Miami metropolitan area, the Florida Panthers skate at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise. The Panthers are the southernmost team in the NHL and have qualified for playoffs a total of 8 times in their 29 season since their debut in 1994.
TERRIFIC TENNIS
The fuzzy ball set loves to play and watch tennis in Florida. Resorts like Boca Raton Beach Club, Saddlebrook Resort near Tampa and Omni Amelia Island Resort north of Jacksonville have expansive, world-class tennis complexes. Spectators enjoy the Miami Open presented by Itaú, which dates back to 1985 and has featured major stars such as Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
22 2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO FLORIDA