Florida

Florida is a subtropical playground for beachgoing, snorkeling and diving (including its crystal-clear freshwater springs), paddling mangroves and rivers, fishing, and birding year-round. Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas national parks, the springs at Silver and Ichetucknee, and the Gulf and Atlantic beaches anchor it.

Winter and spring (December–April) are the dry, comfortable peak season with the best wildlife viewing and fewest mosquitoes. Summer is hot, humid, and stormy, with hurricane risk into the fall.

Alligators, manatees, the endangered Florida panther (fewer than ~200), sea turtles, dolphins, and more than 500 bird species inhabit Florida — the only place where alligators and crocodiles coexist.

From the Everglades' sawgrass marsh and cypress swamps to pine flatwoods, coral reef, and spring-fed rivers, Florida holds vast and threatened subtropical ecosystems, including the largest subtropical wilderness in the U.S.

Florida is a flat carbonate peninsula atop the porous Floridan aquifer, riddled with sinkholes, caves, and over 1,000 freshwater springs, fringed by barrier islands and the only living coral reef in the continental U.S. The Everglades form a 60-mile-wide, inches-deep 'River of Grass.'

The Calusa, Timucua, and Seminole peoples lived here; the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes remain. St. Augustine (1565) is the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city in the U.S. Florida became the 27th state in 1845.

Beach, fishing, diving, and spring-swimming culture, plus a strong manatee- and bird-watching tradition and Cuban and Caribbean influences, define Florida's outdoors.

Everglades restoration — the largest such effort in U.S. history — plus combating invasive Burmese pythons, protecting springs from pollution, and reef recovery are the defining issues.

Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville have major airports. A vehicle is essential; the Everglades, Keys, and springs are spread across the state.

Heat, humidity, mosquitoes, lightning (Florida leads the nation in strikes), rip currents, and alligators all require respect. Never feed or approach gators, and heed hurricane warnings.

State parks charge a fee, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission administers licenses; the national parks require passes, and many springs and reefs have manatee- and reef-protection rules.

Use reef-safe sunscreen, and never approach manatees or alligators.

Visit in the dry winter season for the best wildlife and fewest bugs. Swim the crystal-clear springs in summer, use reef-safe sunscreen, and never approach alligators or manatees.

Florida borders Georgia and Alabama and lies a short hop from the Bahamas and the Caribbean, linking beaches, the Everglades, and tropical island trips.