Winter break is almost here for Blaine High School, which is a great time to go on a vacation. But where’s a fun and exciting place to go to during this time of year? Southwest Florida! If you want to come here during this time, or if you do ever plan on going to Southwest Florida, there’s plenty of activities, views, and just know everything and anything to do in Southwest Florida!

The Sunshine State is one of the most popular states in the US where a lot of people come and visit. Some of the cities included in Southwest Florida are Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Sanibel, Naples, Marco Island, and Everglades city.

Beaches:

The Gulf of Mexico is the ocean that surrounds Southwest Florida, and there are many beaches that you can find and visit. Some include South Marco Beach, Bonita Beach, and Fort Myers Beach. At each of these beaches, you can look out into the “never-ending” Gulf of Mexico ocean, catch a glimpse of dolphins that jump in and out of the water, watch the sunset, and collect shells along the shoreline that come in many different sizes, colors and shapes!

Cayo Costa Island:

Cayo Costa is an island right outside of Cape Coral, a city also in Southwest Florida. There aren’t any roads to get there, so the only way to visit there would have to be by boat. This island has a beach, a view of the Gulf, and you can do things there like swim, fish, and collect even more shells.

Lover’s Key:

Don’t let the name fool you, this state park is for anyone. It’s another island, but there are roads to get there. Lover’s Key has a gift shop, a beach, and it is a popular hot spot for kayaking in Florida. Something that makes it interesting for people to come and see, is the riptides. Watch carefully for the flags marking how bad the riptides are during that day or time if you plan on swimming.

Mini-Golf Course – Jungle Golf:

There are many different mini-golf courses along Southwest Florida, but one of them, is called Jungle Golf. Like any other mini-golf course, it has its own unique decorations. This golf course has fake animals all around the golf course. Like full-sized elephants, giraffes, tigers, and more. Along your trip of golfing, you can also do a scavenger hunt. Find all the things hidden in the golf course, and win a coin to play another FREE game!

Naples Zoo:

From its name, this zoo is located in Naples, Florida. It’s a smaller zoo, but still has a wide variety of animals to see, and some in a unique and interesting way too, like the monkeys. The monkey’s in the zoo are located on small islands in Victoria Lake, a lake in the middle of the zoo. To get a good look at them, a free boat ride in the lake shows each different kind of monkey. None of them are caged in, but don’t let that scare you. “They stay on their own island,” according to the captain leading the boat ride.

Airport Tours in the Everglades:

Located more in Southern Florida, in Everglades City, there is an airboat tour there called Captain Jack’s Airboat Tour. Get a half an hour tour around the Everglades, go through many canals, find alligators and other animals swimming around, and listen to what the tour guide has to say about the history of the area and alligators. Yes, it’s very possible to see an alligator. “We may see some alligators, we might not, it all counts on Mother Nature to what we see,” says the tour guide.