The great US sports
Baseball. As in other states, Florida has elevated baseball to the status of a national sport, with its flagship team the Marlins. Marlins Park, renamed LoanDepot Park in March 2021, is the team's home stadium. A stadium with a capacity of 37,000 people located in the heart of the Little Havana neighborhood. West Central Florida also offers the opportunity to attend a game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg (a 42,000-seat, fully air-conditioned indoor stadium!), home of the nearby Tampa Bay Rays franchise. The Major League Baseball (MLB) season begins in early April and ends in early October.
American Football. In Florida, as in the rest of the country, American soccer is a traditional part of American culture. A very physical and tactical sport, it is very popular among all levels of society. In general, very few children have never been exposed to American soccer and very few Americans do not love a particular franchise. Florida has two teams in the prestigious NFL, the North American championship: the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Basketball. In Florida, the Orlando Magic are the most legendary NBA team in the country, and are best known for the NBA debut of star Shaquille O'Neal in the early 1990s. While the Florida team fell in the finals in 1995 (as in 2009), the other great team of the state, the Miami Heat, won the supreme title in 2006, led by its superstars Dwyane Wade and... Shaquille O'Neal! Two more titles followed in 2012 and 2013 thanks to the "Big Three" composed of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The last two Floridian titles to date.
Field hockey. Although we tend to associate it with the harsh winters of Canada and the northern United States, this ice sport is well suited to the tropical climate of Florida, with the Panthers (who play in Sunrise, near Miami) and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A legendary circuit
Where? In Daytona Beach, of course. One of the oldest seaside resorts in Florida is also very famous for its car and motorcycle races and its mythical Daytona International Speedway which can welcome... 168,000 spectators! A circuit on which the legendary Daytona 500 stock car race is held every year in February. And many others throughout the year.
A passion for... Basque pelota!
Incredible, but true! A variation of Basque pelota called "jaï alaï" is very popular in Florida. Historically, this sport was imported by the Basques in Latin American countries, such as Cuba, and it was these immigrants who brought it to Florida, especially to Miami. The difference with classic Basque pelota is that the side wall is longer (54 m), which allows the ball to go up to 300 km/h. This makes it one of the fastest ball sports in the world. It is very popular and is played in different cities and regions of Florida, namely Miami, Dania Beach, Ocala, Fort Pierce, Orlando and Hamilton County.
On the water, many options
Sailing. The must in Florida is the "sunset cruise" on a sailboat, i.e. the cruise at sunset, with a drink in hand. All the tourist cities offer it in their marina but it is in the Keys, and in particular in Key West, that the offer is the most important. It must be said that in Key West, watching the sunset is a true religion and always a sublime spectacle... To rent a boat or moor your boat, there are also possibilities in Key Biscayne and Fort Lauderdale.
Paddle. You can paddle almost everywhere in Florida. You will find paddleboat rentals, lessons with instructors, and guided paddleboarding trips in almost every major tourist resort town: Miami, Daytona Beach, Saint Petersburg, Key West, Key Largo, Islamorada, etc.
Kitesurfing. This sliding sport, which consists in being pulled on a board by directing a kite, is an activity that can easily be practiced in Florida. In Key Biscayne, Crandon Park Beach, a large and quiet beach, is the best kitesurfing spot in Miami, especially because of its huge and almost deserted beach and its exposure to the wind. It is not by chance that one of the inventors of kitesurfing, Christophe Ribot, who is French, established his kitesurfing school there. You can take lessons there as well as rent your kitesurfing equipment.
Surfing. Even if the waters of Florida are rather calm and the Caribbean has nothing to do with the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii, you can also surf in Florida. But, because of the not very impressive waves, it will be especially the beginners who will have fun... In Miami, you will be able to practice this activity without any problem and take initiation lessons.
An international fishing Mecca
With its 1,600 miles of beaches, access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, its many creeks, rivers, wetlands and lakes, not to mention the docks, piers and shorelines, you can't escape sport or recreational fishing on the Florida coast. Many tourists come to Florida, in the footsteps of Hemingway, just to catch swordfish. A fishing license is mandatory. You can buy it in most fishing tackle stores. Huge charter boats pick up about 100 fishermen every morning at about 8:00 a.m. in most major ports. The trips last half a day or a day. The crew stores the catch in ice and prepares it for you at the port. There are also small boats for six people. In the Keys, Islamorada is considered the sport fishing capital of the world, so it's a must-see for sport fishing fans!
Beautiful underwater discoveries
It would be a shame to go to Florida without doing some diving, even for novices. The Palm Beach County coast is an ideal area for scuba diving. The amateurs will be seduced by the aquatic fauna and flora of this region, one of the most beautiful of the East Coast. But it is above all in the Keys that you must go if you are a diving enthusiast! This coral region is endowed with transparent water, gentle currents and superb sea beds. It is in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo and in the waters of the Dry Tortugas National Park, populated by turtles of course, that you will find the most beautiful underwater bottoms of the state and the most important schools of fish. Still in the Keys, you can also go to Bahia Honda State Park to practice snorkeling or dive to discover the coral reef of Looe Island in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Finally, you can also go for a walk in Biscayne National Park to meet turtles, stingrays and small sharks and discover a wreck. Note that the north of the state of Florida is a Mecca for cave diving.
A golf and tennis destination
Golf. It is one of the most popular sports in Florida (and a true institution in the United States). The mild winters and the number of retirees still active and totally free with their time have made Florida a golf paradise. Entire communities have been planned and organized around greens whose courses are often used as landmarks to give an address. There are hundreds of golf courses here, and some cities are covered with a breathtaking number of square kilometers of greens, with Palm Beach and Naples in the lead. The latter is the second city in the United States with the highest concentration of golf holes per household!
Tennis. Florida is also a paradise for tennis enthusiasts: with nearly 8,000 centers, it is easy to maintain your backhand. In addition, the Miami Masters 1000, an important stop on the ATP circuit, is held every year at the end of March at Hard Rock Stadium. Finally, the famous coach of champions Nick Bollettieri, who trained players like Agassi or the Williams sisters, has his training center in Bradenton, near Tampa.
Beautiful bike and mountain bike routes
Florida can eventually be visited by bike, the paved bike paths are good and extend for hundreds of kilometers. But above all, for each stop, a bicycle is always a plus: no headache to find a parking place, a climate that is always friendly (except in summer when the humid heat can be stifling) and distances that are short enough to be practicable by everyone. In Miami, in the South Beach neighborhood, the boardwalk, the long promenade that runs along the waterfront, is ideal for bike rides. In fact, there is a bike rental system in Miami Beach, identical to the Vélib' system in Paris, available to tourists. To explore wilder landscapes, you should leave Miami itself and go mountain biking on the bike paths of theHistoric Virginia Key Beach Park and explore its small mangrove. The Everglades is also a huge playground for mountain bikers who can ride the park's trails close to nature; the Shark Valley loop trail (about 24 km) is a must for cyclists. In the rest of the state, you can also go biking in Hamilton County in Big Shoals State Park and in the 85 km² of savannah of Paynes Prairie State Preserve south of Gainesville. The forests of Apalachicola, the largest in the state, or theOcala National Forest are also indicated, as is the Lake Trail in Palm Beach. In short, warm up!
