Cool Ways to Cool Off in Florida

Splish and splash in Florida’s water parks. At Wet ‘n Wild (www.wetnwildorlando.com) in Orlando, guests can float down the lazy river, zoom down slides in multi-passenger tubes and boogie down in the Disco H2O ride. In Silver Springs, Wild Waters (www.wildwaterspark.com) keeps it cool with a 450,000 gallon wave pool. Do you have a need for speed? Try to tackle the three-story high Hurricane or 220-foot long Silver Bullet speed flumes. Adventure Island (www.adventureisland.com), located across the street from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, combines a relaxed Key West atmosphere with high speed thrills to create a great family attraction dripping with fun. Aquatica (www.aquaticabyseaworld.com), SeaWorld’s brand new 60-acre water park, submerges guests in up-close animal experiences, high speed thrills and sandy beaches. Aquatica features 36 winding and twisting water slides, six relaxing rivers, luxurious lagoons and more than 80,000 square-feet of bountiful beach area.

Spend Mother’s Day with Mother Nature

Take your mom out to lunch for Mother’s Day…Outdoors, that is. Florida gardens are the perfect place for a picnic. Harry P. Leu Gardens (www.leugardens.org), a 50-acre botanical wonder, is located five minutes from downtown Orlando. Among the largest camellia collection in Eastern North America, guests can enjoy pathways through the tropical stream garden, rose garden, butterfly garden or palm garden. Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (www.kanapaha.org) in Gainesville is home to 16 major gardens, including a hummingbird garden, butterfly garden and water gardens. Take a lunch break in the state's largest public bamboo collection or the largest herb garden in the Southeast. Or tour the 60-acre botanical showcase and wildlife sanctuary of Flamingo Gardens (www.flamingogardens.org). Rare, exotic and native plants, along with Florida wildlife, can be viewed while picnicking with mom.

Get Your Feet Wet With Florida’s Water Sports

If you are tired of lounging on the beach and are looking for a bit more excitement, try some of Florida’s water sports. Blue Water Sports (www.bluewatersports.net) in Tallahassee provides training, sales and rentals. Supplying both scuba and paddling adventures, Blue Water Sports provides great times on the water. Caribbean Water Sports (www.caribbeanwatersports.com) in Key Largo, not only offers a wide variety of activities, but also helps you create a personalized water sports itinerary to fit your schedule and budget. Try parasailing, snorkeling on the reef, jet skiing or kayaking.

Swing with the Pros at Florida’s Championship Golf Courses

Swing with the pros on some of Florida’s golf courses, where professional tournaments are played. Saw Grass Golf Resort & Spa (www.sawgrassmarriott.com) is one of Florida’s premier golf resorts, and home to The 2008 Player’s Championship this month. It offers exclusive access to one of the PGA Tour’s most venerable tournament courses, ranked among the top 80 golf courses in the world, according to Golf Magazine. Orlando’s Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge (www.bayhill.com) is a breathtaking course that sweeps across 270 acres of native Florida surroundings, along the shores of the Butler Chain of Lakes. This course features 27 holes of tour championship golf, challenging both professionals and amateurs. TPC Tampa Bay (www.tpctampabay.com) is an 18-hole, par 71, stadium-style course designed to not only challenge the top golfers of the world, but to provide a fun experience for players of all abilities. In Daytona Beach, the LPGA International Golf Course (www.lpgainternational.com) has maintained a standard of excellence since opening in 1994. As the host of numerous LPGA Tour Championships, the LPGA International Golf Course offers a challenging course with immaculate surroundings.

Be a Kid Again At These Florida Hotels

Whether you have kids or not, all ages can play in these fun Florida hotels. At Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando (www.universalorlando.com), kids can feel like they are right in the middle of Jurassic Park with Kid Suites themed after the movie. Mom and Dad can enjoy some privacy in a connected room, while the kids enjoy some fun. Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn (www.nickhotel.com) in Orlando offers families two-and three-bedroom themed Kidsuites, two pools with slides, flumes and pool side entertainment, daily character breakfast with SpongeBob SquarePants, live Nickelodeon entertainment and scheduled transportation to the theme parks. Life is sweet. Another choice is the Ginn Reunion Resort (www.reunionresort.com) in Kissimmee, where the water playground and programs were designed by kids, for kids. Complete with flume rides, slides, pools and a lazy river, families can splish and splash in the water playground all day. Ginn Reunion Resort also has daily activities available providing supervision and a good time, including pool games, crafts, movie night and more.

“Out of This World” Fun in Florida

Explore the far reaches of the universe for National Astronomy Day, May 17, in one of Florida’s planetariums or space complexes. At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (www.kennedyspacecenter.com) in Titusville, space explorers can experience the intensity of lift-off in the new Shuttle Launch Experience. Tours of NASA's spaceport facilities, astronaut encounters, towering rockets, IMAX® space films and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, teach guests about Florida’s rich space history. The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium & Observatory (www.brevardcc.edu/planet/) in Cocoa exhibits breathtaking collection of panoramic shots of the cosmos, called ViewSpace, the International Hall of Space Explorers, honoring those who have risked or lost their life exploring space, as well as one-of-a-kind space memorabilia. Guests can take a peak through the giant telescope in the Observatory, free of charge, to see planets, star clusters and galaxies far, far away. Tampa’s Museum of Science & Industry (www.mosi.org) presents Planetarium Shows, Skywatch events and Telescope Tutoring for those who want to explore the moon themselves. Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium (www.calusanature.com), in Fort Myers, hosts monthly planetarium shows and a Rent-A-Scope program, allowing families to star-gaze from wherever they please.