Fun things to do and places to cool off when it's hot in Jacksonville
Forget what the chamber of commerce and the travel agents tell you; Florida can be miserably hot and humid in the summertime. Many of us deal with it by going from our air-conditioned house to our air-conditioned car to the air-conditioned grocery store and back.
But Florida in the summer is also a gorgeous place and it would be a shame to not get out and enjoy it once in a while. So here are some things to do when the heat becomes unbearable.
Go to the beach
Florida has hundreds miles of beaches, all of which are open to the public, at least below the mean high water line. You can find beaches packed wall-to-wall with sun worshippers or beaches where you can’t see another soul as far as you look. There are places where you can take your car on the beach, and places where you can take your clothes off on the beach. All you really need is a towel, some sunscreen and a few bucks to park.
Visit a pool
The City of Jacksonville operates 28 public pools and 16 splash pads located around the city during the summer months and the pool at the Cecil Aquatics Center is open year-round.
Shipwreck Island Water Park
At Adventure Landing, 1944 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville Beach; (904) 246-4386, jacksonville-beach.adventurelanding.com
There’s only one water park in Jacksonville, and it’s due to close in September 2024 to make way for a condo development. But there’s still time to enjoy the Shipwreck Island Water Park at Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach. It has a lazy river, a wave pool and four “xtreme” slides.
Take the kids to the zoo's Splash Ground
There is only so much an outdoor venue like the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens can do about the heat – lots of fans and shade. But for the little ones, the Splash Ground in the Play Park portion of the zoo can provide hours of fun. It’s free with zoo admission.
Go tubing
Florida is dotted with natural springs that pump out 72-degree water year-round. Unfortunately, none of them are in the Jacksonville area. The most popular spring in these parts is Ichetucknee Springs State Park, about 80 miles west of Jacksonville in Fort White. Rent a tube and spend a lazy day floating down the crystal-clear river, then hop a tram back to the starting point. Arrive early, though, because officials will close the river when it reaches capacity.
Grab a paddle
To be fair, paddling a kayak or stand-up paddleboard can be hard work, especially when it’s 95 degrees outside and you can just feel the humidity rising off the water. Assuming you’re not paddling through waters infested by alligators or harmful algae, though, you can always fall out to cool off. If you own your own kayak or board, the possibilities are endless.
Here are some places to rent a kayak:
Adventure Kayak
At Hanna Park, 500 Wonderwood Drive; (904) 252-7024, adventurekayakflorida.com
Anastasia Watersports
At Anastasia State Park, 300 Anastasia Park Road, St. Augustine; 904-460-9111, anastasiawatersports.com
Kayak Amelia
13030 Heckscher Drive, (904) 251-0016; kayakamelia.com
Lakeshore Marine Center
3326 Lake Shore Blvd., (904) 384-6447, lakeshoremarinecenter.com
North Guana Outpost
4415 Mickler Road, Ponte Vedra Beach; (904) 373-0306, northguanaoutpost.com
Ortega Outdoors
2044 Lake Shore Blvd., (904) 372-3948, ortegaoutdoors.com
PADL
PADL operates self-serve paddleboard rentals for $25 per hour at several locations around the Jacksonville area:
Tommy Hazouri Sr. Park, 14780 Mandarin Road, jacksonville.gov
Castaway Island Preserve, 2921 San Pablo Rd S., timucuanparks.org
Camp Chowenwaw Park, 1517 Ball Road, Green Cove Springs; claycountygov.com
Doctors Lake Park, 2399 Lakeshore Drive N., Fleming Island; claycountygov.com
Main Street Boat Ramp, 3788 Main Street, Middleburg, claycountygov.com
Road trip
If you’re willing to drive a few hours, there are plenty of water parks available.
Aquatica Orlando
5800 Water Play Way, Orlando; (407) 545-5550, aquatica.com/orlando
Two wave pools, raft rides, slides, tube rides, lazy river and drop slide.
Daytona Lagoon
601 Earl St., Daytona Beach; (386) 254-5020, daytonalagoon.com
Slides, a lazy river, a wave pool, It will remain open on weekends into mid-October.
Disney's Blizzard Beach
At Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista; disneyworld.disney.go.com
Closed for renovations.
Disney's Typhoon Lagoon
At Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista; disneyworld.disney.go.com
Slides, wave pool, kids’ zone, raft rides and the Humunga Kawabunga.
Island H20
3230 Inspiration Drive, Kissimmee; islandh20waterpark.com
Slides, drop slide, wave pool, lazy river, kids’ zone and an adults-only pool.
Splash Island Water Park
At Wild Adventures, 3766 Old Clyattville Road, Valdosta, Ga.; (229) 219-7080, wildadventures.com
Included with park admission. The water park, with six slides, a wave pool, lazy river and splash pad, will be open until Sept. 2.
Summer Waves
901 Downing Musgrove Causeway, Jekyll Island, Ga.; (912) 635-3636, jekyllisland.com
Lazy river, wave pool, splash pad and five slides.
Universal Volcano Bay
At Universal Orlando Resort, 6000 Universal Blvd., Orlando; universalorlando.com
Lazy river, raft rides, an aqua coaster, wave pool and slides.
Museums
Nothing beats the heat like a slow stroll through a quiet museum. Jacksonville has several to choose from.
Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
829 Riverside Ave., (904) 356-6857, cummermuseum.org
The Cummer is a traditional art museum, with galleries filled with paintings, sculptures and a world-class porcelain collection. Admission is $20 for adults, $15 for students, but you can get in free from 4-9 p.m. on the fourth Friday of the month and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the first Saturday of the month.
Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville
333 N. Laura St., (904) 366-6911, mocajacksonville.unf.edu
MOCA Jacksonville is downtown on Laura Street, facing James Weldon Johnson Park. It is owned and operated by the University of North Florida and has a rotating series of shows in its galleries. Don’t miss Project Atrium, in which artists from around the world create pieces specifically for the 40-foot-high walls around the museum’s main staircase. Admission is $10 for adults, $6 for students and seniors.
Museum of Science & History
1025 Museum Circle, (904) 396-6674, themosh.org
Kids will love MOSH, on the Southbank of the St. Johns River. Plans are in the works for a new MOSH, but the old one works just fine for now. Kids can learn about sea life, health, electricity and local history while pushing buttons and pulling levers on the interactive displays. There’s also a planetarium and a large gallery that is used for traveling exhibits. Admission is $19.95 for adults, $16.95 for kids.
The Beaches Museum
381 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville Beach; (904) 241-5657, beachesmuseum.org
The Beaches Museum in Jacksonville Beach is dedicated to the history of Jacksonville's beach communities, with a permanent collection and a second gallery that hosts rotating exhibitions. There's an old post office, a steam locomotive, a railroad depot, a chapel and a heritage garden on the grounds. It's free.
Eartha M.M. White Museum
613 W. Ashley St., (904) 354-4162, clarawhitemission.org/museum
The Eartha M.M. White Museum on Ashley Street recounts the remarkable life of White, an educator, businesswoman and philanthropist who was one of the founders of Jacksonville's Clara White Mission for the homeless and hungry.
The Ritz Museum
829 North Davis St., (904) 807-2010, ritzjacksonville.com
The Ritz Museum celebrates Jacksonville's Black history through a permanent exhibition, "Lift Ev'ry Voice," and a rotating series of visiting shows. Admission is $8.
Hands On Children's Museum
8580 Beach Blvd., (904) 642-2688, handsonchildrensmuseum.org
The Hands On Children's Museum is just what it sounds like, a place where kids can turn knobs, push buttons and climb on stuff.
Ice skating
Community First Igloo
3605 Philips Highway, (904) 399-3223, communityfirstigloo.com
The old Jacksonville Ice & Sportsplex had the only sheet of ice for miles, but not a lot else was going on there until the city's professional hockey team took over. The Jacksonville Icemen pumped $18 million into the facility, now known as the Community First Igloo. It has two full-sized ice rinks, e-sports arcade, a bar and cafe, along with hockey leagues and learn-to-skate sessions. They offer public skating sessions nearly every day. It costs $15 to skate, and skate rentals are $5. They also offer eight-week learn-to-skate classes and a figure-skating academy.
Trampoline parks
Indoor trampoline parks are a great place to take the kids to burn off excess energy. Most have games built in — dodgeball, basketball and the like. You’ll probably have to sign an injury waiver before entering, and some require special socks for jumpers.
Altitude Trampoline Park
1214 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville Beach, (904) 801-1859, altitudetrampolinepark.com
Bravoz Entertainment Center
14985 Old St. Augustine Road, (904) 300-0070, bravoz.com
Flight Adventure Park
7022 A.C. Skinner Parkway, (904) 551-4035, flightadventurepark.com
Pump it Up
11840 Beach Blvd., (904) 646-1441, pumpitupparty.com
Surge Adventure Park
9292 Arlington Expressway, (904) 374-5682, surgefun.com
Urban Air Adventure Park
9950 Southside Blvd., (904) 712-4457, urbanair.com
Indoor skydiving
iFly
10579 Brightman Blvd., (904) 712-3388, iflyworld.com
Skydiving sounds like a lot of fun, except for that whole stepping out of the airplane and falling thousands of feet thing. That’s not an issue at iFly, which uses four fans in a recirculating wind tunnel to create a powerful column of rising air in a flight chamber. Flyers sign a waiver, take a short instruction course, don a flight suit over their clothes and fly for about 60 seconds with an instructor. Anyone over age 3 and under 260 pounds can fly. There are more than 80 iFly locations worldwide, including Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. $79.99 for two flights, although cheaper rates are available on some weekdays.
Indoor go-kart racing
K1 Speed
6601 Executive Park Court N., (904) 425-5005, k1speed.com
Remember driving go-karts powered by a lawnmower engine? Loud, smelly, not very fast but plenty fun. Those are long gone, in favor of electric vehicles that silently dash around the track at 45 mph. That’s why they are equipped with safety harnesses and roll bars and why drivers are required to wear a helmet. They also have junior karts, which will hit 25 mph, for ages 8-12. Races last 7-12 minutes. One race in an adult kart starts at $28.95.
Indoor pickleball
Pickleball at Toon Town
1726 E. Church St., (904) 634-7188, jaxtoontown.com
Developers turned an old warehouse near EverBank Stadium into an indoor entertainment center, with six indoor pickleball courts.
Rock climbing gyms
If you're going to be climbing the walls anyway, you might as well do so in a place built for just that. Most gyms offer lessons and programs for kids.
Beaches Rock Gym
14 W. 3rd St., Atlantic Beach; (904) 222-0707, beachesrockgym.com
The Edge Rock Gym
3563 Philips Highway, (904) 683-2512, theedgerockgym.com
Stone Climbing
115 Strongway Court, St. Augustine; (904) 217-4139, stoneclimbing.com
Vertical Motion's Kidzone of OP
1035 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park; (904) 579-4848, verticalmotion.net
Indoor golf
Topgolf
10531 Brightman Blvd., (904) 328-2002, topgolf.com
Strictly speaking, you're not indoors when you're on the range at Topgolf. But you are out of the rain, and big fans keep it cool while you shank a few into the nets, so that's close enough. Topgolf is target golf, where players hit toward targets from elevated platforms. Will it help your game? Probably not, but they have a full restaurant and bar and you'll never have to hunt for your ball in the woods. You can rent a bay that holds up to six people for $16-$62 per hour, depending on the day and time.
Go to the movies
Streaming services put a big hurting on the movie theater business, and the coronavirus pandemic nearly finished it off. But theaters are dry and air-conditioned, so they're a great way to kill a few hours.
AMC Classic Yulee
96012 Lofton Square Ct., Yulee; amctheaters.com
AMC Fleming Island
1820 Town Center Blvd, Fleming Island; amctheaters.com
AMC Orange Park
Orange Park Mall, amctheaters.com
AMC Regency 24
9154 Regency Square Blvd., amctheaters.com
Cinemark Jacksonville Atlantic North
11567 Atlantic Blvd., cinemark.com
Cinemark Tinseltown
4535 Southside Blvd., cinemark.com
Regal Avenues
9525 Phillips Highway, regmovies.com
See a concert
With the exception of a handful of bleacher seats at the top of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, every seat at every full-time concert venue in Northeast Florida is under cover.
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
300 A. Philip Randolph Blvd., (904) 630-3900, vystarveteransarena.com
Home to concerts, comedy shows, hockey and indoor football games. Capacity is 12,000-15,000.
Daily's Place
1 Daily's Place, dailysplace.com
Amphitheater attached to EverBank Stadium. Seats are all under cover but some walkways aren't. Capacity is around 5,500.
The Florida Theatre
129 E. Forsyth St., (904) 355-2787, floridatheatre.com
Historic downtown movie house that holds concerts and comedy shows. Capacity is around 1,850.
The Moran Theater
300 Water St., (904) 633-6110, jaxevents.com
Riverfront venue that holds touring Broadway shows, concerts and comedy shows. Capacity is 2,900.
Jacoby Symphony Hall
300 Water St., (904) 354-5547, jaxsymphony.org
Home to the Jacksonville Symphony. Capacity is 1,800.
The Ritz Theatre
829 N. Davis St., (904) 807-2010, ritzjacksonville.com
City-owned venue built on the site of a '20s movie house that holds plays, concerts and comedy shows. Capacity is 400.
Thrasher-Horne Center
283 College Drive, Orange Park; (904) 276-6815, thcenter.org
Home for concerts, comedy shows and plays. Capacity is 1,728.
St. Augustine Amphitheatre
1340C A1A S., St. Augustine; (904) 209-3746, theamp.com
Outdoor amphitheater has a section of seats that are not under cover, but all of the others are. Capacity is 4,100.
Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
1050 A1A N., Ponte Vedra Beach; (904) 209-0367, pvconcerthall.com
A former church converted into a county-owned concert venue. It is closed for renovations until 2025. Capacity will be around 600 seated, 1,100 standing.
Go bowling
Batt Family Fun Center
1838 Cassat Ave., (904) 389-2360, battfamilyfuncenter.com
32 lanes, video arcade, mini bowling, mini golf, laser tag.
Beach Bowl
818 Beach Blvd., (904) 900-2695, beachbowljax.com
24 lanes, video and VR gaming.
Bowlero
11141 Beach Blvd., 904-642-0460, bowlero.com
10333 San Jose Blvd., (904) 268-1511, bowlero.com
32 lanes and video arcade at each location.
Duck Pinz
27 N. 3rd St., Fernandina Beach; (904) 432-8246, duckpinzfernandina.com
Cocktail lounge with bowling lanes.
Jax Lanes Bowling Center
8720 Beach Blvd., (904) 641-2222, jaxlanesbowlingcenter.com
Locally owned center with bowling, video arcade, pool tables.
King Pins Bowling Center
5310 Lenox Ave., (904) 394-0895, facebook.com
20 lanes, arcade games.
Main Event
10370 Phillips Highway, (904) 260-7500, mainevent.com
Bowling lanes, video games, pool tables, laser tag.
Splitz
6155 Youngerman Circle, Orange Park; (904) 272-2695, bowlsplitz.com
26 lanes, video game arcade, laser tag.
Yulee Bowling and Amusements
850822 U.S. Hwy 17, Yulee; (904) 225-1077, yuleebowlingandamusements.com
The former Nassau Bowling Center is under new management.
Visit a library
Duval County
303 N. Laura St., (904) 255-2665, jaxpubliclibrary.com
In addition to books, Jacksonville's Main Library downtown has an art gallery, a huge archive, meeting rooms and equipment for digitizing old tapes and records. The library has 21 branches around Duval County.
Clay County
1895 Town Center Blvd., Fleming Island; (904) 278-3720, claycountygov.com
Branches in Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, Keystone Heights and Middleburg.
Nassau County
25 N. 4th St., Fernandina Beach; (904) 530-6500, nassaureads.com
Branches in Fernandina Beach, Yulee, Hilliard, Bryceville and Callahan.
St. Johns County
1960 N. Ponce De Leon Blvd., St. Augustine; (904) 827-6940, sjcpls.org
Branches in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Anastasia Island, Fruit Cove and Hastings.
The heat: How to deal with it
With proper precautions (sunscreen, proper clothing, lots of hydration), you actually can go outside in a Florida summer. Watch the weather forecasts and keep an eye out for signs of heat stress. Dizziness, heavy sweating and nausea could be signs of impending heat exhaustion or heat stroke, which can be serious.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Things to do in Jacksonville when it's hot outside
