Help me waste a day in central east Florida.

July 15, 2015 8:46 PM

I'll be at Cape Canaveral an extra day and my initial plan of an introductory scuba dive (or just doing snuba) is not working out. I've already toured Kennedy Space Center and I'm looking for something scientific/geeky/bizarre to follow it up with. A little help?
posted by Tell Me No Lies to Travel & Transportation around Florida (6 answers total)

If you like kayaking, Thousand Islands is pretty great. There's a bunch of rental places to be found if you google for "kayak thousand islands cocoa" and similar searches.
posted by gatorae at 9:15 PM on July 15, 2015

Go to Merit Island. Check out the beaches and nature trails. See wild gators up close as well as all kinds of other wildlife like snakes turtles and birds. Do the nature drive on the dirt road. The name of the drive escapes me and googling didn't help. But it's well worth a trip if you like nature stuff. Lots of photo opportunities.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:35 PM on July 15, 2015

Best answer: Maybe head over to Wekiva Springs State Park? It's $6/car and you have to get there early or the (small) parking area fills up and the park 'closes' until people leave. Bring a blanket/beach chairs and your flippers- you can free dive into the spring. You can also rent a kayak and do a little run down the river. Maybe not 'bizarre', but lots of people who come to Florida never even realize that we have beautiful springs here.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 4:12 AM on July 16, 2015

Gatorland is old school Florida bizarre.

Washington Oaks State Park is a bit of a drive up the coast, but is a neat place to check out coquina rock formations, tide pools, and some Floridian history.
posted by galvanized unicorn at 8:16 AM on July 16, 2015

Response by poster: [Wekiva meets scientific and a bit geeky by being a spring that produces 42 million gallons of water per day. That you can swim on top of.]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:29 PM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

You've done the KSC bus tours, right? Not just the free one that takes you to the Saturn V building, but the extra ones that go to (for example) the historic launch pads?
posted by intermod at 3:38 PM on July 16, 2015