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

The zoo's Splash Grounds are popular with kids in the summer.
The zoo's Splash Grounds are popular with kids in the summer.

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

The Ichetucknee River gets busy in the summer, so it's best to arrive early.
The Ichetucknee River gets busy in the summer, so it's best to arrive early.

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:

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

Try indoor ice skating at Community First Igloo in Jacksonville.
Try indoor ice skating at Community First Igloo in Jacksonville.

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

Indoor skydiving is available at iFly locations in Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
Indoor skydiving is available at iFly locations in Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

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

Toon Town is an old warehouse converted into an entertainment center.
Toon Town is an old warehouse converted into an entertainment center.

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

AMC operates movie theaters at the Orange Park Mall, near Regency Mall and in Fleming Island, and Yulee.
AMC operates movie theaters at the Orange Park Mall, near Regency Mall and in Fleming Island, and Yulee.

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.

Fans watching a concert at Daily's Place are under cover, but a few of the walkways aren't.
Fans watching a concert at Daily's Place are under cover, but a few of the walkways aren't.

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

Beach Bowl recently underwent a multi-million dollar overhaul.
Beach Bowl recently underwent a multi-million dollar overhaul.

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

The symptoms for heat exhaustion vs. heat stroke and how to prevent it.
The symptoms for heat exhaustion vs. heat stroke and how to prevent 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