By: Camilla Silva
As summer approaches, students start to make plans to the most waiter season of the year. Even if you have to work or you have a budget to stay in during these months, that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. In Florida, there are lots of free and fun things to do even on a budget.
One of the first things you can do during summer is to visit the beach. Florida has beautiful beaches you can visit.
Just 1 hour and 40 minutes from campus, Siesta Key Beach earned the no. 1 beach in the United States on TripAdvisor in 2015, and it’s easy to see why. The beach has some of the whitest sand in the world. There, you have three beaches you can choose. Siesta Key Public Beach, Turtle Beach and Crescent Beach.
Siesta Key Public Beach just went under renovations and now has a playground, family picnic area and the Siesta Sun Deck pavilion.
Turtle Beach is a camping ground, which features 40 RV and tent sites, that include free Wi-Fi, picnic areas and grills, kayak launch and boat ramps.
Crescent Beach is ideal for watching the sunset. It is also suitable for fishing near the Point of Rocks area.
There are shops and restaurants on the beaches. It is also worth mentioning that parking is free!
Clearwater is also a good beach to visit. Clearwater was on the top 10 beaches in America nominated by USA Today. This beach also has bright, white sand and a family-friendly environment.
You can enjoy the beach and the local shops and restaurants around it. You can also take a walk on the Pier 60 and watch a beautiful sunset from there. The beach also has festivals year-round, so whenever you go, you can be sure that there will be a celebration.
North Redington Beach & Redington Shores is also a beautiful place to visit around 1 hour from Saint Leo main campus. These are small towns close to the great attractions, and since these communities don’t get as much attention as their surrounding communities, this can be a great place to relax.
In Redington Shores the beaches have white sand, abundant fishing, boating and wildlife. This is also a kid-friendly place to go with your family and watch the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.
North Redington Beach is also a relaxing place to visit. This area is quieter and has attractions like museums, art galleries, and boutiques.
The Dames & Peace Caves being only an hour or less away from Saint Leo is the perfect place to go caves if you are looking for adventure. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
If you like adventures, you could also consider going to Dames & Peace Caves. Dames Cave is one of the oldest caves in Florida and it is worth the trip. These caves are around 1 hour away from Saint Leo’s main campus and it will make you fall in love with nature. The significant part about this is that parking is free, which can be a bonus for many people.
The hikes are well kept, and because the place is not very well known, people don’t need to worry about encountering big crowds. Because it is not very crowded, you can stop and relax once you are in the caves, take pictures, enjoy some food and explore it even more.
As a student, you can also enjoy discounts using your student ID. Everybody knows how hard it is to be a student and not have a lot of money laying around to spend. Luckily, there are places like restaurants, stores, cinemas and shops that give you discounts for being a student. Some examples of places that offer discounts for students are Waffle House, Denny’s, Subway, Smoothie King, Banana Republic, Moe’s, Dunkin Donuts, services like, gym memberships, museum tickets, theme parks and much more.
You can get as high as 30% off when using your student ID in some of these places. It is recommended that you call the store to make sure that the store can give you a student discount. Now go out and have the best summer ever!
