Visitors Guide Source 2026 - The Official 2026 Visitors Guide of Sarasota County®
Big Fun for Little Explorers
2025-12-15 13:27:58
WILDLIFE, WIPEOUTS, HOME RUNS & HOLE-IN-ONES
Wildlife Encounters
At the tropical Sarasota Jungle Gardens, children can feed a flock of free-roaming pink flamingos, pose with brightly plumed parrots and watch mischievous ring-tailed lemurs. See the Children’s Rainforest Garden at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens for its centerpiece, a century-old banyan tree, plus cascading water features and an adventurous rope bridge. Save Our Seabirds offers avian lovers a chance to connect with Florida’s feathered wildlife up close at its beautiful rescue and rehabilitation learning center on City Island. Big Cat Habitat & Gulf Coast Sanctuary provides a haven for more than 150 exotic animals like lions, tigers, bears, primates and more. On a Sarasota Bay Explorers’ Sea Life Encounter Cruise, kids can spot playful bottlenose dolphins and nesting egrets with the help of a friendly marine biologist.
Tee Time to Air Time
At Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf, navigate 18 mini-golf holes through obstacles like ponds, caves, a floating pirate ship and sunbathing alligators. Young golfers and putt-putters of all ages will also love PopStroke for its two Tiger Woods-approved putting courses, not to mention its remarkably rich milkshakes of homemade ice cream and its yard games like outdoor ping pong. Jumpin Fun Inflata Park, an indoor inflatable theme park in Lakewood Ranch, keeps youngsters joyously busy with amusements like the 250-foot AirRider Zip Rail Coaster. From circus camps to fitness classes, adventurous families can become a part of the circus by learning the flying trapeze, aerial skills and trampoline at the Circus Arts Conservatory. Climb, swing and soar through the treetops at TreeUmph! Adventure Course, an outdoor aerial park in nearby Bradenton where zip lines, rope bridges and challenging obstacle courses offer high-flying fun for little adventurers.
Off-Screen Entertainment
Catch live music, gaze up at the stars with a telescope, catch an outdoor movie or head out on a guided nature walk at The Bay Park—there’s no end to the many free community programs and activities the park offers year-round. Fill up on peanuts and hot dogs for nine action-packed innings of a Spring Training game. To see an aquatic wonder, take the family to Sarasota Ski-A-Rees Water Ski Show, a thrilling Sarasota entertainment tradition since 1957. Experience a cornerstone of racing in Sarasota with a visit to Sarasota BMX. Established in 1974, this is the oldest continuously running bicycle motocross track in America. Head to Downtown Wellen Park to let your kids work up a sweat on the playground, then cool off in the Splash Pad before heading over to the Great Lawn for live music or a paddle on Grand Lake. At the Sarasota Toy Museum, see the largest toy collection and model railroad on the Gulf Coast, and create memories for the entire family with the toys you had, wanted and have never seen.
New Adventure Alert
Now open at Nathan Benderson Park, kids in love with learning what’s living underwater will want to run to Mote Science Education Aquarium (Mote SEA), featuring immersive marine exhibits—from sharks and sting rays to penguins, manatees and otters— plus hands-on learning experiences and innovative science labs designed to inspire ocean discovery and marine life conservation for all ages.
Dive into more family fun here
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