Moon Florida Gulf Coast

Whether you're kayaking through mangroves, bodysurfing with manta rays, or sunbathing with a pi a colada in hand, soak up the Sunshine State with Moon Florida Gulf Coast. Inside you'll find:

• Flexible, strategic itineraries from a weeklong family vacation to a 10-day road trip covering all 700 miles of the Florida Gulf Coast, designed for beach-goers, wildlife enthusiasts, water sports lovers, and more
• The best spots for outdoor adventures like kayaking, hiking, biking, bird-watching, and fishing and the best beaches for swimming, sunsets, and seclusion
• Top activities and unique experiences: Discover the vibrant performing arts scene in Sarasota or stroll through quaint riverfront towns and secluded island enclaves. Unwind on shell-scattered beaches, collect fresh scallops in spring-fed waters, explore winding mazes of mangroves, or spot gators in the swampy Everglades. Ride the coasters at Busch Gardens, browse art galleries in Naples, or check out a local swamp buggy race. Sail through the canals of Tampa, kick back at a beachfront oyster bar, and sip a local brew as the sun sets over the ocean
• Expert advice from Florida native Jason Ferguson on where to stay, where to eat, and how to get around by car, bus, or boat
• Photos and detailed maps throughout
• Background information on the Gulf Coast's landscape, wildlife, history, and culture
• Handy tips for international visitors, families with kids, LGBTQ travelers, and travelers with disabilities

For more of the Sunshine State, try Moon Florida Keys. Hitting the road? Check out Moon South Florida & the Keys Road Trip.

Joshua Lawrence Kinser is a native Floridian from Pensacola who spends the better part of each year traveling the entire length of the state’s Gulf Coast. After bouncing between jobs for more than a decade--traveling around the world as a writer, a wildlife biology research technician, and a professional drummer on cruise ships--he returned to Florida to write full-time.

Joshua honed his writing skills working as a staff writer for The Pensacola News Journal and publishing articles for magazines such as SAIL and Times of the Islands. As a wildlife biology tech, he has worked in Florida, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Glacier National Park in Montana, and in the forests surrounding Yosemite National Park in California. He is passionate about the outdoors and is always searching for the best freshwater springs, hiking trails, campsites, and fishing spots along the Florida Gulf Coast.

When he isn’t writing guidebooks, Joshua is busy writing fiction and nonfiction. He currently splits his time between Black Mountain, North Carolina, and Gulf Breeze, Florida.