Soft Adventures for Your Fort Lauderdale Vacation

Have you booked your first vacation of 2020 yet? You can bet most cruisers have. And of those cruisers, the vast majority are going to be cruising from sunny South Florida ports like Fort Lauderdale. With an average year-round temperature of 75 degrees and one of the best beaches in the state, Fort Lauderdale is a vacation paradise with tons to do and see. A growing trend in and around the city is the number of ‘soft adventures’ offered to those in town for a visit. 

What is a Soft Adventure? 

Soft adventure is something that doesn’t require a lot of experience or skill to enjoy so people of all ages and ability levels have the opportunity to try. Skydiving, for example, isn’t a soft adventure. Instead, consider taking a Segway tour along Fort Lauderdale Beach or paddle boarding and kayaking in the intracoastal when you’re in town for vacation. We know it’s tempting to spend the day enjoying the balcony of your Fort Lauderdale beachside hotel watching the waves roll in, but there’s a whole city out there to explore! 

Fort Lauderdale City Tours 

Florida is one of the most unique states in the country for a number of reasons, but something that people might not realize is how flat the state actually is. This unique geographic trait makes the state perfect for a number of soft adventures like biking or Segway tours as there are no hills to climb. There are a number of rental services to choose from, many nearby to the hotels on Fort Lauderdale Beach, so look around and find the one nearest to where you’re staying. 

Segway tours are popular group activities | Photo: Segway/Facebook

Segways are a very unique way to travel as they utilize a gyroscope technology to remain balanced while riders stand upright holding the handlebars. They can feel a little strange at first, but thanks to quick training from a tour guide and their leisurely operating pace, most can get the hang of riding one pretty quickly! Tour operators provide the Segway and safety equipment so you just have to show up and ride. 

Take a Segway tour of famous Las Olas Boulevard | Photo: Las Olas Boulevard/Facebook

Segway tours along Fort Lauderdale Beach, famous Las Olas Boulevard or through the banyan trees of Hugh Taylor Birch State Nature Park are a great way to get out, enjoy the sun and see more of this gorgeous city by the sea. 

Water Activities in Fort Lauderdale 

With miles and miles of intracoastal waterway and mangrove forests, soft adventure activities in Fort Lauderdale like kayaking and paddle boarding are wildly popular. Stand up paddle boarding and kayaking aren’t intense adventures, rather they’re leisurely floats through some of South Florida’s most beautiful natural resources. Paddle boards might look difficult to balance on, but they’re actually very stable and you can sit on them just as easily as you can stand. 

Paddleboarding is a great way to enjoy the Florida sunshine

If you’re worried about balancing, no worries! You don’t have to miss out, just grab a kayak instead of a paddle board and spend the day exploring the brackish canals lined with mangroves and you might even spot one of Florida’s most delightful creatures, a manatee! 

Stretches of the intracoastal knowns as the Middle River in downtown Fort Lauderdale are perfect for paddling thanks to calm waters, no-wake boat traffic and its proximity to popular Fort Lauderdale hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues. 

Are there soft adventures on your bucket list? Fort Lauderdale is a great place to start!