Did you ever think water that looked so calm could provide so many thrills?

When you're tearing through the Gulf on a jet ski doing 40 or coasting hundreds of feet above your boat on a parasail, you'll find out firsthand. It's all here: kayaking, boat rides, even fun water toys for the young and young at heart.

If you’d rather put a banana in your face than a banana boat under your butt, chill out aboard the Cruzan Cat and munch on breakfast and snacks like muffins, bagels, pastries, cheese platters, and Smokin' Tuna fish dip. Follow it up with an ice-cold beer or glass of your favorite red or white.

Your options and your fun are both endless, but your time unfortunately isn't: Choose wisely, as time flies by pretty quickly when you're splashing around in Florida's version of tropical paradise. 

 Tough Training

The man who invented parasailing was a French engineer named Pierre Lemoigne. Originally a parachute teacher, Lemoigne developed an ascending parachute that helped bring parasailing into the mainstream. He didn't exactly ease his students into learning about it: Early attempts at parasailing training involved Lemoigne attaching a parachute to the back of his car and driving down the freeway, student in tow. Literally.