[BELA MOLNAR | Special to the Times]

St. Petersburg Times photographer Melissa Lyttle swims through the Rainbow River during her first open-water dive, part of her scuba-certification training through the Bill Jackson Shop for Adventure.

Gulf and Bay | Scuba diving

Breathing easy in a strange place

Note to self: As long as you have air in your tank and your regulator is working you can breathe.

Tomalin: We're still here to provide that push out the door

Walk on the 'Wild Side'

Looking for a great day hike or paddle to a barrier island? Planning to buy a backpacking tent but don't know where to start? Find the answers to these and other questions in Terry Tomalin's new outdoors blog.

Outdoors blog

Florida state parks

Florida state parks offer hidden treasures off the beaten path. Click here for a locator map, contact information and brief descriptions of each park.

Multimedia reports

View photo galleries, interactive graphics and video reports here

For the outdoors fan

Tide charts
You can upload a photo of your Great catch

Everglades Challenge

The Insomniacs paddled more than 170 miles over four days before ending their journey short of the 300-mile finish due to work and other commitments. Read their story here.

Outdoors

Reader poll

A year in the outdoors

Here are a dozen ideas for taking advantage of sunny Florida, broken down by month, to get you to try something new during the next year.

Everyday adventures

Weeki Wachee River
This pristine river, most of which is protected, serves as a home to alligators, otters and the endangered West Indian manatee.

Read story | Photo Gallery

Egmont Key
A year-round destination.

Story | Photo Gallery

Slow float to tranquility
Get carried away on the Ichetucknee.

Story | Photo Gallery

Somewhere on the Rainbow
A year-round destination.

Story | Photo Gallery

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