Things to do
From the panaderías of Little Cuba to the mud trails of Mount Kalaga: what to see, when to go, what it costs, and the one thing locals wish every visitor knew.
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Open the State mapCartography: Yanis & gtadb.org, CC BY 4.0
16 things to do
Pastel Art Deco hotels, white sand and lifeguard towers painted every color of the sunset. Free walking tours leave the welcome center on Shore Drive every morning at 9 a.m.
Panaderías that open before dawn and close after midnight, coffee served through street windows, dominoes in the park and murals on every block.
Hundreds of stalls under tin roofs: fruit, sneakers, phone cases, gold chains and handbags with very famous names. Bargaining is expected.
Old warehouses turned into tattoo studios, street-wear shops, galleries and recording rooms: the neighborhood where Vice City’s new sounds and styles start.
The busiest cruise port in the world sends ships to the islands every afternoon. Even if you are not sailing, the evening departures across the bay are a show.
Charter boats leave at dawn for a full day offshore. Most captains supply the rods, the bait and the ice; you bring the patience.
Coral, parrotfish, moray eels and sea turtles a few miles offshore. Half-day snorkel trips leave from every marina, gear included.
Skim across the river of grass at thirty miles an hour, then cut the engine and listen. Licensed guides know where the alligators sun themselves, and where the mangroves get too thick to follow.
Mud, ridges and switchbacks through longleaf pine: the trails around Mount Kalaga are the best in Leonida for dirt bikes, ATVs and four-by-fours.
Fishing piers, boat ramps and weekend bass tournaments along the shore of Lake Leonida, with farm stands selling oranges and cane juice on the drive home.
Sailboats, catamarans and a few very determined rowers race across the bay on winter weekends. The seawall by the marina is the best free seat in town.
Three days of free concerts on the sand, food trucks from Little Cuba and every corner of the State, and fireworks over the water on the closing night.
The oldest county fair in Leonida, every January since 1909: livestock shows, a citrus parade, a demolition derby and the State’s biggest pie contest.
Port Gellhorn is no longer the resort it once was, and it does not pretend to be. Come for the shrimp boats at dawn, the first rebuilt block of the boardwalk and the blues festival in the old warehouses every April.
When the sun goes down, Shore Drive lights up: rooftop bars, live salsa, clubs that open at eleven and close when they feel like it, and the big wheel turning over the skyline.
Laid-back bars on stilts, live music on the docks and, every evening, a whole town out on its pier to watch the sun go down. Flip-flops are the dress code.
Leonida is beautiful and a little wild. Check the beach flags, give alligators room, follow the burn notices in cane country and sign up for LeoAlert during hurricane season, through November 30.
Plan it
The visitor line answers every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the events calendar lists every festival with its dates.
See the events calendar