20 Ways to Cool Down During the Hot, Humid Tampa Summer Season (besides the beach!)
Disclaimer: We are not paid to promote any restaurant, hotel, activity, product, or attraction. All opinions are subjective and based on our personal experience. Your experience may be different.
11. Go ice skating at Countryside Mall
Ice skating in a mall? It’s actually pretty common attraction nowadays with many major cities across the country featuring a mall skating rink. They are much more common in southern cities. Westfield Countryside Mall in Clearwater is the perfect place to escape the heat for for a few hours. With plenty of great stores, popular chain restaurants like PF Changs & The Cheesecake Factory, an arcade, a movie theater, and a year-round ice rink, you will quickly forget how miserable the temps are outside.
The highlight here is definitely the ice rink. The rink is rather large and always well maintained. While Tampa may not offer the traditional winter holiday ambiance, skating inside in the cool air sure works for a refreshing summer workout idea (beats the gym!). I love coming here around the holiday season. I can do a bit of holiday. shopping, ice skate, and dine at a nice restaurant.
12. Enjoy hours of entertainment at the Hard Rock Casino
There’s lots to do at the Hard Rock Casino, whether or not you enjoy the gaming scene. Featuring several restaurants, numerous bars and lounges, a premier spa, and a huge entertainment center, Hard Rock is the perfect “heat of summer” cool off destination. The Hard Rock Cafe is a fun dinner choice featuring amazing comfort food (try the Twisted Mac and Cheese) and an attractive rock n’ roll design theme. They serve drinks in cute collectible mugs and are known for their awesome souvenir rock shop.
Even better, consider booking a stay so you can take advantage of the resort’s 3 pools. Other rocking amenities include weekend DJ pool parties and “the sound of your stay experience” where you can take your pick amongst 20 Fendi guitars to play during your stay. In room TV lessons are available for first timers.
13. Dine alongside a massive 33,500 gallon fish tank
One really cool experience to look into while you are in the Clearwater/St Pete vicinity is lunch at Rumfish Grill. This theme restaurant features a gigantic 33,500 gallon fish tank. It takes up the entirety of the wall so everyone will have a prime view of this most unique sight while dining. You may have seen this tank featured on the Tanked reality series on Animal Planet. I really loved this show: too bad it was cancelled. Wayde and Brett were so talented. Some of the tanks they created truly were astonishing: the one at Rumfish is just one example.
The setting here is very dim and tropical, which works as a perfect escape from the harsh heat and sunlight. The aquarium is really beautiful and colorful with all sorts of exotic marine life. If you love fish, then you will love this restaurant even more as almost the entirety of the menu is seafood based.
14. Enjoy a modern bowling experience at Splitsville
Splitsville is a hip modern bowling concept with locations in Orlando, Miami, and Tampa. This is not your typical bowling alley, and they also do not serve your typical cheap alley style food. Here you can enjoy craft drinks as well as trendy southern style foods.
For anyone who hates the thought of walking out of a bowling alley smelling like an ashtray, Splitsville offers a great smoke-free alternative. Another advantage is you do not have to be an expert bowler. You will see all types of people here having a great time, from families enjoying a tourist-free day away from the beaches, to couples enjoying a laid-back date night.
15. Shop, dine, & explore downtown Dunedin
Dunedin is most well-known for being located within easy reach of beautiful Honeymoon Island State Park. Unfortunately, horrendous summer air and water temps this time of year make a day at the beach pretty much unbearable. As a more enjoyable alternative, you can explore beautiful downtown Dunedin, which is loaded with boutique shops, restaurants, coffeehouses, galleries, and more. The small walkable Main Street maintains a friendly local vibe while still offering the typical touristy Florida tropical ambiance.
Start off with a quiche and delicious house coffee at Dunedin Coffee Company. Spend the day taking in the cute shops and don’t forget to explore the wonderful local galleries. Enjoy lunch at The Living Room on Main, an eclectic international restaurant and then treat yourself to homemade ice cream at Strachans a Tampa Bay favorite since 1999. For more fun out of the sun, check out the quirky Beatles Museum and enjoy hours of old-fashioned gaming fun & craft beer at Reboot.
