Father’s Day Gift Guide
- Opal Gems
- Family
- Harborside Hotel, Spa & Marina
- Lake Placid Lodge
- West Street Hotel
- Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa
- The Resort at Longboat Key Club
- Edgewater Beach Hotel
- Lido Beach Resort
- Sandpearl Resort
This year for Dad, don’t settle for anything that comes in a box. Give him one of these six OPAL experiences in our Father’s Day gift guide that will have him raving for years.
Night Photography in Acadia [Bar Harbor, ME]
Give him a different perspective of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor on an Acadia Night Safari photography workshop with area photographer Howie Motenko. In this Down East escape legendary for its inky black night skies, as well as wildlife, he’ll learn how to capture both and more under the tutelage of resident pro Motenko.
West Street Hotel | Harborside Hotel, Spa & Marina
Scuba Diving Shipwrecks [Jupiter, FL]
Getting up close to spiny lobsters and moray eels at an aquarium is one thing, but how about doing so in the wild? For the Jacques Cousteau of the family, book a scuba diving day excursion with Capt SL8R Charters, which takes groups within arm’s length of lemon and nurse sharks at Monkey’s Ledge and just 60 feet under the surface swimming alongside turtles at the reefs of Loggerhead. Whether Dad is new to diving or a pro in need of a tour guide, Captain Jared Slater and crew guides groups where nurse sharks cruise along the ocean floor and sea turtles swim up for photo ops.
Deep Sea Fishing on the Gulf [Naples, FL]
Imagine a tug-of-war with a 100-pound goliath grouper. A & B Charters takes groups of 10 up to 40 miles off the coast into the Gulf of Mexico to catch legends of the deep, like grouper, snapper, and kingfish. Tackle, bait, ice, coolers, and fishing license are included. If you want to bring home your prize, they’ll even clean and bag any legal catch for your supper.
Weightless Flight [Tampa, FL]
No astronaut experience required, just the desire to test Earth’s gravitational pull. Only 40 minutes east of Clearwater, Zero-G will begin offering space-worthy experiences in fall 2015. Book now before flights are booked. The all-day weightless workshop includes a parabolic flight full of spins, turns, and glides, then relive the experience with a video for him to take home.
Bobsledding [Lake Placid, NY]
Barrelling down a half-mile cement track at breakneck speeds might just be the best way to bond. A professional brakeman and driver will join you for this bobsledding experience at the Olympic Sports Complex, where the 1980 Olympics were held, so your only job is to decide who is hooting louder, you or Dad.
Trapeze Classes [Sarasota, FL]
The corporate retreat trust fall has nothing on this experience here in Ringling’s hometown. You’ll work up to a proper catch during a semi-private trapeze classes (three to seven students) with Tito Gaona, fifth-generation trapeze artist and founder of the Flying Trapeze Academy and Flying Fantasy Circus.