What to Do Before or After Your Cruise from Jacksonville’s JaxPort

By Janet K. Keeler

The Elation will be joined by a Norwegian cruise ship late in 2025 which will offer longer Caribbean swings. If there’s one thing that avid cruisers love, it’s choices and JaxPort will soon have more.

There are so many things to do in Jacksonville and cities nearby that adding some fun to the front or back end of a cruise is a breeze. Keep in mind that Jacksonville is Florida’s biggest city in both population and land area so it has big city vibes and laid-back nature experiences.

Sitting just across the southern state line of Georgia where Interstates 95 and 10 meet, Jacksonville is a convenient destination for people traveling by car, plus the Jacksonville International Airport provides access from all over the country.

The 22 miles of beaches are a big draw to Jacksonville. Jacksonville, Neptune, Black Rock and Atlantic beaches are fine places to throw out a blanket and enjoy the rollicking Atlantic Ocean. There are waves upon waves upon waves so body surfing, boogie boarding and surfing (Atlantic Beach is the top spot) are prime attractions. There are places to rent equipment all along the beaches.

The St. Johns River, at 310 miles the longest river in Florida, is not only a commercial waterway but provides recreation in 12 Florida counties. It’s what’s called a lazy river because it meanders through the Florida landscape contributing to the ecosystem as much as it does to things-to-do. The river cuts through downtown Jacksonville and a ride on the St. Johns River Taxi, especially a sunset cruise, can show you how the city meets nature. Plus, the twinkling lights of the high rises are pretty romantic.

Back on land, consider a stop at one of Jacksonville’s 30 craft breweries or collect local brew “passport” stamps on the Jax Ale Trail. If you’re in town during baseball season, buy tickets to see the triple-A Jumbo Shrimp (you know you’re in Florida!) play. While you’re at the park, get a taste of a local collaboration. Intuition Ale Works has an orange-tinged Kolsch called Shrimp Boat. Or if you want beer and not baseball, stop by Intuition Ale or one of the other breweries in town, including Tepeyolot Cerveceria which specializes in Mexican-style beers.

Here are five more things to do in Jacksonville, before or after a Bahamian cruise.

The Creative Life in Jax

The Cummer Museum & Gardens is the city’s premier arts destination with the permanent collection of works which includes Winslow Homer, Norman Rockwell and Peter Paul Rubens. The lovely gardens are on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. Nearby and under the Fuller Warren Bridge is the Saturday Riverside Art Market, a must-stop to visit local vendors selling everything from wearable art to photographs to paintings. The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville at the University of North Florida is a fine place to spend an afternoon viewing art created in the past 100 years. It’s more about the art of science, but the Museum of Science & History has a planetarium and loads of activities for kids. A novel way to check out the city’s public art is a tour with Go Tuk’n on a souped-up, open-air golf cart or a self-guided walking tour of the city’s 60 murals, 50 of them downtown.

A Journey through Natural and Human History

A nationa l preserve and two adjacent state parks east of Jacksonville take travelers back thousands of years to unspoiled coast wetlands and waterways. The Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve is a sprawling 46,000-acre compound that represents 6,000 years of ecological history. There is much to do there, and also in adjacent Big Talbot Island and Little Talbot Island state parks, but hikers will especially like the trails that lead through the unique landscape, where hardwood hammocks, coastal dunes and salt marshes intersect. The trails follow the footsteps of the Timucuan Indians, who were nearly wiped out by 1800. The preserve includes Fort Caroline National Memorial dedicated to the short-lived 16th century French colony and the Kingsley Plantation, whose owner bought and sold enslaved people. On the property is the Kingsley house, built in 1797-98, and the remains of 25 slave cabins. Guides do not shy away from the troubled history of the compound.

There’s More than Jaguars in Jacksonville

The Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary rescues and takes care of exotic and endangered big cats. For kids, a visit to the sanctuary just might be the highlight of the cruise vacation. Well that and the endless on-board buffet with flowing chocolate fountain. Visitors can tour the facility and see the resident animals including tigers, lions, cougars and bobcats. Beyond big cats there are bears and coatimundis in residence. Guided 45-minute tours are offered in the afternoons.

From Big City to Old City

Just 35 miles south of Jacksonville is St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S. and the place where it’s likely that the first Thanksgiving feast was held. Think shellfish and not stuffing when Spanish settlers cracked shells with members of the Siloy tribe in 1565, more than 50 years before the Plymouth Rock story we learned in school. Things-to-do in St. Augustine includes touring the 16th century Spanish fort Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and walking the pedestrian-only streets of the historic district. Climb the 219 steps to the observation deck of the iconic barber-pole striped 1875 St. Augustine Lighthouse. Or ride the Old Town Trolley and hop off at any of the 22 stops. Old Town also does night-time ghost tours.

Cheers to Local Spirits

Florida has more than 400 craft breweries and that entrepreneurial creativity has ignited the spirits world. There are a growing number of distilleries in Florida, many of them offering guided tours plus tastings. Check out Manifest Distillery in Jacksonville, the first in the state to package its spirits in canned cocktails such as a vodka mule and a classic daiquiri. Short on time? Take the 30-minute tour. Want to hang out longer? Nab a spot on the 2½-hour tour and stop in the Cocktail Room afterward. Award-winning St. Augustine Distillery in St. Augustine is one of the state’s most-well known makers of local spirits. There’s a guided tour of the distillery, housed in a 1907 power and ice plant. You could pair a visit here with other sites in Florida’s oldest city.