Weeki Wachee River — Five Miles of Glass-Clear Paddle Past a 1947 Mermaid Theatre

An hour north of Tampa, the Weeki Wachee River runs 12 miles from a first-magnitude spring boil to the Gulf of Mexico. The first five miles are some of the clearest paddling water in North America — sandy bottom visible at 15 feet, manatees in winter, and the mermaid theatre from 1947 still doing shows daily.