Hey, I’m Maya 🌴
I was born and raised in Florida, and I spent years watching tourists visit the same theme parks, the same chain restaurants, and the same overcrowded beaches while the real Florida passed them by completely.
The hidden springs only locals know about. The Cuban sandwich spots in Tampa that don’t have a Yelp page. The stretch of Panhandle coastline where the water is so emerald green it looks photoshopped and there’s nobody on it.
That gap between the Florida tourists see and the Florida locals live in that’s exactly why I built NapLorida.
What NapLorida is
NapLorida is a hyper-local Florida travel guide written by a Floridian, for everyone.
Not a generic listicle site. Not a hotel booking engine disguised as a blog. Real guides, real places, real opinions from someone who actually lives here.
Every article on this site is written with one question in mind: would I actually send my best friend here?
If the answer is yes, it’s on NapLorida. If it’s a tourist trap, it’s not
What you’ll find here
🏖 City Guides: The real local’s guide to Miami, Destin, Key West, Tampa, Orlando, St. Augustine, Clearwater, Pensacola and more. Beyond the obvious. Into the neighbourhoods, the side streets, the spots that don’t make the brochures.
💎 Hidden Gems: Florida’s best kept secrets. Underground springs, ghost towns swallowed by rivers, secret beaches only accessible by kayak, and the kind of places where locals go on a Sunday morning.
🚗 Road Trips: Florida is a road trip state. The Overseas Highway. The Tamiami Trail through the Everglades. The Panhandle emerald coast from Pensacola to Apalachicola. I’ve driven them all and written every stop worth making.
🍽 Food & Drink: Cuban sandwiches, stone crab, key lime pie, boiled peanuts, fresh Gulf grouper. Florida has one of the most underrated food cultures in America and NapLorida is here to prove it.
💧 Springs: Florida has more freshwater springs than anywhere on Earth. Crystal-clear 72°F water, prehistoric landscapes, zero tourists. I’ve swum in dozens of them and ranked the best.
A note on honesty
NapLorida will never recommend somewhere I haven’t personally researched thoroughly. This blog exists because Florida deserves better than copy-paste travel content written by people who’ve never been here.
When something is genuinely worth your time, I’ll tell you why. When it’s overrated, I’ll tell you that too.
That’s the deal.
Get in touch
Have a hidden gem you think I should cover? A question about planning your Florida trip? A correction on something I got wrong?
I’d love to hear from you, reach out Travellermayasol@yahoo.com
— Maya Solano Founder, NapLorida