5 Tips For When It Rains On Vacation

If you read my posts from our Spring Break vacation to Indian Shores, you'll know I didn't allude to the fact that it was cold and rainy all but 2 days of our stay. It completely sucks when you plan a beach vacation and it gets rained out. 

I had a vision in my head of warm sunny days, beach breeze flowing through the balcony and condo, relaxing on the beach or at the pool, but instead, I found myself finding ways to keep the entire family (6 of us) entertained.

While my list will tell you what to do in Indian Shores when it rains on vacation, the basic premise can be applied to just about any destination. If you are worried that the vacation was ruined, believe me when I say, we all agreed it was the best vacation we'd ever had! I think this was due to our thought on this particular vacation. Our plan was to be laid back and not plan any events and just go with it.

What To Do When It Rains On Vacation

I've compiled my Top Tips for what to do when it rains on your beach vacation:

Oh No! It’s raining! What are we going to do?

First, pack a couple of small games like Uno, Bananagrams, and Jenga, etc. If you're flying, your luggage room will be limited so take small card games like Uno. This can be fun for the whole family if you have to stay in because it's a bad storm or evenings when it's raining. You’ll be entertained for hours! You can also get creative with your competition and have prizes. If you go back and look at my posts, you'll see we did come prepared and we did play games. 

Crafts- The kids love the dollar crafts I grab from the Target dollar spot, Dollar Tree, and Michaels. I grab new ones every time I am there so that I have them stored for times like this. I had actually brought a few this trip and they looked forward to them when it was storming. If you have children that fear storms, this is also a good distraction.

Go to John's Pass in Madeira Beach. This was a stone's throw (by car lol) from where we were staying at Indian Shores. John's Pass has more than 100 retailers, restaurants (Bubba Gumps, Hooters and more), and attractions (even an alligator attraction where you can kiss one), your visit here can easily be a full day. In fact, mine enjoyed it so much they requested another visit while we were there. You can also grab classic Florida souvenirs in the tin-roofed village, enjoy seafood and casual fare, and hit the boardwalk for a view of the water.

Go shopping. Of course, there's shopping at the previously mentioned John's Pass, but there are so many great shopping options in Indian Shores, especially souvenir shops. TYRONE SQUARE MALL, ELLENTON PREMIUM OULET, LARGO MALL, and international PLAZA all provide great shopping if the weather turns rainy. I highly recommend Ellenton. It's a fantastic outlet.

Visit Tarpon Springs Aquarium. If you read the posts from our vacation, you'll see we'd gone to Tarpon Springs on one of our colder days and thoroughly enjoyed it! In fact, it was a highlight for the kids and is a fun destination for the whole family. It is all indoors so it will be a great visit for the rainy days. There's a large touch pool as well as other pools where you can feed stingrays and sharks. They also have shows from shark feeding to alligator feeding and more.

Take a Tour at The Ringling Museum. More than 150,000 square feet have been added to the campus, which includes the art museum, circus museum, and Ca' d'Zan, the Ringlings' mansion, which has been restored, along with the historic Asolo Theater. New additions to the campus include the Visitor's Pavilion, the Education, Library, and Conservation Complex, the Tibbals Learning Center complete with a miniature circus, and the Searing Wing, a 30,000-square-foot gallery for special exhibitions attached to the art museum.

Find a covered, outdoor restaurant. Beach towns are great for finding outdoor but covered restaurants. These are amazing for spending a leisurely meal and relaxing to the sound of the rain.

Last but certainly not least, sit on the balcony and watch the rain fall and listen to the waves. This was by far, the best part of my vacation.

Rain can happen on any vacation, especially one in Florida. We get rain almost every afternoon in the summers. Don't panic, just go with it and employ some of these ideas to keep it fun when it rains on vacation. 

You can see all of our Indian Shores family vacation stories and tips here.