Outdoors & Aquatics
Adventure Trip FAQs
How to register and pay for Adventure Trips?
Please see each trip’s registration page for the refund policy. Refunds will be provided if we must cancel the trip for any reason. Contact Steven Koster (smkoster@usf.edu) with any refund requests.
What is included in the Adventure Trip cost?
Where is the meet up location for Adventure Trips?
All trips meet in Parking Lot 6 on USF Tampa Campus, behind the main Campus Recreation Center.
What kind of lodging is available on adventure trips?
Unless otherwise stated on the trip registration page, we will be camping in tents during all overnight Adventure Trips. However, depending on the trip destination and campground different amenities will be present.
- Camping: Primitive - Camping every night with minimal amenities. Limited access to running water; limited or no access to bathrooms or cell phone reception, and no showers.
- Camping: Frontcountry - Camping with access to most amenities, usually have access to running water and bathrooms; may not have access to showers and cell phone reception.
- Camping: Standard - Camping with all the amenities. Usually have access to running water, bathrooms, showers, and cell phone reception.
- Indoor Lodging - Simple and clean hut, cabin, hotels or hostels, maybe some camping; affordable public and private transport; lots of optional activities.
What does the Challenge Rating mean?
On most trips, you don’t need any experience. Really! When trip requires experience or have higher levels of physical activity, we’ll indicate what experience you should have on the registration page.
How long are Adventure Trips?
- Day Adventures - Don’t want to commit to an overnight? Head out for a day to do some hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, biking, or stand-up paddleboarding. Most activities are within a 2-hour drive and give you the opportunity to explore Florida’s beautiful outdoors.
- Weeknight Adventures - Make the most of your week with sunset paddles, mountain biking, hiking, outdoor skills classes, and more!
- Overnight Adventures - From local camping adventures to the mountains and valleys of North Carolina, take a weekend to experience nature to the fullest. Breathtaking mountain views, new friends, and unforgettable memories await you.
- Expedition Adventures - Really want to experience nature? Join us for trips ranging from 3 - 12 nights, whether it be over Winter Break, Spring Break, or Summer we will be off exploring the world. We may be road tripping out West, staying in a cabin near the Great Smoky Mountains, or trekking through Iceland. These trips are a bigger commitment, but always turn out to be the most fun!
What do I need to pack for my Adventure Trip?
Staff will be in touch about 1 to 2 weeks before your trip with details about what you will need to bring.
In general, plan to wear active clothes and have a reusable water bottle. We do not provide sunscreen or bug spray, we ask that when purchasing sunscreen you buy reef-safe sunscreen.
If you are on an overnight trip you can find our general packing list here!
What is the difference between backpacking and hiking?
Backpacking combines hiking and camping in a single activity. A backpacker hikes into the backcountry to spend one or more nights there, and carries all supplies and equipment needed for camping, sleeping, and eating needs. Often includes camping in different locations that you’ve hiked to every night. Sometimes referred to as trekking.
Hiking is a recreational sport in which participants spend the day walking to usually scenic views on trails, but does not plan on spending the night there and rather returns to a designate campsite to sleep.
What are some of the other activities that you do on Adventure Trips?
Bouldering is a style of rock climbing undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs over a crash pad so that a fall will not result in injury. It is typically practiced on large natural boulders or artificial boulders in gyms and outdoor urban areas.
Canoeing is an activity involving a small long and narrow boat, propelled by one or more people (depending on the size of canoe), using single-bladed paddles. The paddlers face in the direction of travel, in either a seated position, or kneeling on the bottom of the boat.
Kayaking is the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean in a specially designed kayak.
Caving is the recreational sport of exploring wild (generally non-commercial) underground cave systems; also known as spelunking in the United States and occasionally potholing in the United Kingdom.
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport.
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often on hiking trails.
Mountain Biking refers to
Whitewater rafting is a challenging recreational activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers.
Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up or across natural rock formations or man-made rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route.
SCUBA diving (“SCUBA” originally being an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, although now widely considered a word in its own right) is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater for recreational reasons.
Snorkeling is
Paddleboarding is
