This is a list of things to do in Sarasota when it rains.
You’ll find lots of fun things to do indoors.
Let’s jump right in!
Here are the best indoor activities in Sarasota, FL on a rainy day:
- Perspire Sauna Studio
- The Cookie Cottage
- The Artful Giraffe
- Painting with a Twist
- Pangea Alchemy Lab
- McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre
- Livingston’s Amusements
- Sarasota Architectural Salvage
- The Ringling Museum
- Arts A Blaze Studio
- Cat Depot
- Bowlero Bradenton
- AMF Gulf Gate Lanes
- Siesta Key Rum
- Mote Marine Aquarium
- Mysterium Escape Rooms & VR
- Ellenton Ice Skating Rink
- Astro Skate of Bradenton
- Shore Rejuvenation Day Spa
- Big Top Brewing Company
- Bahi Hut Tiki Cocktail Lounge
- CMX CinéBistro Siesta Key
- Circus Sarasota
- CryoXL Sarasota
- Sarasota Art Museum
- Sarasota Opera House
- Indoor Mall at UTC
- Sarasota Classic Car Museum
- Defy
- Sky Zone Trampoline Park
- Jumpin Fun Inflata Park
- Bounce Down Under
- AlexArt International Art Gallery
- Try the Best Coffee
- Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
- Acro Fit
- Florida Studio Theatre
- Indoor Playground at UTC
- Chick-fil-A Playground
- Best Downtown Restaurants
- Discover Sarasota Tours
- Gulf Gate Public Library
- Selby Public Library
Perspire Sauna Studio
309 N Cattlemen Rd #2, Sarasota, FL
Perspire Sauna Studio just opened in 2022. They have infrared saunas where you can “Netflix ‘n Sweat”. The infrared heat increase circulation, speeds up oxygen flow and allows you to sweat out toxins.
It also has red light therapy that encourages cell regeneration and reduces inflammation in the body. For 40 minutes you can watch Netflix or listen to different Pandora station while healing your body.
The Cookie Cottage
335 Gillespie Ave, Sarasota, FL
The Cookie Cottage is for people who love to make cookies. They offer cookie making group classes, home cookie kits and take home cupcake kits. You can even drop in to decorate.
While it is kid-friendly, it’s also a great place to go on a date or with friends. It’s one of the best things to do in Sarasota when it rains.
The Artful Giraffe
1861 Fruitville Rd, Sarasota, FL
The Artful Giraffe has some of the best indoor activities for people who love art. You can learn pottery wheel throwing, basics of painting, how to draw, make resin art and more!
They have drop in times and group classes you can join.
Painting with a Twist
5543 Palmer Crossing Cir, Sarasota, FL
Painting with a Twist is a great place to paint while drinking indoors. Get together with family or friends and create a masterpiece. No pressure. And if you feel pressure, they have wine.
Pangea Alchemy Lab
1564 Main St, Sarasota, FL
Pangea Alchemy Lab is a speakeasy style bar in the heart of downtown. First, you have to enter through a secret door (back alley). Then you’ll get to experience some truly creative craft cocktails.
You see cocktails on fire and sometimes even a drink with fruit loops (cereal) in it. It’s one of the most fun places to go indoors when it rains.
McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre
1923 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, FL
McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre always has something going on at 7:30pm or 9pm. If it’s raining and you’re looking for things to do, check out who’s performing on their event calendar.
Livingston’s Amusements
5947 Clark Center Ave, Sarasota, FL
Livingston’s Amusement Center is a 50,000 square foot indoor activities hub. You’ll find go-karts, arcade games, pool tables, bumper cars and a bar. If you plan on racing, avoid drinking since they tend to us a breathalyzer.
Sarasota Architectural Salvage
1093 Central Ave, Sarasota, FL
Sarasota Architectural Salvage is a cool place to go when it rains. You’ll find furniture made from old boats, antique chandeliers, grandfather clocks, surfboards and more. Pretty much anything wood or metal. No, it’s not a thrift shop. It’s actually very cool.
The Ringling Museum
5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, FL
The Ringling Museum is full of fun things to do indoors. There’s an art gallery and lots of places to explore. There’s even a Mediterranean style mansion called “Ca d’Zan”. Modeled after the Venetian palazzos of Venice, Italy.
Arts A Blaze Studio
8111 Lakewood Main St #107, Bradenton, FL
Arts A Blaze Studio is a pottery studio that offers ceramic painting and pottery classes. You can choose from over 500 ceramic pieces to paint and 70 different colors.
You can learn the basics of throwing and create your own pieces. They will then fire them up in the on-site kilns.
Cat Depot
2542 17th St, Sarasota, FL
Cat Depot is a free-roaming adoption center. The cats live in bedroom size rooms where you can truly experience what having a cat would be like. You can pet, cuddle and adopt a cat or just hang out and give it some love.
They also run fun events like cats and coffee, yoga with cats, paint your pet events (not your actual pet) and more.
Bowlero Bradenton
4208 Cortez Rd W, Bradenton, FL
Bowlero is a bowling alley in Bradenton. It’s renovated, clean and very well organized. You can always go there last minute without checking availability. It’s great if you’re in the Bradenton area.
AMF Gulf Gate Lanes
7221 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL
AMF Gulf Gate Lanes is a bowling alley in Sarasota. They do get busy, but it’s a great option to go somewhere last minute. It’s one of the best things to do in Sarasota when it rains.
Siesta Key Rum Tours
2212 Industrial Blvd, Sarasota, FL
Siesta Key Rum distillery offers free tours multiple times a day. The tours are about 45-60 minutes where you can taste different rums and see the actual distillery. Check out our free things to do in Sarasota post to see how to get free tickets.
Mote Marine Aquarium
1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy, Sarasota, FL
The Mote Marine Aquarium is the perfect indoor place to escape on a rainy day. Explore colorful tanks filled with exotic fish and sea-life. Get up close and personal with sea turtles and great white sharks.
The aquarium is not large but is a great way to spend an afternoon. Make sure to grab a chocolate shake at the Deep Sea Diner!
Mysterium Escape Rooms & VR
1900 Main St #104, Sarasota, FL 34236
Mysterium is an indoor place with escape rooms and virtual reality games. You’ll be faced with life-size puzzles to “escape” the rooms you’ve been trapped in. Yes, it’s safe. Don’t worry.
They also have virtual reality games when you can put on a headset and experience the new technology. Mysterium also has free retro games and a bar.
Ellenton Ice Skating Rink
5309 29th St E, Ellenton, FL
The Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex is a 115,000 square foot ice skating arena. They offer public ice skating sessions during certain times of the week. Check their calendar to plan ahead.
Astro Skate of Bradenton
3611 3rd St W, Bradenton, FL
Astro Skate is a roller skating rink in Bradenton. It’s fun, kid-friendly and has intergalactic vibes. It’s a great place to learn to skate while it’s raining. They have quad and inline skates.
Shore Rejuvenation Day Spa
2088 Hawthorne St, Sarasota, FL
Shore Rejuvenation Day Spa offers facial treatments, skin therapies, facial peels, skin tightening, fascia blasting, eyelash extensions, microblading, waxing, sauna treatments and much more.
Big Top Brewing Company
975 Cattlemen Rd, Sarasota, FL
Big Top Brewing Company is a fun local brewery. They have craft beers on tap, live music and food. It’s a great place to go if it’s raining and you want to grab a drink.
Bahi Hut Tiki Cocktail Lounge
4675 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL
Bahi Hut Tiki Cocktail Lounge is Florida’s oldest tiki bar (1954). You’ll find a one-of-a-kind low key atmosphere with super chill vibes. It’s one of the most fun places to go when it rains. We recommend their famous mai tai.
CMX CinéBistro Siesta Key
3501 S Tamiami Trail, Suite 1100, Sarasota, FL
CMX CineBistro is a high end movie theatre with dinner and drinks. They have a full bar with top shelf liquor and craft cocktails. They also have an extensive menu and extremely comfortable recliner seats.
Circus Sarasota
5851 Nathan Benderson Cir, Sarasota, FL
The Circus Sarasota is open June through August. It’s a great place to go during the summer months, since it rains so much. You’ll see acrobats, jugglers, ring gymnasts, magicians, fire breathing acts and more!
CryoXL Sarasota
1800 S Tuttle Ave, Sarasota, FL
CryoXL offers cryotherapy and IV hydration. Cryotherapy offers the same therapeutic benefits as an ice bath, but more efficient. They use nitrogen vapor to cool down the cryotherapy chamber to -130ºF to 200ºF.
Sarasota Art Museum
1001 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL
The Sarasota Art Museum is one of best things to do in Sarasota when it rains. There’s always availability and it requires no planning. You’ll find contemporary art, sculptures, paintings and mesmerizing photography.
Sarasota Opera House
61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota, FL
Sarasota Opera House is a great place for opera and ballet. It’s clean, sophisticated, indoors and has great acoustics. Check their events calendar for performances that are going on right now.
Indoor Mall at UTC
The Mall at UTC is one of the best places to visit while it’s raining. You can shop, speed walk and enjoy the air conditioning.
Sarasota Classic Car Museum
5500 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL
The Sarasota Classic Car Museum has a constantly rotating collection of about 100 cars. The 60,000 square foot facility has classic, exotic & muscle cars. It’s one of the best Sarasota rainy day activities.
Defy Bradenton
7385 52nd Pl E, Bradenton, FL
Defy is an indoor trampoline park that’ll satisfy teens, big kids and little kids. It’s super clean, heavily air conditioned and a great way to burn off some energy.
They have trampoline dodgeball, little kid jumping areas, parkour, trapeze, wall trampolines, zip lining, foam battle beams, trampoline basketball and more!
Sky Zone Trampoline Park
6180 Edgelake Dr, Sarasota, FL
Sky Zone is an indoor trampoline park that caters to all ages but specifically younger children. If you’re a parent of littles, it’s a safe and clean way to let your kids roam free.
They have a ninja warrior course, zip line, trapeze, swings with foam pits and lots of fun challenging areas. It’s one of the best things to do in Sarasota when it rains.
Jumpin Fun Inflata Park
7321 Trade Ct, Sarasota, FL
Jumpin Fun is a 15,000 square foot inflatable theme park. There are inflatable mazes, bounce houses, foam pits, climbing walls, ball pits and more. You’ll also find a 250 foot zip line that runs throughout the park. If you have kids, this is the best thing to do in Sarasota on a rainy day.
Bounce Down Under
935 N Beneva Rd., Ste 802, Sarasota, FL
Bounce Down Under is an 11,000 square foot inflatable park. There are lots of bounce houses, inflatable slides, inflatable tunnels, dodgeball and more. It’s a really fun places if you’re looking for indoor activities in Sarasota, FL.
Try the Best Coffee in Sarasota
There’s no better way to enjoy a rainy day than with a warm cup of coffee. See our complete list of the best coffee shops in Sarasota.
AlexArt International Art Gallery
25 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota, FL
The AlexArt International Art Gallery is one of the contemporary art galleries in Sarasota, FL. You’ll find vibrant modern art, neon color paintings and cool 3D art. It’s definitely on the best things to do indoors in Sarasota.
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
777 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is a 80,000 square foot theatre with 1,741 seats. They always have a theatre performance going on. Cats, Blue Main Group, Aladdin, Jerry Seinfeld and more! They usually have shows at 1pm, 7pm, 9pm, etc. If it’s raining, consider going to see a last minute performance.
Acro Fit
4015 Clark Rd, Sarasota, FL
Acrofit is an indoor gym that offers walk in gymnastics sessions. Enjoy 45 minutes of bouncing, sliding, and crawling! There’s ropes, trampolines, bars, and even a foam pit. At the end, children gather for parachute fun, bubbles, and dancing.
When: Saturdays 11:15am
Who: Kids under 5
Florida Studio Theatre
1241 N Palm Ave, Sarasota, FL
Florida Studio Theatre usually has 1-2 plays a day. Consider seeing a play if it starts raining. Here’s the where to get tickets and see the full schedule.
Indoor Playground at UTC
140 University Town Center Dr, Sarasota, FL
The UTC mall playground is one of the very few that parents and children can enjoy indoors on a rainy day. The Mote Marine Aquarium themed play space is small, enclosed, and has great AC.
Chick-fil-A Playground
5489 University Pkwy, University Park, FL
When all else fails, it’s Chik-fil-A to the rescue. You can’t go wrong with chicken nuggets and an indoor slide. The 2-story play space has areas to climb, jump and a great slide. If the rain stops, see our list of the best playgrounds in Sarasota.
Best Downtown Restaurants
Considering dining indoors at Sarasota’s downtown restaurants:
- Kojo
- Selva
- Indigenous Restaurant
- Owen’s Fish Camp
- Duval’s
- Lila
- Mediterraneo
- Boca Kitchen
If you’ve been to these, see our complete list of restaurants in downtown Sarasota, FL.
Discover Sarasota Tours
1826 4th St, Sarasota, FL
Discover Sarasota Tours offer 90 minute trolley tours. It’s a convenient way to see the best places to visit in Sarasota, Florida when it’s raining.
Gulf Gate Public Library
7112 Curtiss Ave, Sarasota, FL
Gulf Gate Public Library is clean, has floor to ceiling windows and lots of seating. It’s a great place to read a book, get some work done or just hang out while it rains.
Selby Public Library
1331 1st St, Sarasota, FL
Selby Public Library is a great place to run from the rain. They have books, computers, a small aquarium, games and creative stations for kids.
Things To Do in Sarasota When it Rains
It just started raining and you’re rushing to find rainy day activities. We get it. That’s why we created a map of things to do in Sarasota when it rains.