Motels in Florida
Browse, find, choose, shop and compare our list of affordable five star Florida luxury resorts, economical four star Florida comfortable hotels, inexpensive three star Florida clean lodges, convenient two star Florida budget inns, and cheap one star Florida motels to find rooms available for lodging accommodations. Book a motel room and make reservations at places to stay in Florida.
Florida is a low-lying peninsula separating the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico. Because it is part of an area late to rise from the ocean, Florida is called the geologic baby of the the nation. On the Atlantic side, barrier beaches enclose the Intracoastal Waterway, which separates at St. Lucie Inlet. One branch runs south to Key West and the other crosses the state to Fort Myers where it resumes its intermittent path along the Gulf.
The west coast, deeply indented with bays south of the Suwannee River, becomes low and marshy as it approaches the Ten Thousand Islands. Because of its countless bays, islands, and inlets, Florida has the longes tidal coast of any state in the contiguous United States - 8,462 miles.
In the north the terrain slopes gradually from the central panhandle into the Atlantic; part of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp extends into Florida west of Jacksonville. The central backbone of the peninsula rises slightly in the area north of Lake Okeechobee, then dips to sea level. The 135 mile chain of islands known as the Florida Keys curves southwestward into the Gulf of Mexico.
There are more than 30,000 lakes, ranging from puddle size to 700-square-mile Lake Okeechobee. Along the major rivers and the west coast are the majority of the state's 27 artesian springs. South of Lake Okeechobee lies the Everglades, where the highest land is only a few feet above sea level. Labyrinthine waterways thread through cypress and mangrove swamps, grassy hammocks and vast prairies of shallow water and sawgrass.
Reflecting the warm, moist climate, the vegetation and wildlife are characteristic of both the temperate and tropical zones. Pines, oaks, cypresses and palms - 15 varieties of palm are native to the state - predominate. In the swamps, dense mangrove forests flourish; the rare Torrey yucca tree and the Florida yew grow along the Apalachicola River west of Tallahassee.
With increasing numbers of animals threatened with extinction, laws protecting species have been enacted and are beginning to show results. While the rare Florida panther is still threatened by development, snowy egrets and the nearly extinct roseate spoonbill have begun to re-establish themselves. Florida boasts two firsts in relation to the protection of wildlife. The first national bird sanctuary - Pelican Island - was established in 1903, and Ocala National Forest, organized in 1908, was the first in the eastern states.