The Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa is a general science and technology museum in the northern Tampa Bay area, near the University of Southern Florida campus. The museum has many educational programs and workshops, summer science camps, permanent and rotating exhibits (including the Kids in Charge! and Gulf Hurricane exhibits), and a planetarium.

The Tampa Museum of Art has a range modern and contemporary art, and a collection of Mediterranean antiquities, hitting both ends of history. This museum is in downtown Tampa.

The USF Contemporary Art Museum, not surprisingly, focuses on contemporary art, and is near the heart of the USF campus.

The Tampa Bay Historical Center presents middle-central Florida history, mainly focused on Tampa Bay, with a surprisingly large number of exhibits and presentations, and has good kid-friendly interactive exhibits. This museum is in downtown Tampa, near the waterfront.

The SS American Victory is permanently docked on the Tampa waterfront channel off downtown. This is one of only four surviving Victory-class ships, one of the most produced cargo ships of World War Two.

The Salvador Dali Museum, in St. Petersburg, next to the Albert Whitted Airport, houses a large collection of Dali's works and other avant garde / surrealist works. The building itself is surrealist and worth a visit for the design alone.

The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum collects historic autos, especially the more creative, innovative, and sometimes less well known designs. This museum is in Pinellas Park, near St. Petersburg, about half an hour from base.

The Cracker Country living history museum presents Floridian history with live, interactive performances by actual humans in the role of early Florida settlers.