Have some Florida fun before the hectic holidays with special air rates and fabulous offers at top resorts.

Through midnight Thursday, purchase one-way deals from AirTran or Delta Air Lines for trips you plan to finish on or before Dec. 15.

Travel to Jacksonville or Pensacola for $59 each way or $69 to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Miami, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa or West Palm Beach.

Exclusive sale rates from Delta include Fort Walton-Destin at $89; $119, Daytona Beach; and $139, Melbourne.

Both airlines require a minimum two-week advance notice of travel dates. Sale prices are valid on Mondays-Wednesdays or Saturdays. Add just $10 more each way for peak weekend dates. Unfortunately, these great airfare bargains are not valid Nov. 21-28.

Check out these deals on land:

My favorite spot in Naples offers an unbeatable Mini-Vacation package at just $130 per person. The family-run Vanderbilt Beach Resort (since 1968) offers a quiet, friendly, small and relaxing spot directly on the Gulf of Mexico.

Included in the package are beachfront hotel accommodations for two nights (one-room efficiencies with two extra-long double beds and one-bedroom apartments with a separated queen bedroom plus two twin bahama beds in the living room); continental breakfast served in the Turtle Club restaurant (on the resort grounds) each morning; dinner one evening at your choice of seven top area restaurants (try Bha Bha's Persian cuisine) and lunch one day at your choice of three local restaurants.

The package also includes your choice of one of the following: a sunset cruise; a sightseeing trolley tour; 18 holes of golf (Arrowhead Golf Course, $25 cart fee per person through October; $35 November and December); or admission to the National Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, the Seminole Indian Casino (includes $10 gaming voucher and a $12 dinner voucher) or the Naples Museum of Art. Check into the Vanderbilt Beach Resort on any Sunday-Thursday and receive an additional lunch at the Turtle Club plus receive a 10 percent discount off a second evening dinner with a complimentary cocktail. The deal is valid on stays through Dec. 21 and based on double occupancy (www.vanderbiltbeachresort.com).

The newly renovated Hilton Cocoa Beach Resort features spacious new guest rooms, lots of dining options overlooking the beach and a 10,000-square-foot oceanfront pool deck. One-night Space Break packages, priced from $191 for two, include two tickets to the nearby Kennedy Space Center and breakfast. This resort is five minutes from Port Canaveral's cruise terminals; 45 minutes from the Orlando airport; 25 miles from the Melbourne airport; about an hour from Disney World and Sea World and minutes from the Kennedy Space Center. A space shuttle headed to the international space station is scheduled to launch Dec. 7, but variables such as weather could affect the launch date. www.hiltoncocoabeach.com.

Set on Ponte Vedra Beach along the Northeast Florida coast, the luxurious Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa (also recently renovated) offers golf packages for two on stays through October; packages include deluxe accommodations for one night; breakfast for two; one round of golf on the Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass (per person) with forecaddie; transportation to and from the course and a $60 playback certificate each for the Players Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass (good for use July-September 2007). Rates for two are $378 or $453 for a one-bedroom villa suite. The cost for a solo visitor is $249 for a resort room; $324 for a villa suite. Enjoy this same golf package Nov. 1-Dec. 30 from $471 for two or $325 single occupancy. The resort is a short drive to downtown Jacksonville and St. Augustine (www.sawgrassmarriott.com).

The Cheeca Lodge in the Florida Keys was named one of the world's top 10 "très chic pool sides" by Small Luxury Hotels of the World (www.slh.com). The sophisticated adults-only Spa Pool offers individual private cabanas complete with flat-screen TVs. It even has a Float-in Pool Party, movies shown on a large screen as you watch from under the stars or from your pool float.

As the lodge celebrates its 60th anniversary through Dec. 21, stay a minimum of two nights from $160 per night on Sunday-Thursday arrivals. This rate includes a bottle of champagne and a $60 voucher good at the resort's restaurants, bars, spa or gift shop. Not included is a $39 resort fee or taxes of 11.5 percent. Still, this is a great rate for an outstanding resort (four-diamond AAA-rated) featuring tennis courts, a nine-hole golf course, pools, fine dining in three restaurants and Camp Cheeca for the little ones. The elegant oceanfront resort is in Islamorada, a short drive from Key Largo and a 90-minute drive from the Miami airport (www.cheeca.com).

The Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa offers a three-night Family Fun package on stays through Dec. 22. Per adult, per night rates are $103 and include accommodations for parents and two children ages 12 and under; daily breakfast for four and an Adventures in Paradise sea life encounter trip for four (www.adventureinparadiseinc.com). Also included are special guest benefits such as unlimited access to the resort's spa facilities; full use of the fitness center; admittance to any of the more than 30 exercise classes offered weekly; unlimited hours of clay tennis court time; guest-room Internet access; trolley transportation around the complex; and shuttle transportation to select Sanibel area attractions (www.sanibel-resort.com).

Clara Bosonetto Maerz is a retired travel consultant. Daily Budget Traveler deals appear Monday through Friday online at ajc.com/travel, with up-to-the-minute information about discount airline seats, cruise cabins, rental cars, package space and hotel rooms.