South(ish) florida surf

From Surfline Travel pages.....

About Palm Beach
Working on any ground or windswell, this mile-long stretch rivals Lake Worth Pier's title as the most consistent surf spot in South Florida. Although the outside reef fires on occasion, it's really an inside wave and something of a reform. It can't hold much size, but north swells in the shoulder-high range will spiral into good, left barrels. Rare souths spin excellent rights, and windswells construct good ramps for a growing number of aerialists.

Flagpole is part of the Palm Beach Public Beach, which sits at the end of Royal Palm Way, a continuation of Okeechobee Boulevard. Either come up A1A from Southern Boulevard (or from farther south), or come east across the middle bridge (Okeechobee Bridge) until you run into the beach. Metered parking is plentiful but costly. The Palm Beach Police Force and its underling meter maids are sticklers. Many of them harbor a grudge against surfers, so be sure to drive the speed limit. There are free one-hour parking places along the east/west streets.

The sand shifts quite a bit, and different swells will focus better on different peaks, but the main break is between the flagpole, the lifeguard tower and Charlie's Crab Restaurant. Be nice to the lifeguards. Most of them are surfers, so if they clear a good peak, they're just doing their jobs. The public beach is usually crowded, especially on weekends, holidays and before and after business and school hours. Local grommets and transplants from Palm Beach Atlantic College overrun the wave, and though it's generally a user-friendly place with enough peaks to go around, it gets very competitive when the boys and girls are out. Furthermore, there are a few aggressive, older locals who have weathered all the changes and who understandably feel they are entitled to their pick of the litter. They particularly despise surfers who travel up from Dade and Broward. The locals know the place so well they don't generally resort to violent tactics, but like rattlesnakes, they will bite back if they're provoked.

 

More Details
Best Tide:
Incoming, mid-tides
Best Swell Direction:
N, S, ESE
Best Size:
Waist to head-high
Best Wind:
WNW is offshore. Strong ESE winds create good windswell conditions.
Perfect-O-Meter:
4 (1=Lake Erie; 10=Jeffreys Bay)
Bottom:
Sand and reef
Ability Level:
Competitive spot, good surfers only
Bring Your:
Something very quick
Best Season:
Year-round, swell and windswell permitting, consistent
Access:
Easy, $1/hour parking
Crowd Factor:
High, competitive arena
Local Vibe:
Non-violent protectors
Bicep Burn:
2 usually, 8 given strong longshore currents (1=1ft Waikiki; 10=15ft Ocean Beach)
Poo Patrol:
2 (1=clean; 10=turds in the lineup)
Shark Danger:
6 (1=none; 10=bring an iron cage)
Hazards:
Watch collisions.

 

I bet Florida was awesome once, but last time I was in Palm beach it seemed overcrowded, polluted, and over priced. Yeah, it's 75 in December, but that's about it.

 

Housing is SUPER cheap. (in comparison of SD)
but, at the end of the day - you live in Florida...

 

Paging sisurfdogg.

You could do worse for surf. Sure the Bahamas block quality swell from the south and east but you can usually find something an hour or two north even in summer. No OBX here but you can hit the Gulf coast from time to time. We had some truly exceptional swell just a month ago. And the water never really gets cold.

I live further south in Broward. If I had it to do over again I'd be looking Jupiter and points north. But a choice between VB and Palm Beach, I'd be in Florida for sure.

 

If it's between VB and Palm Beach, it's PB all day long! No question.

 

What about Jax...? Friends of mine, now in CR, rave about places like Maypoles being lots of surf, not epic or anything major, just lots of surfing. And less sharky than Cocoa, NSB, et. al.

 

+1

 

the palm beach gardens/jupiter area is really nice. if i were moving back to south florida that's where i would live. its a whole lot nicer than any where else on the mainland side.

you will surf just as much as you do in vb. after all it's still the east coast. however, fat wide open beach break barrels are rare. it just breaks different down there.

what you really need to know about florida is ..... how do I say this without pissing off the 5 people on this board who are from florida.... the people in florida are fvcking crazy. it's one big hodge podge of different cultures, values, races and nationalities with criminals, scammers, yankees, rednecks, bible beaters, psychopaths, great weather and bad drivers......and to spice things up even further.... a few people in the mix have a sh!t ton of money.

and the following:

no state sales tax
hot latinas
a cvs or gas station on every corner
publix
warm water
excellent fishing
and lastly a few decent ppl

 

+10

 

KahunaKai lives up there and loves it, hates the colder water temps compared to CFL / SFL, but gets consistent surf, some of the best in the state at the Poles

 

^^^ Nailed it, no offense taken. It's one big melting pot of America's finest and lowest of the low. It's a huge state with many regions that include just about every walk of life you can think of, if that aint Merican, I don't know what is!

 

Matt,

I live in Jupiter, right on the border to Palm Beach Gardens. Metard has it pretty dialed in. This is probably the best area in Florida to live, imho. I've lived all across this damn state. It get real hickish to the north and real spanish to the south. This area is kind of the perfect mix. The surf is so-so, water temps never get below 70 really, which is awesome. Very chill surf scene, no localism really. At least I haven't seen any, I moved here from San Diego and never heard any sh1t in the water. But as metard said, you will run into a lot of "interesting" people down here. I would say the schools around here are among the best in the state; however, it is Florida, no state income tax shows in the schools a bit.

But all and all if you are an avid outdoorsman and don't like paying taxes, it's pretty good around here. If you end up moving down, let me know, be glad to share some breaks and brews with you!

 

Hurricane Sandy at Poles, probably the only stand up barrel I've ever had in FL.

 

Plus you can hit Dune Dog on Monday's for all you can eat ribs - or even better - Food Shack!
Oh and you'll have to buy a paddle board.

 

Gracias DP-SUP. Mirrors what I've long heard. And if a guy can get onto NAS Jax then it's zero crowds in the water.

 

Anytime, and there's always an open peak somewhere in FL

 

Cold?? In Florida???
I thought you guys were all tough guys??
Do you guys take rubber duckies into the shower with you??