hey guys, ill be living in south Ft. Myers starting in january, and ill be attending edision state college for a spring semester. Ive heard the gulf can get some nice sets during the right conditons. ive lived and surfed in the mid atlantic region my whole life.looking for any info on sw FL surf. FGCU has a surf club, if any members are apart of this PM me with some info! also how longs the ride to the east coast? Thanks
hows it goin wes...the gulf can indeed get some decent sets in the right location with the correct conditions.i live in the tampa bay area and just caught clean waist/stomach waves 3 days ago...during the winter,you wanna look for cold fronts comin down from the north....90% of the waves here are from wind swells...typically waves range from knee-stomach but with a storm they get bigger...with that being said,i hope you have a longboard in your quiver...although the water is warmer here than it is up north youll still wanna wear your wetsuit...as for the east coast,my buddies and me go to cocoa, satellite, and sebastian inlet all the time and it takes us around 2.5hrs to get to cocoa and approx 3 to get to sebastian from st. pete..... hit me up when you get down here and we can meet up for a session...i know of a nice break around the venice area which is about the half way point from ft. myers and st. pete.....
i wouldn't wear a wetsuit there! at least not until december. most of my family lives in pinellas county, and i've went in the water on christmas. it was a little chilly. probably what the mid atlantic waters feel like in late september/early october. had to be upper 60s.
the west side has limited waves my friend. my parents have a place in marco island and naples is the closest half decent surfing beach. I would definetly try to go east as much as possible. Just watch out for the sharks!
i lived in port charlotte for 2 years and got one session in the entire time i was there that didn't suck. i got maybe 15 sessions in total and honestly they all sucked and just left me so frustrated. in the winter when the cold fronts swing down you'll get surf but the wind will be ****ing howlin and blow out most spots. also the side shore currents down there absolutely rip. most sessions would start with a walk down the beach for a mile or so then drifting down to where you started. so annoying. ft myers beach's suck for surf. Naples isn't that bad but still it's the west coast so it blows. also be ready to be shark bait, i have never seen so many dorsal fins per session in my entire life. be smart and just go to the east coast where they occasionally get some surf. seriously, west florida sucks.then again the lopez brothers are from the west coast.
yo also bring a 3/2 or a spring suit. the water never gets that cold but when you're out in the winter the wind will be howling and you'll be wishing you had some rubber.
also the dude with the spot between st pete and naples, if you're talking about englewood or boca you're nuts. god the west coast of florida sucks so friggin much. my advice is buy a fishing pole.
