Exploring South FL - itinerary

[Scuba]

DH and I will be spending 3 months in FL this summer to evaluate whether we want to relocate and establish residency there. Most of that time, we will be doing house/pet sits through TrustedHousesitters, but we will have almost a month of that time on our own to explore as we wish. We want to focus mostly on South FL - Melbourne or below on the East Coast, Sarasota or below on the West Coast. The reason we aren’t considering areas further north of these cities is that we want beaches that are comfortable for swimming most or all of the year with water temperatures of 75+. We will make one exception to spend a few nights in The Villages.

For SE FL, we want to explore the area from Ft. Lauderdale up to Melbourne and we have 2-3 weeks to do that. Questions:
- Are we missing anything if we don’t explore any towns south of Ft. Lauderdale? We are thinking the Keys are way too remote and Miami is too busy and urban for us.
- What is a good town to stay that would allow us to easily explore Broward and Palm Beach counties? Thinking of spending time in some of the beach towns - Delray Beach, Deerfield Beach, Boynton Beach, Jupiter - as well as some of the 55+ communities that seem to be further inland. We could stay in multiple towns if need be although we don’t mind driving a bit to avoid constantly changing accommodations.
- Are Stuart and Port St. Lucie nice? The real estate prices seem lower there and I’ve read concerns about pollution from Lake Okeechobee, but developers seem to be investing a lot in these areas.

For SW FL, we plan to explore the area from Sarasota down to Marco Island. Initially we were leaning towards SW FL as we thought we’d fit in better with the more laid back culture there, but after researching sea temperatures and red tide, we are thinking SE FL might be better. If we check out the areas listed below, are we missing anything notable?
- Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Venice, Englewood, Bonita Springs, Punta Gonda, Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Ft. Meyers, Estero, Naples, Marco Island

For both SE and SW FL, during June and July, are many accommodations full such that we should definitely prebook, or are there usually vacancies readily available? Since we don’t really know how long we want to spend in each town, it would be ideal to travel “on the fly” but we don’t want to end up sleeping in our car or having to drive an hour out of our way to find places to stay. I know the snowbirds will be gone, but don’t know how crowded S FL is in the summer with tourists.

If anyone has done a “lifestyle visit” to The Villages, did you contact them directly or go through a realtor to arrange it? How long did you stay to get a feel for it? We are thinking 3 nights should be sufficient but not sure what they typically offer.

 

[harley]

DH and I will be spending 3 months in FL this summer to evaluate whether we want to relocate and establish residency there.
For SW FL, we plan to explore the area from Sarasota down to Marco Island. Initially we were leaning towards SW FL as we thought we’d fit in better with the more laid back culture there, but after researching sea temperatures and red tide, we are thinking SE FL might be better. If we check out the areas listed below, are we missing anything notable?
- Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Venice, Englewood, Bonita Springs, Punta Gonda, Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Ft. Meyers, Estero, Naples, Marco Island

For both SE and SW FL, during June and July, are many accommodations full such that we should definitely prebook, or are there usually vacancies readily available? Since we don’t really know how long we want to spend in each town, it would be ideal to travel “on the fly” but we don’t want to end up sleeping in our car or having to drive an hour out of our way to find places to stay. I know the snowbirds will be gone, but don’t know how crowded S FL is in the summer with tourists.

If anyone has done a “lifestyle visit” to The Villages, did you contact them directly or go through a realtor to arrange it? How long did you stay to get a feel for it? We are thinking 3 nights should be sufficient but not sure what they typically offer.

I live in Bonita Springs, although I'm not there now. This area (including Fort Myers Beach and parts of Naples) was devastated by the hurricane, at least along the shore. Beaches are closed, Gulf and Bay front restaurants are gone, it's a mess. Not sure about Marco Island or points north of Estero. It will recover, eventually. But housing is hard to come by, as people are looking for some place to live while their homes are being rebuilt.

In more normal times, the area is great in the winter, except of course, for the traffic. Water is warm, beaches are beautiful, lots of water sports, hiking in the swamps and Everglades, great seafood, etc. I don't stay for the summer, but I've been there for parts of it in the past. Really no worse than the really hot months in VA/MD, except it's 6 months instead of 2-3. And most of my full time friends say there isn't really a "season" anymore. Just crowded and more crowded.

I haven't really got a clue as to how easy it is to book accommodations off season, although, again, because of the housing shortage I would think it might be harder than usual.

No clue about the rest of the state.

 

[JoeWras]

- Are we missing anything if we don’t explore any towns south of Ft. Lauderdale? We are thinking the Keys are way too remote and Miami is too busy and urban for us.

It might be worth a day trip as a tourist. As for a landing place to live, I think you are spot on.

 

[marko]

DH and I will be spending 3 months in FL this summer .

You might learn everything you need to know.

The family has wintered in Fort Lauderdale for over 50 years and have had to go down for a few things mid summer over the years. Brutal summer humidity, but some people enjoy that and the winter weather surely makes up for it 1000 times over.

Good luck!

 

[donheff]

With your username I would expect you to consider the keys, although there are some drift dives as far north as Palm Beach.

 

[Scuba]

With your username I would expect you to consider the keys, although there are some drift dives as far north as Palm Beach.

Palm Beach has a very nice easy shore dive under the Blue Heron Bridge. We will likely do that while we are there. I didn’t love diving in the Keys when I visited before. Would rather take a trip to the Bahamas or a Caribbean island for diving.

 

[Scuba]

I live in Bonita Springs, although I'm not there now. This area (including Fort Myers Beach and parts of Naples) was devastated by the hurricane, at least along the shore. Beaches are closed, Gulf and Bay front restaurants are gone, it's a mess. Not sure about Marco Island or points north of Estero. It will recover, eventually. But housing is hard to come by, as people are looking for some place to live while their homes are being rebuilt.



In more normal times, the area is great in the winter, except of course, for the traffic. Water is warm, beaches are beautiful, lots of water sports, hiking in the swamps and Everglades, great seafood, etc. I don't stay for the summer, but I've been there for parts of it in the past. Really no worse than the really hot months in VA/MD, except it's 6 months instead of 2-3. And most of my full time friends say there isn't really a "season" anymore. Just crowded and more crowded.



I haven't really got a clue as to how easy it is to book accommodations off season, although, again, because of the housing shortage I would think it might be harder than usual.



No clue about the rest of the state.

Excellent point about housing being in short supply in areas affected by Ian. I hope your home was not too heavily damaged by the storm. DH and I have volunteered for several hurricane clean-ups and know how devastating the damage often is.

 

[Scuba]

You might learn everything you need to know.

The family has wintered in Fort Lauderdale for over 50 years and have had to go down for a few things mid summer over the years. Brutal summer humidity, but some people enjoy that and the winter weather surely makes up for it 1000 times over.

Good luck!

Thank you!

 

[Aerides]

For SE FL, we want to explore the area from Ft. Lauderdale up to Melbourne and we have 2-3 weeks to do that. Questions:
- Are we missing anything if we don’t explore any towns south of Ft. Lauderdale? We are thinking the Keys are way too remote and Miami is too busy and urban for us.
- What is a good town to stay that would allow us to easily explore Broward and Palm Beach counties? Thinking of spending time in some of the beach towns - Delray Beach, Deerfield Beach, Boynton Beach, Jupiter - as well as some of the 55+ communities that seem to be further inland. We could stay in multiple towns if need be although we don’t mind driving a bit to avoid constantly changing accommodations.
- Are Stuart and Port St. Lucie nice? The real estate prices seem lower there and I’ve read concerns about pollution from Lake Okeechobee, but developers seem to be investing a lot in these areas.

I would not want to live South of the upper broward area, the congestion and age and cost increases.

For your stay to visit B/PB, Boca Raton might be good and central. Also nice. Plenty of hotels if you focus on a few miles around the Boca Town Center (that and the Gardens are arguable the best old-style Malls, but much nice than 99% of any other mall).

That will allow you to visit nicer condos in the east Boca area, while also not far from Delray - Atlantic Avenue is a nice dinner spot.

Basically, you're either going to wind up well east of 1-95 ($, condo, intracoastal area), or a good mile+ west in a 55+ SFH or similar. The mile each side flanking the highway is far less desirable than a bit more east and west.

The 55+ communities are mostly going to be west of Military or Jog through southern PB county. Anyone you want will be gated, so find an agent to work with after shopping Zillow for a while. You don't want to back onto the Turnpike, it can be noisy, but there are many communities that do with a lot of good walls. In general, look at when the 55+ was built, and assume everyone in there was 60 when that happened. So if it's a 25 yo community, your neighbors will mostly be 85

You can get a lot for your money in these though, as they tend to run slightly lower than regular SFH in price per SF, but expect to do more remodeling. When my parents shopped around a few years back, a majority were not upgraded from build, and/or were styled based on the taste the owners brought with them when the moved from the NE in the late 90s, so you have to look past a lot of big black leather couches, old white tile, built in wet bars, etc. Newer ones (<15 years) had higher ceilings, better open layouts, etc. Be sure to get a hold of the HOA budget and assessment plans.

Even if you have a community pool, I do recommend one at home, especially if you want to swim year round...and a heater. Even more if you end up north of Palm Beach - heck even Ft Lauderdale, you won't get me in the ocean before June. And it's a lovely way to waste away an August afternoon.

 

[kingkarmann]

I'm currently near the Gulf in Nokomis, just next to Venice.
Dad and his wife have lived here 25 years. Lots of luxury homes and condo's to choose from. Nokomis has faired surprising well after Ian despite being just a few miles from the the eye.
Supposedly this area is protected according to a Native American legend if you believe in that sort of thing.
The area is undergoing a real estate boom.
They love it here.
We shall see how much they still love after the seaweed blob comes ashore around July.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sargassum-seaweed-blob-explained-florida-scn/index.html

 

[Scuba]

I would not want to live South of the upper broward area, the congestion and age and cost increases.



For your stay to visit B/PB, Boca Raton might be good and central. Also nice. Plenty of hotels if you focus on a few miles around the Boca Town Center (that and the Gardens are arguable the best old-style Malls, but much nice than 99% of any other mall).



That will allow you to visit nicer condos in the east Boca area, while also not far from Delray - Atlantic Avenue is a nice dinner spot.



Basically, you're either going to wind up well east of 1-95 ($, condo, intracoastal area), or a good mile+ west in a 55+ SFH or similar. The mile each side flanking the highway is far less desirable than a bit more east and west.



The 55+ communities are mostly going to be west of Military or Jog through southern PB county. Anyone you want will be gated, so find an agent to work with after shopping Zillow for a while. You don't want to back onto the Turnpike, it can be noisy, but there are many communities that do with a lot of good walls. In general, look at when the 55+ was built, and assume everyone in there was 60 when that happened. So if it's a 25 yo community, your neighbors will mostly be 85



You can get a lot for your money in these though, as they tend to run slightly lower than regular SFH in price per SF, but expect to do more remodeling. When my parents shopped around a few years back, a majority were not upgraded from build, and/or were styled based on the taste the owners brought with them when the moved from the NE in the late 90s, so you have to look past a lot of big black leather couches, old white tile, built in wet bars, etc. Newer ones (<15 years) had higher ceilings, better open layouts, etc. Be sure to get a hold of the HOA budget and assessment plans.



Even if you have a community pool, I do recommend one at home, especially if you want to swim year round...and a heater. Even more if you end up north of Palm Beach - heck even Ft Lauderdale, you won't get me in the ocean before June. And it's a lovely way to waste away an August afternoon.

Thank you for all of this great advice! I love remodeling places but DH does not. I’m afraid to get something we’d be happy with, we may need to go with new construction or at least something built in the last 2-3 years. We are accustomed to and love modern design, and from looking at options online, it doesn’t seem possible to find that unless it’s a newer property.

I agree with you about an established 55+ community that’s been around a long time will likely have much older residents than we are on average. If we want newish construction, will that by definition be far away from the beach?

 

[kingkarmann]

Thank you for all of this great advice! I love remodeling places but DH does not. I’m afraid to get something we’d be happy with, we may need to go with new construction or at least something built in the last 2-3 years. We are accustomed to and love modern design, and from looking at options online, it doesn’t seem possible to find that unless it’s a newer property.

I agree with you about an established 55+ community that’s been around a long time will likely have much older residents than we are on average. If we want newish construction, will that by definition be far away from the beach?

We are about a mile from Nokomis Beach and the North Jetty. Plenty of easy access. IMO most of what you desire is here.
I'm not a paid spokesman. I personally would not live in Florida. I travel down to help out dad every couple of months.
It is very nice for those who choose to live in the area.

 

[Aerides]

I agree with you about an established 55+ community that’s been around a long time will likely have much older residents than we are on average. If we want newish construction, will that by definition be far away from the beach?

Depends on your definition. In Broward/PB counties, you are not going to walk to the beach from a new build if you are dropping less than a couple mil I doubt, and for sure not a nice modern SFH, except perhaps in the further northern parts of PB, or the older southern parts of Broward. But those areas are also more prone to evacuation and storm surge risk. Or they are older homes that were flipped and torn down and now command huge prices due to prime locations. Or a developer bought a few homes and made super condos, also super priced.

However, the rest of the area is going to be either 20 to 40 minutes to the beach depending how far you go inland (and then you get a few more feet of elevation. For example, I'm in a "normal" SFH place about a mile west of 95. I can be at a lovely beach in 20 mins if I want to. And I'll never "have" to evacuate or much about flooding.

There are a lot of nicer $600-800k-ish larger SFH style 55+ communities, and plenty are less than 15 years old. Most of the <5 year old developments around here are either $1m-2M SFH (non55), and super modern very close together, in what was recently farmland - Boca Bridges comes to mind it's a huge new area that used to be nothing, and is now nothing but expensive housing. S Fla has been built up and out for years. It's just been a matter of converting and rezoning to open up new spots here and there for a while now.

Play around on Zillow, zoom in on a few spots, and try to find a realtor to hook up with before you arrive.

 

[Scuba]

Depends on your definition. In Broward/PB counties, you are not going to walk to the beach from a new build if you are dropping less than a couple mil I doubt, and for sure not a nice modern SFH, except perhaps in the further northern parts of PB, or the older southern parts of Broward. But those areas are also more prone to evacuation and storm surge risk. Or they are older homes that were flipped and torn down and now command huge prices due to prime locations. Or a developer bought a few homes and made super condos, also super priced.



However, the rest of the area is going to be either 20 to 40 minutes to the beach depending how far you go inland (and then you get a few more feet of elevation. For example, I'm in a "normal" SFH place about a mile west of 95. I can be at a lovely beach in 20 mins if I want to. And I'll never "have" to evacuate or much about flooding.



There are a lot of nicer $600-800k-ish larger SFH style 55+ communities, and plenty are less than 15 years old. Most of the <5 year old developments around here are either $1m-2M SFH (non55), and super modern very close together, in what was recently farmland - Boca Bridges comes to mind it's a huge new area that used to be nothing, and is now nothing but expensive housing. S Fla has been built up and out for years. It's just been a matter of converting and rezoning to open up new spots here and there for a while now.



Play around on Zillow, zoom in on a few spots, and try to find a realtor to hook up with before you arrive.

Thank you. I’ve poked around quite a bit on Zillow. I must say it’s somewhat overwhelming trying to zero in on communities/areas sight unseen. I’m thinking we will stay in an area for a few nights and drive around to get the “vibe” of places first. Since we will be in FL for over two months, hopefully that approach will work. I don’t want to spend too much time looking at specific homes until we zero in on the towns/areas that seem to fit us best.

There seem to be a lot of unique considerations for buying homes in FL, such as flood zone, elevation, age of roof, and maybe other factors.

 

[arcyallen]

My wife and I coincidentally travel to Melbourne and Sarasota/Bradenton every year now, and just got back recently. Those are two very different places, so it definitely would make sense to spend some time in each. We're fond of both of them. Melbourne's beaches always seem oddly quiet, which is pretty fabulous for us. I get the impression that the Sarasota population ebbs and flows a lot more with tourists. It's hard for me to explain why they feel so different, but if you haven't already you'll quickly see when you're there.

And you really need to be careful about the Red Tide around Sarasota - we were unaware of it and it was HORRIBLE. We were walking along the sidewalk next to the beach, coughing up a storm and not knowing why. Eventually someone told us about it. While there were (more robust?) people there, there's zero chance of us going near the beach if it's present.