Exploring South FL

[mexexpat]

There are many lovely small cities/towns on the west coast where eateries and shopping are walkable or bikeable (and even via legally licensed golf cart). Three of the most charming are (all within 30 minutes drive of Tampa Intl Airport)....Gulfport (own a home there); Safety Harbor and Dunedin. Here is a link to activities, etc. in Gulfport:
About Gulfport Florida | Gulfport Florida

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EarlyBirdly Mostly they are nice. Very docile. I like to fit them with party hats. Much like the bears and the bison when I visit Yellowstone, they are also fun to pet. Try it. They like it.

Moose too, very docile. They like rubbed behind their ears.

My DF had a pet alligator on the golf course behind their home. He'd scratch its head with his ball retriever..

[Kroeran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dtail It also depends if the area is a snowbird paradise. Here in New Tampa, there is no noticeable difference in winter population vs. anytime else. It was one of the reasons of not moving to a 55+ Villages type community or right on the coast.

Tampa /Ste Petes is a ideal area for normal family life.

[Kroeran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick12 I need to spend more time on the West Coast of FL. Spent a huge amount of my life in Central and South Florida. It's true about the comparison of East vs West in Florida. Excellent write up. But you didn't mention about all the alligators?

Assume all fresh water has gators, but Gator attacks are as rare as east coast shark attacks. Dogs and kids in or near fresh water is the rare risk. Fire ants in grass are more of a concern.

Wild hogs, snakes in the “woods” or preserves are a perhaps unwarranted fear. There’s not a lot of action IN freshwater, on grass, within preserve land.

No kayaker has ever had a problem on the many excellent creeks and rivers, inland flat water. Preserve park paths are mostly elevated boardwalks.

[brucethebroker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kroeran No kayaker has ever had a problem on the many excellent creeks and rivers, inland flat water. Preserve park paths are mostly elevated boardwalks.

Dunno....quick Google search "kayaker attacked by alligator in Florida" produced 443,000 results...

A little research on alligators can help out. Times of day to avoid, tall weeds near the water, etc.

[Nick12]

In Florida gator attacks are rare, but gator sightings that's pretty much on a regular basis. Some Florida crackers even have names for the local gators in the retention ponds and lakes in the back yards of their homes.

[Kroeran]

This article kinda sums up the gator risk situation

Yankee recent resident was unsuccessfully attacked on kayak <but had small dog> on kayak

The one guy actually killed by a gator in an 8 year stretch had been swimming

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/horrifying-moment-man-kayak-attacked-7721069.amp

[ShokWaveRider]

We are surrounded by retention Ponds (AKA Fla Lakes), we have not seen a gator in 10 years. Caught some nice large mouth Bass in them though. I would rate Noseeums higher on the to "try" to avoid scale rather than a gator. Makes me laugh when non locals worry about gators. The only gators to worry about here is the football team.

[Nick12]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider We are surrounded by retention Ponds (AKA Fla Lakes), we have not seen a gator in 10 years. Caught some nice large mouth Bass in them though. I would rate Noseeums higher on the to "try" to avoid scale rather than a gator. Makes me laugh when non locals worry about gators. The only gators to worry about here is the football team.

Good way to look at it until you seen one up close.. The locals FL rednecks have given a damn yankee like me, lot of advice on what to do or not to do when I come across one. It sure helped me when I moved to FL in the early 1990s. The best I like about it is deep fried gator bites, hot sauce and a cold beer.

[Scuba]

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Originally Posted by Kroeran Tampa /Ste Petes is a ideal area for normal family life.

I agree. My sister and BIL live there and we’ve visited many times. However it gets pretty chilly in the winter. Might be fine if you’re from the North or Midwest, but if you’re looking for somewhere you can enjoy the beach and swim in the water year-around, deep South FL is the only viable choice that I know of in the Continental US.

[Karl]

We spent January in Naples, 1 rainy day and 1 cool week, never did turn on the heat but we are from MI - wore shorts even on the cool days. We had 3 great weeks of weather - warmer than normal. Naples is very nice but pricey. No sign of damage that I saw. Not sure about hotels but airbnb type lodging would be hard to find - I think - unless you are looking a year in advance. Traffic is a pain - we try to book superior locations - hopefully can walk to beach and food and avoid driving. The nice thing about staying for a month is you figure out the shorts cuts so to speak and save some time and frustration. Have spent a time in Fort Myers Beach - not but congested. Prefer between Clearwater Beach and St Pete's Beach - less pricey, lots of beach and stuff.

[mpeirce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl We spent January in Naples, 1 rainy day and 1 cool week, never did turn on the heat but we are from MI - wore shorts even on the cool days. We had 3 great weeks of weather - warmer than normal. Naples is very nice but pricey. No sign of damage that I saw.

We were in Naples in January too. Stayed a few days at a friends house at one of the gated communities where we did a lot of walking. Many, many of the roofs in the area were getting replaced. Had to be storm damage, since many of the places weren't very old.

[Dtail]

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Originally Posted by Scuba I agree. My sister and BIL live there and we’ve visited many times. However it gets pretty chilly in the winter. Might be fine if you’re from the North or Midwest, but if you’re looking for somewhere you can enjoy the beach and swim in the water year-around, deep South FL is the only viable choice that I know of in the Continental US.

True on the beach side of things. As to great winter weather though, Tampa averages 3 days in Jan with highs only in the 50's. The average highs in Dec through Feb are 70-76 degrees.

[JoeWras]

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Originally Posted by Dtail True on the beach side of things. As to great winter weather though, Tampa averages 3 days in Jan with highs only in the 50's. The average highs in Dec through Feb are 70-76 degrees.

As a full time resident, I enjoyed those rare, cool, cloudy days in the dead of winter. No big deal.

I think sometimes people who come for vacation and happen on those days feel cheated and it makes a mark. For residents, it is just a blip.

[ShokWaveRider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras As a full time resident, I enjoyed those rare, cool, cloudy days in the dead of winter. No big deal. I think sometimes people who come for vacation and happen on those days feel cheated and it makes a mark. For residents, it is just a blip.

What he said.


Also, when we were in Naples last year looking at property, we noticed all the roof work being done also. It seems to be taking a long time to correct. But the traffic and line ups for everything made moving there a showstopper for us. We are very spoilt in our little piece of FLA.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras As a full time resident, I enjoyed those rare, cool, cloudy days in the dead of winter. No big deal. I think sometimes people who come for vacation and happen on those days feel cheated and it makes a mark. For residents, it is just a blip.

I agree with you. The DGF though would rather have 80+ weather 100% of the time. lol

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras As a full time resident, I enjoyed those rare, cool, cloudy days in the dead of winter. No big deal. I think sometimes people who come for vacation and happen on those days feel cheated and it makes a mark. For residents, it is just a blip.

Same, the few days the heat kicks in are glorious! If someone is here for vacation in January, and is surprised by those blips, they didn't do any research (and it's still warmer than wherever they came from).

[ShokWaveRider]

66 Degrees and rising here on the Historic coast at 8am, slightly overcast, not too shabby. And yes, for us FLA folk it is ALL about the weather, that and the beach for some.

[Nick12]

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Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider What he said. Also, when we were in Naples last year looking at property, we noticed all the roof work being done also. It seems to be taking a long time to correct. But the traffic and lie ups for everything made moving there a showstopper for us. We are very spoilt in our little piece of FLA.

That's nothing new in Florida. When a storm does a lot of damage to hundreds of roofs of homes sometimes it takes a few years to get your roof fixed.

[ShokWaveRider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick12 That's nothing new in Florida. When a storm does a lot of damage to hundreds of roofs of homes sometimes it takes a few years to get your roof fixed.

That is OK I suppose, unless it is one's own home..... Ours here were all fixed after 1 month after Mathew.