Newbie Need input on South Gulf Cove (Sarasota, Venice: extended stay, HOA)

[HuskerJim]

My wife and I are from the Midwest-Nebraska, and are considering moving to this area and are considering the Central Part Of South Gulf Cove (Along the Zepher Waterway) but would like some input from any of you living around there now.

We like to Motor Boat to beaches, to restaurants, trips etc. Also really like to fish- I am very experienced at Freshwater fishing but not much experience on saltwater but excited to learn. Also like to golf.

I am interested to know how long in terms of time to motor out to Harpoon Harry's in Punta Gorda, or Little Gasperilla Restaurant on the InterCoastal W, or Caya Costa etc. For the sake of discussion lets say in a boat with a 90 HP Outboard??????? Share your experience Motor boating out of South Gulf Cove?

Really like the beaches from Boca Grande all along the coast up to Sarasota etc.
A bit of drive to restauarants and shopping but it seems to be growing and expect to fill in. We really Like the Town of Venice and the growing area of Sarasota and North.

We have visited friends in Punta Gorda often and it is nice but turned off by the HOA rules and it is a long way from the best beaches.

Much more limited supply of houses available (especially under $600,000) with waterfront along Englewood, Placida, Venice.
Appreciate any input.

[blb078]

We're having our home built in the northern part of SGC(suppose to be done late July). I don't know about boating times out but that is one knock against SGC is that it is a little longer out to the gulf. Probably somewhere in the 45-60min range depending on your boat and speed but others may be able to give you a better idea. For fishing, it's all brackish water, even when you exit the lock it's at the mouth of the river which is brackish. To me salt water fishing is not different than fresh water fishing unless one want to go after 50lb+ fish all the time. But if you're going after red fish, flounder, etc I don't do anything different than what I'd do with a fresh water fish.

Driving to the beaches is really fast from SGC. I mentioned in another thread that I timed from my driveway to the Boca Grande toll bridge and it was 8 minutes. As far as getting to town you are 10-15 minutes from everything, you get to much closer you will be sitting in traffic from all the stop lights every 100 feet especially during the winter months. Publix and Home Deport are 7 minutes away along with a couple gas stations and banks. Walmart is 13 minutes away or 15 depending on which one you go to. All the chain stuff is in PC which is in that 10-15 minute range. I haven't been to any of the places in Boca Grande other than the beach but I like it down there and it's nice be so close to it.

To me the only negative of SGC is the longer boat ride to the Gulf, but it's not like it's hours longer than places in PC or PG and the harbor has good fishing so you don't have to go to the gulf for that if you don't want to.

[josephp732]

I have had extended stays in three area's around Charlotte Harbor, PC - on the Como waterway (just off of O'Hare), SGC - on Appleton and PG - PGI on San Marino.

All three locations have very similar times to get to the Gulf Inlet, ~ 45 to 60 minutes - running about 35mph once in the harbor. SGC is a great location for getting quickly to Boca Grande, as well as Englewood Beaches, they are less than 20 minutes away. My PC location wasn't to bad about 35 minutes and PG takes about an hour by car. SGC and the PC area I stayed are great locations for backwater fishing in kayaks or canoe's, PG (PGI) not so much.

It's about a 30 minute run over to Fisherman's Village from SGC. To me SGC feels a bit rural, but you are close to standard everyday life conveniences. Grocery stores, banks, gas stations and restaurants are 5 minutes away, Malls and medical facilities are less than 15 minutes away. 10 minutes to the Charlotte County Sports Complex.

Today I am in PG, I like the small town feel and having a downtown area, but enjoyed my time in SGC and PC.

Boating on the Harbor is very interesting and diverse. From backwater to going up the rivers to out to the Gulf - one of the best and diverse water systems in the US. The harbor is big and you really need to be aware of the weather changes when heading towards the Gulf and the ICW. I have gone out in the morning with great weather and had to run home in weather that put waves over the top of my T-Top on my 25' center console. I have had to run full throttle up the harbor to out run many a frontal system.

I would take some time to evaluate your boating needs and where you will do most of your boating. I went through a few boats over the years to dial-in what I think is a good fit as a multi-purpose boat for my needs. I had a 18' CC with a 115hp OB and found it to small to run out to the Gulf - but it was great for the upper harbor. I went to a 25' CC with twin 150hp it was perfect to run out to the Gulf in but not so great for backwater, going far up river or hitting the shallows (lots of shallow water in the harbor). Today I have a Boston Whaler 210 Montauk with a 200hp - this boat works for me and my boating needs. Seaworthy enough to run out to the Gulf (top speed is ~50mph so I can try an out run weather- if needed), shallow enough draft for going up river and sight casting to red fishing in skinny water and a pretty good boat for water sports (tubing and skiing) - kids not me.

Whatever your choice it's one of the best area's for a diverse outdoor boating experience.

[Ron61]

“We have visited friends in Punta Gorda often and it is nice but turned off by the HOA rules and it is a long way from the best beaches.”

PG is a lot closer to any beach than Nebraska! I always get a chuckle when people will drive 20+ hours to get to Florida’s beaches, but complain when they move here about driving 45 minutes. No offense OP, I did it myself for 20 years! I now live in PG and think nothing of driving less than an hour to get to the beach. Best wishes on finding your new home!

[johnfi]

I live in SGC a few canals south of the Zepher, moved down from Boston area 3 years ago. For the price and the location and what we were looking for it was a good fit.

While it's called a boating community, I think it depends on what type of boating as many have said and there are lots of threads on this in this forum. Many are very happy with the boating just within SGC puttering around the 55 miles of canals and opening it up in the lagoon and to check on wildlife. Outside the lock the harbor is large and shallow so to get to say Fisherman's Village and the PG area it takes 30-45 mins @ ~25mph. We go down to a sandbar on the north tip of Caya Costa (near Boca Pass) and its little over an hour staying in the deeper water but can shave off if you can cut across the south of cape haze. Navionics has a nice online free chart (https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=e...%7BhlcDng%7DtN) that you can use to set boat settings (draft/speed) and do an online route to show route and time - its kinda cool to look at where you want to go.


If we want a real beach day (not the sandbar) we just drive to Boca or Englewood Beach/Manasota Key. Both are a short drive and great beaches.

So if you are looking for more boating on the ICW and the gulf for fishing maybe something in the Englewood area may be better. It will be closer for boating, closest to beach and also more restaurants but at a higher price.

SGC was right for us, its a little out there but not too far out and has a good mix of boating, close to great beaches, not too far from shopping and restaurants and lots of choice for lots for new homes and good selection of existing homes. Its a growing area and some of the existing residents don't like that too much but it was going to happen sooner or later and its so large there is plenty of room for growth and it will be many many years before its really busy.

[SgtRich]

I've been here about a year now, we love it. I'll echo what others have said above, as they're spot on.

It really depends a lot where you are within SGC on how long it takes to get to the lagoon. If you're on the Zephyr, you already have a head start. FYI, canals are minimum wake, not, no wake. This basically means your boat is not on plane and is fully settled. Many people still go too fast and bounce wakes off the walls, especially on the Zephyr.

So, the Zephyr is good and bad, IMO. It's a bigger body of water to look at, which is great. It has more boat traffic, which can be good and bad. I like seeing boats, so that wouldn't bother me. We're about 4 lots off the Z on Spring. Lots on the Z are also, 2 to 3 times the price of those on the circles.

The lock does break on occasion, but they have recently done a lot of maintenance and upgrades. Another lock parallel to existing is being planned, not sure when that will be, maybe starting this year. People dream of a lock on the south end of the lagoon but, that will NEVER happen, EPA, Army Corps all said, nope.

There's a couple very active groups for SGC on Facebook, join those to see the good, bad and ugly. Search on South Gulf Cove 2.0 for instance, very active.

I like the rural feeling, there's still a ton of lots that aren't developed, mostly not on the water. The roads get pretty sleepy starting this time of year when snowbirds fly north for the summer.

There aren't many kids in SGC, currently. We had zero at Halloween. But, I do see more young families moving in, as it's probably the best bargain in Florida (IMO) for living on the water. But yeah, the secret is definitely out, there are 2 new builds on our street, 3 including ours completed in the past year, all but 1 on the water.

As a freshwater fisherman, you'll love the diversity of fish here. In our canals and lagoon we have: Bass; Tarpon; Redfish; Snook; Bluegills; Tilapia; Cichlids; Sheepshead; Trout; Spanish Mackerel (just caught one the other day) Stingrays; Blue Crabs and probably others I'm forgetting. FYI, everything eats shrimp.

You can spend many hours just exploring/fishing the canals and Lagoon, which is huge. Also, there is very little boat traffic, I'm often the only one out. Weekends being the exception when the lock can get busy, but I've never waited more than 15 minutes.

We have an HOA but it's voluntary. There's also an Architectural Review Committee that does need to review plans for fences, house color and so on, but they're quite reasonable.

Good luck and happy hunting!