What's the window for water sports in St Pete vs Lauderdale? (Miami: universities, live in)

[truth1ness]

I'm an active guy in my early 30's but due to a bunch of ankle surgeries I'm limited on a lot of the land sports I used to do and one of the big draws about Florida is the large opportunities to get into various water sports.

After reading through all the various pete-vs-lauderdale threads I'm leaning slightly towards St Pete (but still more research to do) but I've heard mention that its winters get chillier as well as the water for more of the year and I really dislike cold water. So I'm curious, what is the effective warm water water sports window for each of these cities? At what times of the year do you see crowds doing water sports taper off and restart again, particularly for the cold water pansies like me ?

Though it sounds like with Lauderdale even if it gets cold it's a short drive to Miami for year round warm water but that wouldn't really be an option with St Pete.

On a side note, do most properties with a pool usually have pool heaters or is the cool season too short for that to be worthwhile?

Finally, is there any difference in the selection of water sports available between each city/coast? From what I understand the waves are bigger on the ocean side so surfing is better there, but otherwise is there anything else? Does the less waves on the gulf side make for a better experience with other non-surfing sports than on the east?

[engineman]

Even if a pool is heated, you still have to get out and on winter days that involves sprint to someplace where you can get warm and dry. As you live in Florida a few years and get acclimated you become more sensitive to the cold. Boating is a good winter activity and not as wet.

[PhotoProIP]

No not all properties come with a heated pool. We get the cold water longer than Fort Lauderdale/Miami. It's May now and the water is still too cold to get in...last night we froze our butts off with that stupid rain that brought lower temps again. I had the heat on this morning FYI. We're in MAY! last year we were sweating in MAY.

I would pick Fort Lauderdale/Miami if warmer water is what you're looking for. Here it's really only between late May and until October...then we get one or two cold fronts and the water goes bye bye...

We had a heated pool and it wasn't enticing at all because you still had to go through the cold air to get to it, and it wasn't that warm anyway, plus, that can run your electric bill like crazy! $400+ bills unless it's heated by solar panels, and then it's not that warm....it's "pretend warm".

[truth1ness]

Thanks Photopro. Wow, still chilly in May, I didn't think the cool season stayed that long. Is this very abnormal?

I know many folks say 60-70 is ideal weather but I actually dislike that in-between range of slightly too cool/uncomfortable for shorts. I'd rather it be really cold or really warm so I can bundle up or wear beach attire. Cool water from Oct to May is a fairly big strike against the gulf area for me.

We used to have a pool up in PA and yea, I do remember those horrible cold runs into the house, hehe. Really wasn't even worth having a pool up here.

[Pinballdad]

I' m in St. Pete for reasons of calmer water (not warmer) waters. Some day I hope to have grand kids and hold their hand and play in the calmer waters (as opposed to the surfer type wave action of the Atlantic coast line). However, what you mentioned about a longer season is true for West coast of Florida. After all, the gulf stream current directly brushes the coast and will for many millions of years more. No debate at all about which location is warmer longer.

Good luck on which ever side you choose

[Trigger-f]

Originally Posted by truth1ness

I'm an active guy in my early 30's but due to a bunch of ankle surgeries I'm limited on a lot of the land sports I used to do and one of the big draws about Florida is the large opportunities to get into various water sports.

After reading through all the various pete-vs-lauderdale threads I'm leaning slightly towards St Pete (but still more research to do) but I've heard mention that its winters get chillier as well as the water for more of the year and I really dislike cold water. So I'm curious, what is the effective warm water water sports window for each of these cities? At what times of the year do you see crowds doing water sports taper off and restart again, particularly for the cold water pansies like me ?

Though it sounds like with Lauderdale even if it gets cold it's a short drive to Miami for year round warm water but that wouldn't really be an option with St Pete.

On a side note, do most properties with a pool usually have pool heaters or is the cool season too short for that to be worthwhile?

Finally, is there any difference in the selection of water sports available between each city/coast? From what I understand the waves are bigger on the ocean side so surfing is better there, but otherwise is there anything else? Does the less waves on the gulf side make for a better experience with other non-surfing sports than on the east?

St Pete Beach window is April through November, at least with a 3mm wetsuit (water temps - low 70's in April, a little higher in early November.) After that it gets cold, as low as 60F or a bit colder sometimes. I wouldn't say Miami has year round warm water(even in the Keys sometimes the water temps drop to low 70's or even colder, depending on cold spells). Both the Gulf side and the Atlantic offer about the same opportunities for sports related activities, only difference is Atlantic waters are more clear.

Lauderdale is warmer but this year it felt the same as the Gulf (dove in March down there and it was pretty chilly, low 70's, for South FL standards.) Right now I believe they are back at 80F.

Anna Maria Key Water Temperature (Sea) and Wetsuit Guide (Florida - Gulf, USA)

[housingcrashsurvivor]

Originally Posted by Pinballdad

I' m in St. Pete for reasons of calmer water (not warmer) waters. Some day I hope to have grand kids and hold their hand and play in the calmer waters (as opposed to the surfer type wave action of the Atlantic coast line). However, what you mentioned about a longer season is true for West coast of Florida. After all, the gulf stream current directly brushes the coast and will for many millions of years more. No debate at all about which location is warmer longer.

Good luck on which ever side you choose

That's actually kind of counter-intuitive considering that the Gulf Stream is water from the Gulf. The SE coast does get maybe an extra two months of significant difference than the Gulf this far north but that's about it. As to the millions of years comment, I don't know if the science is in on that yet....

Shutdown of thermohaline circulation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"A shutdown or slowdown of the thermohaline circulation is a postulated effect of global warming...chances of this occurring are unclear; there is some evidence for the stability of the Gulf Stream "

For swimming laps there's not much difference between south Florida and here. Many community pools utilize heaters in winter, both here and there, the better pools aerate in summer to cool off the water. Both places have easily accessed indoor pools, for instance, many universities such as USF have pools indoor (maybe not the St Pete campus though) as does LA Fitness with locations throughout Florida.

For water sports on the surface, the temps make little difference. Boating is a year round event. For the likes of skiing or wind surfing you might use the jacket portion of a wet suit here or there in winter months.

Here's NOAA's temps...

For ocean swimming**...

Coastal Water Temperature Guide currently the water is 80 off both st pete and Miamibeach....

here's full list of temps

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/all_meanT.html

...............oct...nov dec jan... feb march april
Miamibch 79...76...73...71....73...75....78
st pete......78....70...64..62...64....68...74

**not sure where temps are taken. If offshore, given the shallows of Gulf beaches, they might be warmer than shown but I don't know that. But even as shown, there's only one month extra (Nov & March) in both the beginning and end of the cooler season where temps differ significantly. There's also a difference in Dec but even 73 is too cold to many people so the difference makes little difference.

Regarding the calmness of water, there's some but really not that much difference particularly since south Florida also has bays and the Intracoastal too. But even the Atlantic there is mostly not much wave action to speak of. Usually when you see surfers, they're just sitting out there and most waves they catch are baby waves.

The main difference to me is that south Florida is easier if you are boating to access to Bahamas or, if not a boater, for driving down the keys. There's better diving & snorkeling there. But here, in Tampa Bay and especially in Sarasota Bay you almost always have dolphin sightings which you rarely get on the SE coast. I've only been out on Sarasota Bay once without seeing dolphin, we think because we noticed red tide that day. Oh, but that's the other issue, I don't recall ever having a red tide issue in the Atlantic. So if you locate here just keep your eye on that.

[Pinballdad]

I have my opinions and facts, you have yours. Nothing I said was incorrect. Why not offer an opinion to assist the OP instead of targeting others peoples opinions for errors?

Very strange indeed.