880:
Clearwater is the first of the white-sand beach towns along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Full of golf, retirement complexes, shops and tourism, think of it as the famous Del Boca Vista on “Seinfeld”, then chuck in a wave or two. Surfing on the patrolled area of Clearwater’s public beach is not allowed, but surfers flock to the area at the north end and take advantage of a double-sandbar beachbreak known as 880.
To find it, take U.S. Highway 19 south onto Gulf To Bay Road, and stay west to Gulf Boulevard, which will take you along the beach in Clearwater. From there, just head north to 880 Mandalay Blvd. On a north/northwest swell, longboarders can catch the outside. The wave often reforms on the inside for shortboarders, but it dumps quickly, and at times painfully, in shallow water.
Be warned: parking is sporadic at the north end, so pay attention to the signs, and the crowds are worst during summer, when kids are out of school and everybody and their brother totes a surfboard. Local punks and greedheads hate to share waves. Most are all mouth, so the potential for violence is small, but let them have it anyway. It’s not worth the fight.
Sand Key:
This Pinellas County Park had been closed to surfing for decades, but now — thanks to the local Surfrider Chapter — surfing is permitted from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., when conditions allow. Head south on Gulf Boulevard until you cross a tall bridge, where you’ll see the inlet below, then take a right into the park at the bottom.
Sand Key puts out a decent right on a typical northwester, but this spot tends to be crowded, not only because of the public parking, but because the lifeguards flag the 100-yard surf zone only when conditions are good. Listen to the rangers and lifeguards if they whistle you out of the water. Sand Key has other good breaks to the south, out of the county park, but can be a problem, and you might find your car towed after being called in by the condo commandos.