South Eastern Boating Locations

[CamperCarl]

I apologize for such a broad title, but there is a good chance we will be relocating from Pittsburgh to somewhere warmer. Right now the two potential locations are Columbia, SC and Melbourne, FL. I have more knowledge of South Carolina, but none on Florida's prime riding areas. Looking for help to learn more on the areas and local members to hookup with. We are crossing our fingers for Florida. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

[mmandley]

Personally I would hope for SC over FL, it seems the farther south the more humidity, and as I have heard other FL people say, they don't tend to have deep water like a little farther north.

We just moved from OR to Atlanta area and it was a big change in water type, quality, temp, and laws lol.

[kaneboats]

If you move to Melbourne you better like salt water. Not a lot of fresh water places to ride nearby.

[ghebert1111]

If you move to Melbourne you better like salt water. Not a lot of fresh water places to ride nearby.

Yeah, they say the Indian River and Banana river are brackish, but it's salt water to me. Both wide rivers with not a lot of boat traffic.

[kaneboats]

Yea, they are not rivers at all. More like lagoon or estuary and totally salt water. A couple rivers flow into them so you could call them brackish but one taste and you will agree there's not much fresh water in there.

[Ed_Geary]

If you want boating - Clermont, Florida is the place to be. We even have hills.

My sister lives in SC, nice place to visit, but always nice to come back to FL



Ed G

I bleed black and gold

[CamperCarl]

Thanks for all the responses. It is always nice to get local perspective. Melbourne is at the top of our list due to family in that area. I have read that the St. John's River is pretty job. But this hasn't been confirmed. I think Melbourne is more fishing and large cruiser area vs. ski since it is close to the ocean. I think the family is worried about gators in some of the areas. Something we don't see much of in Pittsburgh.

The guys that run in salt or brackish, do you engine flush after every trip?

[Ed_Geary]

"I think the family is worried about gators in some of the areas."

Carl.....you have to understand - the gators are in ALL areas. Just like the snakes we have in Pa, you just learn how to avoid them.

I never run salt or brackish. The boaters who live near the east coast typically come towards the center of the state.

St. Johns river does get a lot of traffic, but usually not the water sports guys.

Kissimmee chain of lakes isn't to far from Melbourne.

If you come down to check out Melbourne, contact me. On a Saturday I can take you out and give you a tour of the Clermont Chain of Lakes. Then some surfing of course!

[ghebert1111]

I fished, boated and jet skied in the Banana and Indian river from 1976 to 2000 and never saw a gator. Now I guess they are fresh water so they shouldn't be there any way. As far as fresh water gatprs, listen to Ed and if you see one don't feed it Kentucky fried chicken or anything else.

On the plus side prepare to get acquainted with manatees, they are really peaceful beautiful creatures that you can see in the river but a lot of times on South Patrick drive, near the base, they swim up the canals and get into some water fronting South Patrick.

Also you'll get to see sea turtles coming out of the ocean to lay their eggs. Pretty cool stuff.

Now all of these activities only happen during certain times of the year but you'll figure that out when you get there.

[Ed_Geary]

Once I was walking down a deserted Atlantic Ocean beach. In the distance I saw a log that had washed onto the shore. As I got closer to the log, it got up out of the surf, walked across the beach and into the dunes. It was an 10 foot gator.

I have also seen them swimming up a brackish river when I was camping on the shore line.

I will admit - Kentucky Fried Chicken in Central Florida is pretty darn bad.

[moombadaze]

In north Tampa area, the lakes in florida are boring, SMALL, most are round bowls, shallow, stained water from the cypress trees. There is a gator in everyone even if you never see one, and salt water crocs down south. We take a weekly family boating vacation every year up in either Georgia or Alabama. Those are lakes! The day we get home I start looking forward to the next years trip.

personal opinion for what its worth

[5:00]

We are looking at moving south as well once the kids are gone. We have looked at a lot of places in SC. Most have been central and NW. We decided no further south to avoid the gators and nothing salt. One of the places at the top of our list now is Lake Keowee, SC. It is worth checking out.