Tampa/St Pete Where NOT to kite

[Eagle]

The Gulf beaches are getting crowded this time of year so let’s keep a safe distance from people in the water so we can avoid generating complaints.

Beaches in Pinellas County where lifeguards are present are off limits.
This includes a large portion of Clearwater Beach, Sand Key and the North Beach at Desoto. All of these areas are marked with no boating buoys and kiteboarders should avoid riding in these areas.

Howard Park in Tarpon Springs is off limits for setting up and launching kites. Sunset Park is adjacent to this site with no kiteboarding restrictions; however the launch site is quite small so launching in the water is recommended.

Gandy Beach- St Pete While there is no formal regulation restricting kiteboarding, a quick survey of the launch site and a little bit of common sense should alert most people to the multitude of hazards both on the beach and in the water.
Examples of hazards: major road, power lines, channel markers, regulatory markers, submerged and partially submerged oyster beds, boat traffic, crowds on the weekends, people in the water, broken glass and huge segments of concrete submerged in shallow water.


More information regarding local launch sites http://www.tampabaykiteboarding.com/launchsites/Launchsites.htm

Kite safe

E

[MissChriss]

The launch site link doesn't work :)

MissChriss

[Skyway Scott]

It will. I think Eagle's site is temporarily down.

[Eagle]

It took a few days to find a dependable web hosting company and the effort paid off, the site is back online.

[Sandelli]

thanks for the post eagle

[shogun1204]

Since Bryan site is not longer around, I have reposted his launch info. You can access it here.

http://www.epickitesurfing.com/tamaplaunch.html

[Nicolai]

For us Tampa bretheren, be careful about Cypress too, at least until they finish construction. Most of the beach access is closed forcing the growing population of families (with kids who run up and practically grab your bar while you're launching and landing) into a small crowded area. That's more of a problem on weekends. Weekdays are a little better. But, you've still got construction stakes in the water and other construction related obstacles to worry about.

Just lookin out.

[Jontan]

Thanks guys