I would demo boards a lot first. Myself, Al, Scott L, Dr. Bruce and a bunch of others all will gladly let you ride our boards to get a feel of what you might like.
My gut feeling is you can't go too wrong with this (or similar) basic approach/shape -
http://www.newsurfproject.com/index.php?cccpage=fish60
If we had huge waves, hi winds it'd be different. We are in St. Pete.
That shape or similar will keep you busy here for quite a while.
Even in moderately hi winds, I find myself favoring a slightly larger board here in St. Pete, b/c I am trying to ride the wave, not slash it and run.
The waves are usually so weak I need a larger board.
In St. Augustine on real waves, I am strapped in on a smaller board.
I still am not very good at riding a surf board, but man it's really fun trying. You might like it as well. You might find it really lame.....