Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

My Hubby and I thought about pulling our boat to Tampa Bay this summer and need to know the happening place (or area) to hang out and places to stay on the bay side with boat ramp/marina near by. Want to be where Powerboats are not Yachts. Any suggestions?? Links to websites would be helpful also. THANKS!

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

Hello there, welcome.

If you want to stay IN the Bay, there are great ramps at Demon's Landing at Downtown St. Pete. The St. Petersburg Municipal Marina is nearby and so is the Harborage(that's where I stay)
http://www.boatclix.com/links/boatramps.html

You'll probably find more performance boats on the intercoastal and gulf side. Tierre Verde always has some perf boat traffic.

Give me more specifics, I could be of more help.

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

I was down a while back visiting my sis in Tampa, a bunch of my Donzi friends from St Pete took me to a place called Shell Island. There were only about a 100 boats there that day, but it was a lot of fun. Everyone rafted up and hung out in the water. On the way back we stopped by a great bar\restaraunt\resort place with a giant pool, and grabbed a bite on the water.....I've gotta get down there again soon.

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

Lots of great places to visit. When it's back up and running go to www.opbafl.org , it's the offshore boat club here. Website is down right now.

CigDaze will steer you right.....

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

Thanks for the tips....thought alot about Maderia Beach ??...just not really sure open to any suggestions. Does St.Pete have more traffic? How rough is the water? Can a 2003 25 Outlaw make it...can't get too rough. Hubby would love it but I would be a little chicken. Would want to definitly pull the boat out each day to wash off, no slip rental. Other than that....no specifics. Just want to go where the crowd is...dosen't have to be IN the bay. Just want to be able to hit lots of bars/resturants on the water.....a place like Shell island sounds cool also.

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

clearwater beach and the like rock shepards on clearwater pass iws smokin... there are a ton of cool places to play and hang out down here. ratman

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

I think Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater has mostly center consoles but there are a bunch of performance boats too. Don't worry about rough water too much, just listen to the weather radio (which we all should do anyway) and keep an eye out for thunderstorms in the summer. Tampa Bay usually has a moderate chop but sometimes it's like glass. The gulf is usually 1-3's. If it gets beat up, you can always go inside to the ICW. You should definately check out Gators at Johns Pass and theres about 100 other places to go between Tampa and Clearwater. Also, get charts and follow channel markers. There are plenty of places that get real shallow in a hurry.

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

Yep, sure is.....:D

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

I almost forgot, if you run out of things to do here, Sarasota is a quick ride south, if that gets old, Miami is only a 4 hour trailer ride south, and if your gonna go that far south, you might as well go to the keys too.

Re: Where's the happening place in Tampa Bay?
 

Just tell us guy's when you are coming down. There's a ton of places to go & see.
Mad beach is a good location as any other. The only problem is ...you'll have too much fun & want to stay :D There a regular fun runs & nice 4th of July Poker run.
Just post when you coming & everyone will help out.

PS : Formula Outlaw...boat up & running yet?