Stop going to sand bars in gross tampa bay and go to ones actually in the gulf in Pinellas county.

Brown water or not, for the money I'd think it be damn near impossible to beat. I have a family so I'm not looking for the night life scene anymore. However I did just purchase a fairly updated waterfront home for sub 300k, which I felt like was a hell of a deal.

I live in Cape Coral and have for years. The brown water does suck, but, on the upside, all the water dumped from the Okeechobee does make it more fresh. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather see that nasty water re-routed somewhere else, though. Having said that, I love the West coast of Florida. There is plenty to do and lots of great boating. Yes, there is traffic, but not like the East Coast. I'm going to keep the trailer from the boat I just purchased and use it to go to the East Coast and check out the boating scene there.. In the Cape Coral/Ft Myers area, there are alot of choices in your price range. My wife is a realtor here if you would want any information sent to you from this area.

When did they start dumping all the crap water into the ocean? I was in FMB for my 50th a few years back and the water was great. Shame they screwed it all up.

I love Cape Coral. Easy access, affordable and some beautiful places. My buddy just built a million dollar house and it looks amazing. It's my dream to live there one day.

That's why we hang at Egmont Key... Gulf side a winner!

I live on the water in tampa, for the money tampa bay waterfront is the best bargain for waterfront living. Taxes are cheap and waterfront house prices are cheaper in general. Also something to consider is a lot of waterfront communities in tampa don’t have Homeowners association. I have a neighbor who moved from Indian rocks to a house across the street from me. The water might have been prettier over there in Indian rocks but the taxes were killing him and a similar sq footage home was SIGNIFICANT more. If your looking for affordable waterfront tampa is hard to beat. Drop your boat from the lift in your backyard and you can go anywhere you want.

Thanks for the replies everyone. For those who tried to PM me, my inbox is back open.

Pasco county trailer trash ? I think I have seen plenty of trailers in most of the county's mentioned here so far obviously not on the coast but they are there. Take a look at a Nehibor hood called gulf harbors it's in Pasco and has multiple million dollar homes as well as some very affordable waterfront compared to the other places mentioned. Canals are extremely wide and deep some over 20 ft deep. Your only a few miles from anclote island and sandbar. And a short 10-15 mile ride south puts you in the heart of Clearwater.

Pasco is terrible and has one "gem" in it to which you mentioned.

You could not pay me to live in that trash area! Dead serious here and a life long Pinellas county person. I know Pasco well and had some friends move there over the years all to come back. When you can by a family home for peanuts it isn't cause it's a "hidden treasure" it's cause the value in and around that area reflects the very low selling price.