WellcraftNick233

My wife and I mainly stay in the Sarasota area Lido to Anna Maria with good sand bar spots and plenty of seaside restaurants along the way that just happen to have icy cold beer...
Who's boating in Sarasota? I always see something going on elsewhere in Florida but not too much in SRQ. Summertime is on the way and so is the offshore race week in July. Post where you boat and what you're running.

Nick
87' Wellcraft Nova 23 XL

314joey

iTrader: (1)

We're boating, not Sarasota, a little further South Cape Coral, we're out most weekends.

Xtreme Air

We are boating in St Pete and have just started exploring Sarasota Bay down to Marina Jacks..

mittens

Been to both Cape Coral, and Sarasota. great boating for sure!. so much so I apply to jobs down there all the time.

Great place for sure. Loved the water color and temp for sure.

WellcraftNick233

The Sarasota area definitely has some of the best boating... We've been down as far as doc fords in Ft. Myers , which was a long ride, but haven't gone across the bay to St. Pete... If we go any where else further than that, we just trailer the boat... Marina Jack is a nice stop but one of my favorites is the Cortez Kitchen, even though tie up space is very limited, they have good music on the weekends... Anybody have a favorite restaurant destination?

314joey

iTrader: (1)

Hey Nick233 how long did it take you to get to Docs, it's just South of us, we're right by Rumrunners, we've been thinking about a run up your way.

WellcraftNick233

Hey Joey, I think it took us around 3 hours... Really nice trip but calm seas are the key. It feels like a longer trip back especially if rumrunners are involved and I don't mean the restaurant.....

WellcraftNick233

Yeah mittens, this is really the place to live! I'm in sales and marketing at one of the most established boat manufacturers in the U.S., so I won't be leaving this area any time soon...

tnc110

Love the area!!! I leave my boat in FL for the winter and overnight for long weekends. Usually stay around Brandenton/Longboat Key. Sarasota is nice...lots of sandbars.
If you go a little farther north check out Mar Vista on the north end of Longboat...great restaurant. I'll be down on the weekend of 3/15...hope to see some amazing boats in the poker run..one of the stops is at Mar Vista.

Underdog88

While not a local or an expert, I've been boating there since the 70's. I spent all last winter trailering all over S Fl trying to find better and never did. Different, but not better.

The great places are off the path. Someone mentioned Marina Jacks which is very nice but just on the other side of City Island is O'Learys Tiki Bar. You have to idle thru the moored blo boats to find one dock by the rental boats. Great place in downtown SRQ for a quick Margaritta and shrimp. Live music too.

North to Cortez Bridge to the Seafood Shack for a great sunset view/drink/dinner.

South is my favorite from there but you are screwed until Vennis Inlet since Midnight Pass shoaled in. Manitee zones off an on and no way out to the gulf. This maybe why my favorites were down here. Short ride to Philippi Creek Oyster Bar with high tide. Turtle Beach is my favorite as it was a teenage hangout. The have nice new boat ramps now tho. There are two or three little places there together.

On down south to Casey Key Swing bridge to Blackburn Point which was nice and while your there you may as well go on down to the Venis Jettys and out in the Gulf for the run back north into Big Pass

Winter in Ohio this year...