So my wife and I are approaching retirement and plan to leave the cold northeast with a short boating season for the sunshine state! I have family in the panhandle, Panama City Beach area. We are considering that general area or the Ft. Meyers/Cape Coral area. Wondering if anyone is from either of those areas and can tell me how the boating is? I know St. Andrews Bay in PCB is beautiful, having family there and an Uncle who had several boats, I've spent time in the Gulf and the Bay. Not as sure how the Ft. Meyers area would be with a pontoon boat. Naturally one of the main reasons for the move is for a much longer boating season!!!
We are in Sanibel Island near Fort Myers, with saltwater all around us. That said, just because you see water does not mean you can GO there. Everything is very shallow, as in 10-15' or less, often just a couple feet deep so you have to be very aware of channel markers, etc. It is a must to educate yourself on local waters and listen to locals for their knowledge. We joined US Power Squadron, took some courses, which was a great help.
We sold our Benny ESP before we moved from Indiana to Florida, after renting boats a few times here. The main issues to consider are huge wakes from cruisers (30-100') operating in the ICW and channels, and the notorious Gulf of Mexico close and deep chop, which is like a washing machine sometimes. We bought a fiberglass pilot house 28' boat after moving here and have been happy with it in the conditions here. I would not want to have the toon where we go as it would get pretty beat up IMHO.
Cape Coral is literally a city of all canals, with many waterfront homes. Some have bridges in the way, as well as long idle/no wake zones, so it can take as much as an hour or so to get from your home, up the river, and out to the gulf beaches. We use a dry stack to store our boat, which leads us directly to the Gulf, no idles zones at all, so there are choices. MANY of the Cape Coral folks have tritoons and deck boats, which are great for the canal systems and the river areas, easy to handle and get in and out of restaurants and such. Once you're in the ICW and Gulf though, you have to pick your days and routes carefully. Our boat is 28' and we get beat up occasionally as well.
It's a great place to live, though the growth rate is astonishing at times, especially Cape Coral.
Best of luck.
