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Florida Ratings
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Indicator Type |
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Info |
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Status |
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Beach Access |
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6
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5
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Water Quality |
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8 |
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4 |
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Beach Erosion |
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9
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- |
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Erosion Response |
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- |
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5 |
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Beach Fill |
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7
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- |
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Shoreline Structures |
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5 |
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4 |
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Beach Ecology |
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5 |
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- |
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Surfing Areas |
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5 |
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6 |
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Website |
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8 |
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- |
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Florida Surfing Areas
Inventory and Perception of Status
Florida has surfable coastline on both the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts.
In total, the state has 163 well-known surf spots. The breaks are almost
all beach breaks, but there is also surf off jetties, piers, and groins.
Summaries of conditions along the northeast, southeast, and Gulf Coast coastlines
are as follows:
Northeast:
There are about 350 miles of surfable coastline on Florida's Atlantic Coast.
In the northeast (Nassau County to Cape Canaveral), there are 53 well-known
surf spots - all beach breaks with shifting sandbars. The condition of these
spots is good to fair. A few spots along this part of the coast are threatened:
pollution in Jacksonville, development and fill in St. Augustine, and dredging/fill
at Matanzas Inlet. Very few places still have primary/secondary dune ecosystems
intact and the development between Jacksonville and St. Augustine is hurting
one of the last natural areas in North Florida. Water quality issues are
catching the eye of water quality districts, but the public's awareness seems
to be small or nonexistent. Access is a problem in Ponte Vedra, not because
there isn't access, but because there is no parking near the access points.
Southeast:
There is a greater variety of surf along the Southeast coast of Florida with
some reef-type bottoms from rock shelves, coral and shell rocks, and coral
reefs. From Cocoa Beach to Miami, there are 66 surf spots. They are in good
condition, but there are threats. Specifically, "Spanish House" (near Sebastian
Inlet) faces potential access problems. The park service purchased the entire
area, which has been both good and bad. No development can occur at the location
now, but under park control the access has been severely limited to a small
parking lot. Even then, the park authorities have threatened to close down
all access or at the very least charge a fee for parking. The Sebastian Inlet
Chapter of Surfrider Foundation has been recognized as a proactive group,
and is currently working with the park rangers to keep access open and free.
At Wabasso Beach Park, over 1/4 mile of seawall has been installed north
of the park to protect oceanfront homes. The building of further seawalls
has been temporarily halted as a result of a lawsuit against the county by
the Sea Turtle Survival League. However, all dune vegetation was destroyed
by 4-wheel drive vehicles parking in the area. Heading south, the north side
of Boca Raton Inlet is facing access problems from lifeguards at a private
hotel. The general public is not allowed to surf in the area, but neither
are hotel guests. The Palm Beach Chapter worked with local authorities to
gain surfing access at the newly built Juno Beach Pier. They have also hired
a water testing laboratory to test beach and sound waters for a suite of
pollutants. Most of Miami-Dade County faces threats from proposed breakwaters,
fill, and development. The South Florida Chapter reports that recent fill
projects have severely altered the nature of the surf breaks at South Beach,
Miami. Access to the surf at Dania Pier is also threatened. Increasing coastal
development has the potential to restrict surfing access at South Pointe,
Miami's premier break.
Gulf Coast:
The Gulf Coast of Florida offers approximately 44 surf spots, which are mostly
beach breaks.
At Upham Beach at St. Pete Beach on Florida's west coast, a $1.5 million experimental project consisting of five T-groins made out of "geotubes" filled with sand was installed in 2005. Nicole Elko, the county's coastal coordinator, has stated that once the tubes meet their life expectancy of five to ten years, they will be relaced with permanent structures. The groins are intended to lengthen the time period between beach fill projects. The next beach fill is scheduled for 2009, during which the groins will be buried when 400 feet of width is added to the beach. The T-groins have had the unfortunate side effect of making waves reflect off of them, creating choppy conditions. Formerly, long rides were possible when winter cold fronts passed by.
Recognition by State
Florida does not widely recognize surfing as an economic, cultural, or recreational
resource at the state level. There does seem to be some increased awareness of surfing, perhaps due to the ever-growing surfing population (and the fact that Florida has yielded the world professional surfing champion in multiple recent years). Despite this, it's not clear to what extent the potential loss of surfable waves as a result of a coastal deveopment or shoreline protection project would be considered in an Environmental Impact Study or similar report.
There is a level of awareness and concern about surfing areas from some county and local governments (for instance, Volusia County lists surf zones), but typically
from an economic standpoint rather than an environmental one; tourism is
a major part of the economy.
Florida State Parks does include surfing in an interesting document that lists the Carrying Capacity Guidelines for different activities.
Local Surfrider Foundation Chapters
Surfrider Foundation's 11 chapters in Florida maintain a blog that summarizes actions, events, campaigns and news throughout that state. See the chapter Web site links on the blog or below for additional information.
Broward County Chapter
Central Florida Chapter
Cocoa Beach Chapter
Emerald Coast Chapter (formerly Florida Panhandle Chapter) or E-mail panhandle@surfrider.org
First Coast Chapter
Surfrider Foundation filed a lawsuit in 2004 over blocked beach access points in Ponte Vedra. The suit sought a judgment that the county was "obstructing and preventing beach access in Ponte Vedra." In March 2006 it was announced that Surfrider had prevailed in this lawsuit.
The First Coast Chapter, along with several other Surfrider Foundation chapters in Florida, are interested
in establishing a comprehensive set of laws to protect citizen's access to
public beaches. They have drafted a Florida Open Beaches Act that they hope to have
adopted by the Florida legislature. More info.
Miami Chapter (A.K.A. South Florida Chapter)
Palm Beach County Chapter
In February 2006, chapter chair Tom Warnke's testimony at a meeting of Lake Worth commissioners was instrumental in convincing the commissioners to reject a beach fill plan from neighboring Palm Beach that would have deposited poor quality sand on the beaches, harmed beach ecology and increased the turbidity of the ocean water. On March 3, 2009, this case beame a victory for the Palm Beach chapter when Administrative Law Judge Robert E. Meale denied the Town of Palm Beach a Joint Coastal Permit for the Reach 8 beach fill because of the project's potential to harm environmental and recreational resources.
The subject of wastewater injection wells was covered in an interview with Surfrider activist Tom Warnke on Surfermag.com.
Also see Evidence for groundwater and surface marine water contamination by waste disposal wells in the Florida keys.
Recently, attention has been drawn to possible effects of the 12 MGD Delray Beach sewage outfall on an offshore reef. Harbor Branch Oceanographic has evidence that the algae taking over the reef is feeding on human sewage nitrogen, and only downstream from the outfall pipe (see the chapter's web site for photos and evidence of that damage). More recently, the Palm Beach chapter and campaign partners scored a major victory when the utility board members voted to make the outfall pipe carrying the waste of Delray and Boynton Beach residents go out of regular use. Even more recently, the outfall was shut off!
Sebastian Inlet Chapter
The Sebastian Inlet Chapter has collaborated with research scientists to perform water quality sampling
of Brevard and Indian River County's premier surfing and recreation beaches.
The chapter, guided by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution marine scientist,
Dr. Peter Barile, collected samples containing elevated levels of various
nutrients (ammonium, nitrate-nitrite, and phosphorus). It also collected
algae from beach rocks and submitted them for nitrogen isotope analysis to
trace and discriminate human nitrogen sources to the beach, such as sewage
and fertilizers.
These initial rounds of testing showed evidence of human sewage in the surf
just 15 feet off shore that were high enough to trigger harmful algal blooms
such as red tide, which have plagued the Florida coast and made people
ill, according to an editorial in Florida Today. In all, seven beaches from
Jetty Park at Port Canaveral to Vero Beach showed significantly elevated
bacterium levels.
The National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
issued an 83-page report that concluded
that there was insufficient data to support
claims by the Sebastian Inlet Chapter that high nutrient
levels in Brevard County’s coastal waters
are elevated from sewage released from
deep injection wells, wastewater plants
or cruise ships. However, the report also
concluded that the county should conduct
more water tests and encourage cruise
ships to discharge wastewater 14 miles
from Port Canaveral.
More information on this can be found in the chapter's news link.
The chapter is concerned about pollution from gambling boats and cruise ships. The chapter has mounted a Gambling Boat Campaign and is encouraging residents of Brevard County to write letters to Canaveral Port Authority Port Commissioners and all Florida residents to write letters to their state representatives to force gambling boats to use the pump out services at the port and stop the gambling boats from dumping their sewage right off the Brevard County coastline.
Southwest Florida Chapter (organizing) - E-mail swflsurfrider@gmail.com
Suncoast Chapter
Treasure Coast Chapter
The Surfrider Foundation Treasure Coast chapter serves Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties.
The Treasure Coast Chapter, aided by the Florida Sportsman communications network, area fishing and diving clubs and federal agencies, won a big victory in January 2006 when they convinced the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to require St. Lucie County to replace all of the more than 200,000 cubic yards of inferior quality sand that was used to rebuild 3.7 miles of dunes after the 2004 hurricanes.
A second issue for the new chapter is the disposal of potentially contaminated sediments from the dredging of Indian River inlet that contain toxic blue-green algae, high levels of phosphorus and other sugar industry discharges.
A recent activity of the chapter is documented here.
Volusia/Flagler Chapter or E-mail vfsurfrider@gmail.com
Surfrider Staff Contact
Ericka D'Avanzo
Florida Regional Manager
772-924-4144
Information Sources
The summary of surfing areas comes from Surfer Magazine's The Surf Report
issues for the state. Surfrider Foundation chapters were surveyed to establish
surfing conditions in the state.
Other rich sources of information on surfing in Florida include the Surfrider
chapter websites listed above and the following:
SurfGuru
JupiterSurf
ShrimpCreole
Surfxtc
DadeCounty
VolusiaCounty
St.Augustine
Surfline
SurfMiami
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