# Tampa Bay Charter



## rwall10597 (Aug 17, 2011)

We're chartering in Tampa Bay next month with two small kids, 4 and 6. Does anybody have any suggestions on some things to do that might be interesting for the kids and accessible by boat? I've seen a few of the state and national parks that should be fun, but wanted to see if anybody had any better ideas. Thanks, BW


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## Realm333 (Feb 15, 2012)

Hi I too am looking to charter for my dads birthday. I live in Tampa as well and this place called windsung charters have a very cool deal. You can visit different islands of your choice and you are.allowed to dive off your boat and go snorkeling around the islands. Also depending on how long you book for either 4 hours or 8 hours there are many opportunities avaliable. They have a website windsungcharters.com I think that's how its spelled. All the.info is there


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## KiteRider (Jul 13, 2010)

How long is your charter and where are you sailing out of? St Pete Marina has a couple of hourly slips you can use to stop in and explore downtown which is pretty nice and has some great museums (including the Dali) as well as the pier. Tampa has muni slips that can be used overnight by the convention center. From there you can take a trolly to Ybor City, or trolley or walk to Channelside as well as the History Museum and Florida Aquarium. Sailing to Egmont Key is nice and the views of the Skyway Bridge from the water are spectacular. On the inter-coastal Johns Pass Village is a nice place to stop for lunch. There is a small marina/fuel dock on the South side called Johns pass marina that will usually comp a lunch slip if you buy fuel or you can pay for overnight.

Pinellas point cove makes a nice anchorage, if you'd like to head further out Emerson point has a nice anchorage and has some good nature hikes and an Indian mound.

You will be sure to see tons of dolphin while sailing and bringing a fishing rod would be a good idea as well. We catch quite a few Spanish mackerel just trolling with a spoon or jig while sailing near the St Pete channel or the main channel.


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## rwall10597 (Aug 17, 2011)

We're actually already back, we had the boat for 3 days, 3 nights. We had a great time. The boat was based at a marina immediately north of the pier, so that whole area was walkable. We actually used a municipal garage to park the car inside too.

We had a great time. Two of the nights we actually spent at the dock. The night in the middle we anchored over in the Manatee river by Desoto Point. The night on the anchor was so smooth I was amazed, its a great place if anybody is looking. The beach was fun too, we didn't explore the trails, but they were there if you wanted them.

The sailing was great. One suggestion, I bought an app for my iPhone, Memory-Map. Its 8 dollars and all the nautical charts are free. It allowed me to look at the area prior to getting down there and get a feel for things, and I liked it better then the chart plotter on that was on the boat. Anyway, highly recommend it.


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