May be repositioning to west coast of Fl.

I have an opportunity of a lifetime. It would require me to be in Lakeland Fl. Most of the time. Can anyone that is familiar with marinas on the west coast of Florida tell me which would be the closest and most secure, meaning, security patrol, gated, etc.?

Dona that was extremely misleading.
West coast is SanFrancisco ect.
West coast of Fl is the west side of Florida.

Love your opportunity though.

Donna said:

I have an opportunity of a lifetime. It would require me to be in Lakeland Fl. Most of the time. Can anyone that is familiar with marinas on the west coast of Florida tell me which would be the closest and most secure, meaning, security patrol, gated, etc.?

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Wifey B: YAY Donna. Go woman go.

Sorry Nomad. I thought saying the west coast of Florida was clear enough. That’s what we call it here! Lol!

Thank you and wifeyb for the congrats!

That is what it is called, not confusing at all.

Also Gulf coast.

Check out marinas with Active Captain. Never been to a gated marina, maybe gates on piers at best.

The closest salt water marina to Lakeland is about 30 miles away.

David

I would go over there and look at the traffic when you'll be driving to determine where I would or wouldn't want to be... I-4 is a nightmare in some places.

Or get a condo somewhere near work and commute back home regularly...

Sounds great Donna! - Get it on!!

Now, I wonder what "IT" is... ??

Congrats Donna - Good luck! BTW we are looking at a 36' just like yours

Donna said:

I have an opportunity of a lifetime. It would require me to be in Lakeland Fl. Most of the time. Can anyone that is familiar with marinas on the west coast of Florida tell me which would be the closest and most secure, meaning, security patrol, gated, etc.?

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Coupe questions for you are you a intercoastal type cruiser or does location to the Gulf not matter and you are looking for close and secure

siestakey said:

Coupe questions for you are you a intercoastal type cruiser or does location to the Gulf not matter and you are looking for close and secure

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Secure. The marina I am at now is gated to vehicles with maned security and patrols.

FoxtrotCharlie said:

Congrats Donna - Good luck! BTW we are looking at a 36' just like yours

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Get her! Lol! I totally love mine!!

Art said:

Sounds great Donna! - Get it on!!

Now, I wonder what "IT" is... ??

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Let’s just say I may have to change my name on here to ambassador.

Donna said:

Let’s just say I may have to change my name on here to ambassador.

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COOLIO!! Congrats... I Guess... ??

Lakeland to FL West Coast Marinas?

Hi! My Dad lives in Lakeland. We started our Great Loop from Bradenton - Twin Dolphin Marina. I wasn't clear if you're living aboard and driving to Lakeland daily? If so, Bradenton may be too far - it's about an hour & 15 minutes, depending on traffic on I-4 & I75. It's not a "gated community" but we always felt it was very secure - several live-aboards, plus steps to the cute downtown with all the local festivals, weekly farmers market, river walk, restaurants etc. Like being in a small town, not Tampa or St Pete. Good luck & enjoy!

Cheers! Jan
m/v Optimystique
CommuterCruiser.com

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

Hi Donna. My wife and I live in Lakeland and we kept our boat (before we sold it and started looking for the next one) in Riviera Dunes Marina in Palmetto. Beautiful, 16' deep basin with concrete floating docks, great staff, locked gates to the docks, security cameras, several liveaboards, and a number of other amenities. Frequently voted as the safest marina on the Gulf Coast. If you'd like more information, feel free to PM me.

JohnEasley said:

Hi Donna. My wife and I live in Lakeland and we kept our boat (before we sold it and started looking for the next one) in Riviera Dunes Marina in Palmetto. Beautiful, 16' deep basin with concrete floating docks, great staff, locked gates to the docks, security cameras, several liveaboards, and a number of other amenities. Frequently voted as the safest marina on the Gulf Coast. If you'd like more information, feel free to PM me.

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John Regatta point would be high on my list of recommendations, as would twin dolphins also mentioned.

Donna several in Tampa would be safe the issue is in a trawler just to get to the mouth of Tampa Bay takes up a good bit of time

Which side of Lakeland?

It's growen so large over the years that some refer to the Lakeland areas as "Orlampa" aka Orlando and Tampa.

As was mentioned, you are going to be at least an hour from water.

k9medic said:

As was mentioned, you are going to be at least an hour from water.

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On the other hand, you’re only going to be an hour from water! [emoji2][emoji106]

Donna said:

Sorry Nomad. I thought saying the west coast of Florida was clear enough.

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It was.

Only one I know is Turtle Cove in Tarpon Springs. Google says 1 hour 10 minutes.

JohnEasley said:

On the other hand, you’re only going to be an hour from water! [emoji2][emoji106]

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True

I've lived in the area almost all my life. From Lakeland, you are about an hour away from St. Petersburg and a little longer (20 minutes or so more) to Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, or Clearwater. I am presently at Loggerhead St. Petersburg and am very pleased. It was nice and protected during Hurricane Irma. My other favorite marinas in the Pinellas County area are Home Port (Dunedin) and Port Tarpon (Tarpon Springs). Both give you quick access to St. Joseph's Sound to include Anclote Island, Caladesi Island, and Three Rooker Bar. I am not a fan of crusing North of Anclote Island and most of my boating takes place from Tarpon Springs to Egmont Key or north Sarasota.

I'm sure others who live in the area will provide their recommendations!

Nothing beats St. Pete for easy access to things to do if you stay on the boat for weekends.
Little harbor on the east side of Tampa bay would probably be the closest commute but not music to do there. The other mentions are accurate. With Loggerhead being the most storm secure.

IMO it depends on your priorities. Easy access to the boat, easy access to stuff to do easy access to the ICW and gulf. Many choices. Easy enough to move if you don't like your choice.

At time there may be wait lists.Just get on the list and talk to the managers in person if you seem a good guy the list gets shorter.

Thank you all! I would be staying onboard a few days a week. Not in the weekends. I don’t mind an hour commute as I am doing 2 1/2 hours now to work one way.

I am high profile and would be alone, that’s why I looking for high security. I’ll take a trip there just to look at the marinas. They can interview me all they want, but I will be the one interviewing them. Floating docks are a must.

My other option is to keep the boat here and find a nice one bedroom condo or simply live out of a hotel until that becomes too hard.

Thank you again!

I think what caught some folks off guard has to do with the way the forum displays current thread titles. at least in my browser setup; if the title exceeds a certain length as it did in this case, it will truncate the title over on the right side summary window.
Therefore in this case at a glance it certainly looked like it was just a "west coast..." topic
Anyway no biggie and congrats to Donna on the exciting new move!

Hamrow said:

I think what caught some folks off guard has to do with the way the forum displays current thread titles. at least in my browser setup; if the title exceeds a certain length as it did in this case, it will truncate the title over on the right side summary window.
Therefore in this case at a glance it certainly looked like it was just a "west coast..." topic
Anyway no biggie and congrats to Donna on the exciting new move!

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Ahh I see! No worries and thank you for the congrats!

Donna,

Welcome to my side of the state. I live in Madeira Beach and have been roaming and boating around the Tampa/St. Pete area for some 40 years. Are you a live a board?

There's a few good marinas, the ones above mention are fine, but a hike if you're going to do this daily. If you plan to live on your boat, I could argue to get the closest and safest marina you can. Lands End in Apollo Beach worth looking at. Gated and nice, never been there, but never heard anything bad. If you only need to go to the boat weekly or so, there's a lot more choices. The rush hour, especially thru Tampa and St. Pete is absolutely brutal. I just avoid being on the road at rush hour at all. Now, cutting down to Apollo Beach and Bradenton does have a few choices in routing so an advantage.

The ones mentioned, Twin Dolphins, Regatta Point and Riviera Dunes are all close together, however, Twin Dolphins on the sound side of the bridge can easily take another 15 to 20 minutes to cross the bridge in rush hour..... just brutal! I've been to Twin Dolphins a few times and had a live abroad friend that had his boat there... really nice place.