Anna Maria on a North
 

Hey has anybody ridden the back side of Anna maria island on a north? I thought I might check it out tomorrow. There is a fairly long fetch across the bay and it might clean up the gusty north we get at most spots. Looks like some nice clean sand flats extending out from the beach.

Bob

bob where exactly are you talking about on the back side? close to the cotez or manatee bridge?

I was thinking of some where south of the tip and north of the little fishing pier. On google earth it looks like there is a small public beach near the pier and in front of it is a huge sand flat. because of the wide space across the mouth of the bay the wind should be cleaner and side on in a north

oh so not on the inner coastal part. alright i got you that seems like it could work but idk of anyone riding there

hey bob and adam. bill here, the tennis player. out of the country at our last event of the year but here's the go on anna maria. i ride there in the winter quite a bit. trent is a good person to speak to as well. i usually go all the way out to the north tip of anna maria. unfortunately, it's hard to park out there. on a north to north west, you can ride in the channel and into the gulf. when it blows out there, it blows and there is usually a big swell. i ride just of the north west tip. very small beach and sketchy self launch but it's safe. ride out towards the gulf and there is a big sandbar and shoal the runs perpindicular to the land mass. it sets up pretty nice on an incoming tide, giving you some nice little rollers to "surf" not far off shore. the channel is nasty, deep and moves like crazy. my experience is to stay to the north west side and mainly west side. on a north east, you can ride between the two jetties/piers at that little park with the whispy big pines. very sketchy self launch and land. very sketchy. water is very deep and gets deep quick so when you self launch/drift launch you may not be able to touch. water is never great there. i have only ever ridden there with trent. usually in the winter. stay up on the north tip and ride on the NNW. pretty cool. no people and very different riding. no flat water though. waves, swell and chop. challenging riding.

hmm...so sound that that eastern side of anna maria is pretty sketchy, huh? I'm an experienced kiter but if i can avoid sketchy situations i do, saftey normally comes before fun. I'm going to be staying on the beach in bradenton for a few days after christmas. I'm really hoping for some wind with a west in it to kite right off the beach. I looked up a few different wind statistics that look like if it blows, it's almost always east, north east. In the case when the wind is east or NE, what are some good alternatives? I really like east beach at ft desoto but it's a bit of a hike and i know the crowds there can get outrageous. i "think" the closest ridable east spot is skyway south? like i said, i'm pretty wussy i want to ask some of you locals how it is as a user friendly spot? Shallow, plenty of room, and is the water flat? Thanks for your help!