Jetting off next week for a high brow user conference at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate for a week.
Since I don’t golf yet
any suggestions for surf shops surf related sites to visit in the immediate area?
Also in June 9-11 I may be doing the same peer to peer dance in Asheville NC at the Biltmore Estate.
Any suggestions for places (surf related) to see in the area?
Wish for once they’d have these things where there’s some surfing available across the street…
Mahalo
You’re actually going to be in Davenport, FL. That’s south of Orlando. Even south of Walt Disney. The closest that you’ll be to anything would be Downtown Disney and Inter national Drive. These are the two major tourist magnets in the area.
With that said, the Ron Jon Surf Park (north end of International Drive) isn’t ready yet but you can look at the holes in the ground, giant pumps and dirt that has been there for about 4 years. You’re only option for fake waves would be Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon (Downtown Disney area). It’s about $1500 per session and it’s only before or after the park opens. The waves are about 6’ and weak. It’s normally a nice place to have an evening party in the summer when it’s flat.
In a more realistic note, you can try the Orlando Watersports Complex (about 30 minutes north). It’s a wakeboard park with tow lines and you can rent a boat. It has a bunch of ramps and such. Never been there, but I used to drive by it when I commuted to Orlando for work. There is also the Vans skate park om the north end of I-Drive. If you want to surf, you can drive an hour and a half my way (east) and surf in Brevard County (Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach) Add another hour to get to Sebastian Inlet.
If you want to visit shops, the better ones are on the coast. You can visit the Walmart of surf shops, Ron Jon surf shop. It’s right by the Vans skate park and the the future surf park.
Did I miss ya? just now caught this post i live in orlando for school when im not on maui surfing… would of been cool to meet up
yup sorry
visited Ron Jons at Festival Bay
definitely not impressed pretty much sucked as a surfshop compared to Haleiwa Surf n Sea or Hansens
Outdoor World was a much better experience
Also saw alot of chinese made wood composites with no visible rail seams just like Surftech which was impressive
they are getting very good at doing their stuff
Bob,
I’m in O-town also. We should hook up sometime
Head one hour East on Hwy 192. When you hit A1A, Longboard House is right on the corner. Nice shop, nice people. If you turn right @ A1A and go to Ocean Ave. (takes you right back to A1A), you’ll see Catalyst Surf Shop on your right. Very cool surf shop. Continue South on A1A for 20 minutes or so and you’ll hit Sebastian Inlet. Best spot to surf, but it will be crowded. Heading back up AIA, go past Longboard House and continue North. Balsa Bills is 10 minutes up the road on the right, if he’s there he’s a good guy to talk to. Lots of nice Balsa boards too. Out of there, go North for another 10 or 15 minutes and you’ll see Oceansports World on the left. Roy is the owner, and he has an AWESOME collection of vintage boards in his shop. I’m drooling just thinking about them! WOW!! The surf right across the street is good too, in fact for the next dozen or so blocks it’s fun. Mostly lefts. This is the Slaters neighborhood. Up the road, Ronjons and Cocoa Beach Surf Company are worth seeing (right next door to each other), if for no other reason than their massive size - talk about excess! There are a smattering of nice vintage boards hanging around too! The Cocoa Beach Surf Museum is next to Ronjons too, DEFINITELY a must! It’s small, but nice! The pier is worth seeing, there’s a nice outdoor bar there, good spot to check out the tourists. A local tiki bar is located at Faulty Towers near Ronjons too. As far as food goes, any of the Thai and Indian restaurants are really good. Longdoggers on AIA near Longboard House rocks, good locals place. A far as Orlando, the only time we go there is for Surf Expo and I can’t think of much else that happens there surfwise. The wave pool at Disney? I don’t know, I wouldn’t waste time there if it were me, I’d go East! Hope this helps, PM me if you need anything else, I grew up in the area … ps - www.16streets.com is the best local surf site. Run by Sean Ohare, Pat Ohare’s son. Pat is a legend, shaped for Greg Noll, still shaping the best East Coast boards! Like I said, PM me if you need anything else …
Ouch, that was a blanket post, huh? My bad … oh well, if you’re ever in Central Fla. again …
b.m* I enjoyed your Cocoa Tour! Thanks, I have to get around those shops soon. I lived on Oahu for 25 yrs. and pretty much stay around NSB nowdays to surf. I started a new Waverider Blog, where you can see some surfboards I make. I am currently enjoying my ALAIA ancient Hawaiian surfboard, ever ride one? For the first few, it’s like learning all over again!
I work at an orlando roofing company we usually build some crazy thing to play with in the water every few months. It usually gets towed behind a boat
You and your wife need to agree on how family translates into realistic
terms: How often do you realistically expect or want to see your family?
What level of family involvement do you want for your children?
(holidays - weekends - special events - babysitting?) Will family give
you something that you cannot otherwise get? (social or emotional
network/cushion - values - heritage - practical help?) How close, in
terms of hours or driving distance, do you need to be to accomplish the
level of family involvement that you want? (two hours? half day?
occasional flights?)
I wish we could say the heck with family, like psOldTimer did! 
I would have left Florida years ago! But we did the opposite, we chose
to be near one side of the family after we married, for the kids. That
left two states to pick from. My husband’s career was the deciding
factor, and continues to be. So far we are within two hours driving
distance from family. The benefits, for the kids, have been worth the
hassle. But if we could plant his career elsewhere, and still accomplish
the level of family involvement that we wanted within say a 6-hr drive,
or an airplane flight, we would move.
I just moved back to Tally from Melbourne I lived right down from Longboard House off 6th Ave. Thinking about moving to Jaxville some time next year since Tally is crap for anything to do.
