Is it as bad as the news is making it out to be? We are scheduled to be in St Pete in late April. Do you think it will be cleared out by then. News reports say it could last 2 weeks to a year.
What's the word from the people in the streets who live there???
I'm thinking about pivoting travel plans and head to the East Coast shore instead, maybe St. Augustine, Daytona, or Cocoa Beach.
What are people there experiencing???
I was just in playa del Carmen and o man wish I knew about sargassum before booking that trip.
Gulf, the warm water is a breeding ground for the stuff.
The gulf side gets the brunt of it, but Atlantic side can get affected too. Miami Beach got hit hard last year. All depends on the tides.
I’m no expert, hence why I’m asking here, but from the little I read it is currently in the gulf most heavily in the Tampa region, though some is reported as far down as the keys. There is another bloom out in the Atlantic that is projected to hit the Caribbean and I’m guessing southern FL??? That’s why I was going to pivot to the north part of the east coast. The panhandle might be ok too, but I don’t know. Right now it hasn’t been mentioned in any of what I’ve read.
From the few post already it sounds like nothing to mess around with. Going to make the move. Just need to figure out where too now. I have Hilton points so I’ll look to see if I can find a nice one on the ocean.
Here are the most up to date trackers I've found for this region (from USF and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Center):
https://myfwc.com/research/redtide/statewide/
https://myfwc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=87162eec3eb846218cec711d16462a72
http://ocgweb.marine.usf.edu/hab_tracking/wfcom_hab.html
http://ocgweb.marine.usf.edu/hab_tracking/HAB_trajectories_R3.html
A beach festival on Indian Rocks Beach scheduled for April 15 was canceled Tuesday. Organizers cited the red tide forecast.
If I were planning to spend a bunch on a trip in April, I'd seriously consider going to the east coast. Why risk having the trip ruined? If you go to Cocoa you can also easily take the toll road (528) over to Orlando if you want and miss the bad traffic on I-4.
Red tide news - ( New Window )
From breathing air around the rotting, decaying fish.
The algae in red tide produce some toxins that can aerosolize and cause respiratory inflammation and/or asthma-like symptoms. It's usually doesn't spread far from the beach or water, and the degree of symptoms vary greatly from person to person. Nonetheless, it can be very severe in some folks, so if red tide warnings are posted for a particular area, don't go there.
When it rots it releases hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gasses.
2 girls ages 8 and 11.
Looks like I can get cheap flight into Daytona, though it has a connection where Tampa was direct. West Palm Beach is also direct but a little more money, but not bad, seems a little far away though too.
Heading to Orlando for the rest of the week and flying out of there. Also, looking to do a day at one of the natural springs.
2 girls ages 8 and 11.
Looks like I can get cheap flight into Daytona, though it has a connection where Tampa was direct. West Palm Beach is also direct but a little more money, but not bad, seems a little far away though too.
Heading to Orlando for the rest of the week and flying out of there. Also, looking to do a day at one of the natural springs.
I'd seriously look at Cocoa. Nice beaches, and you have the Space Center. There are no launched scheduled in April, but there are days when you can meet and talk with astronauts. Like I said before, easy drive into Orlando. Won't be any near as crowded (or expensive) as south Florida or Daytona and even St. Augustine. You can fly into Orlando too if you are planning to end the trip there. The toll road to Cocoa goes right by the Orlando airport. Easy drive, unlike the drive from Tampa to Orlando where you have a major traffic delay around US 27 where you will need 40 minutes to go 10 miles (and no, that's not even Disney traffic.) You could also take a day trip from Cocoa up to St. Augustine (just over a 2 hr drive) if you wanted.