Enthusiasm runs high for the ‘Burg’s
sports teams. The Tampa Bay
Rowdies soccer team and Tampa
Bay Rays baseball team have their
home base in the Sunshine City.
Plus, there’s pro volleyball, Indy race
drivers during the Grand Prix and
athletes from all over the country
coming here for the annual St.
Anthony’s Triathlon.
WATER SPORTS HEAVEN
With 244 miles of shoreline, St. Pete
is a natural center for water sports.
Both the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa
Bay are a paradise for boating and
shing, as well as jet skis, kite sailing
and those who simply prefer to walk
the beach, or kick back under a
beach umbrella and relax.
If leisurely canoeing, kayaking or
paddleboarding is more your style,
the area’s many bayous and inlets
offer plenty of opportunity to
spend the day in nature, exploring
mangroves and looking for marine
life. Weedon Island Preserve has four
miles of marked kayak trails.
St. Pete is earning an exciting
reputation as Florida’s sailing capital.
On any given day, dozens of small
racing sailboats leave from the St.
Pete Sailing Center on the downtown
waterfront to compete out on the
open water of Tampa Bay. Sailing
World magazine called St. Pete,
“The Next Great American Regatta
Destination” and it just might be.
The city’s passion for sailing dates
back to the 1920s with a winter
competitive race to Havana, Cuba,
that drew sailors from all over the
country. Today there are dozens of
regattas of all sizes, plus plenty of
classes through the St. Pete Sailing
Center and other local sailing
schools.
Grand Prix
64 St. Petersburg’s Visitors Guide | 2018-2019