I've seen the entrance to Tampa Bay a lot while driving and several times while flying, but today flying over it it really struck me how small the channel entrance is. The following photos were taken from the pink mark near the bottom and to the left.



Left of that mark is a long thin island. That is what you see in this photo from the air.





What is striking to me today is just how small the entrance channel is and how shallow the surrounding waters are.

To the right of the pink dot is the bridge. You can see the high part of the bridge where the yellow square is in this pic.




Here is the view ahead and to the left where you can see another channel coming in. It isn't the main shipping channel.





And this is where the bridge exits on the land on the north side of the channel and runs on a somewhat elevated road through the lowlands and communities.





I've seen it all before, but today it just struck me how shallow the Gulf waters are around the entrance to Tampa Bay and how relatively small that channel is.

Nothing earth-shattering, but just thought I would share.

How wide?

One time when I was at Fort Desoto (the square NW of your pink box) I saw a couple of guys fishing while wading in waist deep water 200-300 yards off shore.

That's Ft. DeSoto in the 3rd pic (excluding the map).

Really is shallow, had similar experience a bit farther North. At low tide kayaks bottomed out and we walked them ~150 yards to the beach.

Nice pics.

But that inlet looks like a super wide 12 lane interstate compared to some I have had the dubious pleasure of negotiating.

The SW Pass of the Mississippi River comes to mind.....it's just plain dangerous and I don't miss it a bit.

The first Photo is Egmont Key, there is a Lighthouse and defensive fortification similar to Fort Desoto built there. I haven't been there in decades. It was covered in graffiti and trash when I was a teen and one of the clubs in school went out there to do a clean up back in the day. You can only get there by boat unlike Desoto which is joined from the key by bridges, But now it has all the trappings of a state park with picnic areas and trails and some basic facilities. https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Egmont-Key

Great photos OG.

I wonder what the difference in weather would be, between the Gulf to the coast?
During a storm, would the same winds create higher waves?...or less weather?

I'm thinking it must be nicer on the Gulf side, the shorter run for the waves, and if you stay away from the coast, the waves shouldn't really be effected...height wise.

So, I'm guessing, all in all, better weather for sailing in the Gulf?

Right?

Believe it or not Murphy the wind chop in the gulf can be much WORSE than dealing with big open ocean swells.

I'll take 15 ft open ocean ground swells any day over a HARD 5' to 7' wind chop in the gulf.

Sadly my only ocean experiences are the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and very little in the Pacific Ocean (Surfing).

I will say that I have seen and WORKED 8 ft ground swells in the Gulf of Mexico....with a 5 ft wind chop from one direction and a leftover 3 ft wind chop from another direction on top.

Throw in a 1 kt current from a completely different direction, add a crane operator with a barely double digit IQ and and Ole Capt Kev knew he was in for a rough day/night.

Ancient History....I like painting...and girls.

Girls?

Yeah....they are outside....

Especially for me....the school I am going to is like 70% chicks!

Am on my best behavior..... I got em all fooled

Florida is just a huge sandbar.

I hope the photos convey how flat the area is. For instance the St Petersburg and Tampa Airports are just 20 feet above sea level. Same well to the north at the Crystal River Airport. At my home field, Brooksville, it is 70 feet. The highest point in Florida is 345 feet.

Fortunately for Tampa, the layout of the channel and Bay means that not as much storm surge gets into the bay to cause flooding in Tampa and St Petersburg. Also the path of hurricanes makes major strikes in the west coast of Florida very rare. Hurricanes have to cross the state to hit us or come into the Gulf and then do a full hook to the east. That very rarely happens.

Thanks, now I miss Florida...

I wouldn't mind vising Vienna for a while so maybe we can trade houses for a week?

OG is right about Florida it is a big freakin sandbar...

Mixed in with some ancient coral reefs. Always wonder why we didn't get the oil like in the gulf and LA and TX. Ancient geology I guess.

I guess those New Yorkers and Latin Americans must really love sandbars!

I'm not rich, so it's an apartment. Otherwise, deal

It's what's underground that makes the oil fields, not the surface.



The Jedi Master

Phase II will begin soon in Florida's underground.

Took someone up for their first time today and flew the coast so he could sightsee.

Took this to illustrate some of the coastal wetlands. Again this shows how flat.




But this really shows how shallow. This was taken straight down so you get a different perspective than looking at it near horizontally. To the right in this picture you can see a couple of the small wetland islands. Doesn't stand out much does it ? I'm sure you all have heard of sinkholes. They happen in the Gulf as well as on land. You can see the circles under the water. Water is pretty clean and clear.

Nice shots OG!

Never realized the bay was that shallow, really different from how the bays are out here on the West Coast, which tend to drop off and go deep pretty quick.