Headed In: Florida trips, water and weather

Things to do in Florida (Tampa Bay, Miami, Naples-Fort Myers, Sarasota, the Space Coast, Jacksonville-St. Augustine, the Panhandle, Central Florida (Orlando, The Villages, Ocala), plus weird and worth-the-drive spots statewide): local picks for food, beaches, outdoors, only-in-Florida oddities and worth-the-drive spots, closest first (give lat/lon), with community thumbs and live crowd/parking/water/red-tide reports when available.

What it's like right now at a pick or boat ramp (reports come mostly from Tampa Bay so far): how busy, parking, bugs, water, red tide, the wait at the ramp and trailer parking, from anonymous reports in the last 3 hours.

Public boat ramps anywhere in Florida (FWC inventory, about 1,600), closest first, with the county, and the live wait at the ramp and trailer parking when boaters have reported it (Tampa Bay so far).

NOAA's marine forecast and tides for anywhere in Florida waters (Gulf, Atlantic, the Keys, Biscayne Bay, Lake Okeechobee): advisories, the next periods in NOAA's own words, and the nearest tide station. Give a position, or a ramp name from boat_ramps. Returns NOAA's own words; it does not say whether it's safe to go.

Short walking, biking or boating story trails in Florida (St. Pete, Tampa, Miami, Biscayne National Park, the Keys, the Everglades, Panama City Beach, Lake Okeechobee, Ocala National Forest; real places, a puzzle at each stop), played in the Headed Back / Headed In app.

Public marina fuel docks in Florida, only ones confirmed recently (gas, diesel, pump-out), closest first, with the phone number. Distances are straight-line, not by water. No hours or prices (call ahead).

Short true stories pinned all over Florida, closest first: Name game (why a town is called what it is: Pass-a-Grille, Kissimmee, Key West...) and Weird Florida (Koreshan hollow-earth camp, the world's smallest police station, Robert the Doll...). Each has a teaser, the spot and a map link; the whole story opens in the Headed Back app at the place. Great as road-trip stops.

What's on in Florida in the next two weeks: festivals, concerts, farmers markets, boat-show and holiday events, library and park events, from about 30 cities' and counties' own public calendars (Tampa Bay, Orlando area, both coasts, the Keys, the Panhandle). Closest first within a radius when you give a position, soonest first. Each event links to its official page.

When a Florida drawbridge opens next, right now: 80+ bridges with a federal schedule (Miami River, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and the New River, Palm Beach, the Space Coast, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Tampa's Hillsborough River, Pinellas beach causeways, Sarasota, Venice, the Caloosahatchee, the Keys). Says if it opens on signal now, the next scheduled opening, rush-hour closures, call-ahead hours, closed clearance, and the rule. Give a position for the closest ones, or a bridge name.

Lightning near a spot in the US right now, from NOAA's GOES-East weather satellite: the nearest strike in the last 15 minutes (distance, direction, how long ago), counts within 10 and 30 miles, and the 30-minute rule clock. Gives one sentence to say out loud, e.g. 'Lightning 6 miles west, 3 minutes ago.' Use it when someone on the water, at a ballgame, a beach or a campsite asks about storms or lightning.

Florida beach water health advisories right now: beaches where the county health department found bacteria (enterococcus) over the state limit and has not posted a lift yet, from all 32 coastal counties' own posts (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Tampa Bay, Naples, the Panhandle...). Closest first within a radius when you give a position, or match a beach or county name; with neither, every open advisory in the state. Gives one sentence to say out loud and the health department's link. No advisory is not the same as a clean test, and the result says so; it never calls the water clean or safe.

Rocket launches from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the next two weeks: rocket, mission, pad, day and Eastern time, Go / Hold / Scrubbed status, weather odds when posted, the live stream link, and where to watch on the Space Coast (Playalinda Beach, Jetty Park, Cocoa Beach Pier, the Kennedy visitor complex). Gives one sentence to say out loud. Use it when someone plans an Orlando or Space Coast trip or asks if there's a launch.

Red tide (Karenia brevis) near a spot in Florida from FWC's own water samples of the last 8 days: the closest sample sites with FWC's words (not present/background, very low, low, medium, high), the sample day and miles away. Give a position, an FWC sample site or boat ramp name, or nothing for the statewide picture. Gives one sentence to say out loud. Never says a beach is safe.

The beach warning flag lifeguards reported this morning at the nearest beaches (green, yellow, red, double red = water closed, purple = stinging marine life), with the report time, water temperature and notes: rip currents seen, surf height, jellyfish, stingrays, red tide coughing, dead fish. From Mote Marine Laboratory's Beach Conditions Reporting System, about twice a day at 131 beaches (Sarasota, Lee, Collier, Pinellas, Manatee, Charlotte, the Keys, Pensacola, some Atlantic beaches, Alabama, Texas, the Carolinas, Georgia). Give a position or a beach/town name. Gives one sentence to say out loud and what each flag means, plus how to volunteer as a Mote Beach Ambassador (Florida Panhandle first). Never says the water is safe.

Is a Florida inlet or pass stacking up? The old rule of thumb, worked out hour by hour for the next 12 hours: an outgoing tide running out into an onshore wind stands the waves up. 35 inlets and passes on both coasts and the Panhandle (Haulover, Government Cut, Port Everglades, Boca, Jupiter, Sebastian, Ponce, the St. Johns jetties, East Pass, Boca Grande, Gordon Pass, Big Pass, Longboat...). Says if it's rough now, when it eases (the next low or the wind), or when it turns rough later. Give a position for the nearest ones, or an inlet name.

Florida sandbars and raft-up spots (44, from Tampa Bay, Miami and the Keys to Naples, Sarasota, the Space Coast, Jacksonville and the Panhandle: Beer Can Island, Haulover, Elliott Key, Keewaydin, Crab Island...): what each is like, the map, and the next big day there (Boca Bash, Boater Skip Day, the Columbus Day Regatta raft-up), worked out for any year. Give a position, a sandbar name, or big_days: true.

Active Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms from the National Hurricane Center: wind in mph, category, movement, whether the 5-day cone covers a Florida place or the spot you give, when the center passes closest, coastal watches and warnings, and a boat tie-down list (or a 7-day stock-up list with land=true) when a cone touches Florida. Info only; follow the county's orders.

Golden hour, blue hour, sunrise and sunset for any spot (today and tomorrow, local time), which way the sun sets, what's next and how long until it, and a guess at tonight's sunset (could be a good one / clean and clear / iffy / probably gray) from cloud layers here and 25 miles toward the sun. For photographers, creators, sunset cruises and beach plans. Gives one sentence to say out loud.

When to go fishing in Florida waters: Headed In's Bite Score 1 to 10 for today and each of the next 14 days (moon from the solunar tables, NOAA tide swing, a tide change inside a daylight moon window, wind and pressure for the first week, every part shown), today's best-bite hours, this week's 2 best days with tide times, wind and which water lights up (rising tide = grass flats and oyster bars, falling = drains and the deep grass edge), and a Tide Read for right now. Give a position or a boat ramp name. Gives one sentence to say out loud. Anglers' rules of thumb, never a promise.

Florida's public artificial reefs near a spot (FWC's 4,519 deployments statewide): name, position, depth and relief in feet, what was sunk (ships, bridge spans, reef modules), year, miles away, closest first. For fishing, diving and spearfishing trips. Not for navigation.

Message in a bottle: real drift bottles people tossed from Florida's shores with the free Headed In / Headed Back apps, moved every 3 hours on the real ocean currents and wind until they wash up on a real beach. Answers 'any bottles washed up near me?': the beaches near a spot where bottles washed up, how many, miles away, the longest drift and days at sea, how many times found, and how many are adrift right now. Never the note, a name or an exact spot: those are only read in person on the beach in the app. Gives one sentence to say out loud.

Wind Phone booths around Tampa Bay: quiet public places to call someone you lost, after the Wind Phone in Ōtsuchi, Japan.

A link that opens 'Plan a day' in the Headed Back (land) or Headed In (boat) app on the person's phone, on a mood (beach, Old Florida, rainy day, wild Florida, weird and cool, road trip) and a start time. Use it at the end of a Florida day plan.

A cruise shore day in Florida that ends at the pier with time to spare: pick the port (PortMiami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, Port Tampa Bay, JAXPORT, Key West), when the ship docks and the all-aboard time, and get up to 3 of our own picks near the port in order with drive times, the time to leave the last stop, and the pier-by time (45 minutes before all aboard). Drive times are estimates, the ship does not wait, the person decides. Also use it when someone asks what to do near a Florida cruise port for a few hours.

Off the ship, not on the plane yet: a Florida cruise debark day. Off the ship in the morning (default 8 AM), flying out later: up to 3 of our own picks near the port in order with drive times, trimmed so the person leaves the last one in time to be at the airport 2 hours before a flight in the U.S. (3 for international, the TSA's general advice), plus the leave-for-the-airport time. Ports: PortMiami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, Port Tampa Bay, JAXPORT, Key West; the airport defaults to the usual one for the port (MIA, FLL, MCO, TPA, JAX, EYW). bags=true (all the luggage, no car) keeps it to 2 stops. Drive times are estimates; the person decides.

Wheels down to toes in the sand: from a Florida airport (MCO, SFB, TPA, PIE, SRQ, RSW, MIA, FLL, PBI, JAX, DAB, MLB, PNS, VPS, ECP, EYW, TLH, GNV), the nearest beaches and springs by drive time with miles and a line about each. Use it when a visitor asks how fast they can be in the water after landing, or which beach is closest to an airport.

The Florida Passport stamp book (55 stamps on 11 region pages: Mile Marker 0, Coral Castle, Weeki Wachee mermaids, a spring swim, Skunk Ape HQ, the time zone line, free OJ at a Welcome Center...). Each stamp is earned only by standing there with the free Headed Back or Headed In app. Give a position for the closest stamps, a page (road, bay, sarasota, southwest, miami, keys, space, central, nature, northeast, panhandle) or a name. Use it for Florida bucket lists, road-trip stops, or 'what should we not miss'.

Cruise ship sail-aways in Florida: which ships leave PortMiami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral and Port Tampa Bay today, tomorrow or this week (from the ports' own published schedules), the posted departure time where the port posts one (Miami, Canaveral), and when each passes the best public spots to watch it go by (South Pointe Park at Miami; Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park at Fort Lauderdale; Jetty Park at Canaveral; Sparkman Wharf and the Skyway Fishing Pier at Tampa). Use it for 'can we watch the cruise ships leave', sail-away parties on land, or when a cruiser's family wants to wave them off.

Which side of the plane to sit on: for a flight between two US airports (all of Florida's plus the big ones with nonstops to Florida), the big sights you can see from the window in flight order (Lake Okeechobee, the Sunshine Skyway, the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Seven Mile Bridge, the Outer Banks, Manhattan, the Grand Canyon...), left or right side, about when, the states under the route, and tips for getting GPS to work in airplane mode. Use it when someone picks a seat, asks what they will see from the plane, or asks why their GPS dot disappears in the air.

For a boat trip: a link that opens Headed In's Float plan with the route, crew, hours, leave time, safety gear and a note already filled in. The boater checks it and starts the trip in the app themselves.

Our two free iPhone apps. Headed In (boats) is the float plan: a back-by time, and a boater's people are alerted if they're overdue; for outings on the water. Headed Back is road-trip games and trivia (the license plate game, Swamp Ape Millionaire, trivia, critters caught only at real places, The Daily Humidity), with no check-in; for road trips with people in the car.

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