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Best place to live and boat; West Palm to Vero

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Danvilletim, Sep 14, 2019.

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  1. Danvilletim, Sep 14, 2019
    #1
    Danvilletim

    Danvilletim Senior Member

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    Would love opinions of these towns. Looking for waterfront with at least capability for large center console. $1.5 to $2m. Our last house hunting trip was Ft Lauderdale to West Palm. The wife loved some of the amazing new construction condos in las olas, but didn’t love the town. I didn’t realize how far of a ride it was,to get to port Everglades.

    We then found a cute as hell older and redone place in West Palm but Ins was $19k a year as it was older and low lying. I like West Palm. But not many waterfront in our price range and condos are old and depressing.

    We look forward to checking out north palm, Jupiter, Hobe, Stuart, Sewell pt. I do think i would like a little but more country vibe than city but we need to be within 45 to 60 min of airport.
  2. olderboater, Sep 14, 2019
    #2
    olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    The ride from Las Olas to Port Everglades? It's less than 3 nm. 2.8 to be outside, 2.3 or so inside.

    Not sure what a country vibe is to you, but Jupiter is more of a small town vibe. The negative is that it's not boating centric. Still there are marinas you might find you like and housing much less expensive than West Palm or Fort Lauderdale. Convenient to airport. Keep in mind, Jupiter Inlet is not Port Everglades.

    Stuart is also a nice subdued area with more of a boating emphasis. A little further from the airport but within your acceptable range.
  3. Danvilletim, Sep 14, 2019
    #3
    Danvilletim

    Danvilletim Senior Member

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    Las olas is far from port Everglades but at 5 knots it will still take 30 min each way. A few places in west palm and Stuart are 10min from the inlet. So a short first trip is more acceptable. And I assume the trade off is that these other areas will have less restaurants to dock and dine? But not sure
  4. captholli, Sep 14, 2019
    #4
    captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    The Gomez area in Hobe Sound is referred to as the Riviera Isles of H.S. as it compares to the residential homes found in the Las Olas dredged isles of the 80's price wise. Gomez consists of a dozen or so dredged canals directly off of the ICW with some new construction but the majority of the homes were built in the 60's -early 70's and many of those have been remodeled and upgraded and can be purchased reasonably for waterfront dockage or teardowns . Dine and dock is limited by size but there are quite a few places in Manatee pocket and Jupiter to go to.
    Many boaters bypass this area and go to Vero Bch where its a bit more cosmopolitan and the Ft. Pierce Inlet is a bit more strait forward than St Lucie or Jupiter inlets are.
  5. Norseman, Sep 14, 2019
    #5
    Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    We love ❤️ living in Fort Lauderdale in the Citrus Isle area: Only 10 minutes drive to FLL airport, easy Uber ride. Far enough inland to be considered a hurricane cane hole, but only :40 minutes boat ride to the ocean and a few minutes less to the ICW.
    28 miles to MIA airport, but we hardly go there anymore, plenty international flights from FLL.
    That being said, Fort Lauderdale is getting more busy and more “vibrant”, cars and people all over. Been playing with the idea of moving North, perhaps Vero in 15-20 years. For now Fort Lauderdale is ok, but also getting tired of staring killer hurricanes in the face.
    Pluses and minuses, pretty much like everywhere, but can’t beat the proximity to the Bahamas and the Keys, or the winter weather. :cool:
  6. YachtForums, Sep 14, 2019
    #6
    YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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  7. olderboater, Sep 14, 2019
    #7
    olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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  8. Pascal, Sep 14, 2019
    #8
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    If boating is important to you, nothing comes close to Biscayne Bay. Blue Green water... clean... protected... gateway to the keys... gateway to the Bahamas. Even if it s blowing 20kts you can still use your boat.

    Jupiter, WPB, whatever you re stuck in the ditch. Yeah it s cool a few times and then what?

    I live 20 minutes from MIA, 2 1/2 hours from the Bahamas, 2 hours from the keys. Two dozens restaurants within walking distance, 20000 within a $15 Uber ride. Amazing evening cruises along one of the best skylines in the world.

    We are a day run from the Exumas... we are an hour away from anchoring in a National Park with crystal clear water.
  9. Norseman, Sep 14, 2019
    #9
    Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    E42522BB-F247-4D01-BA18-50D252AD9583.png
  10. Capt J, Sep 15, 2019
    #10
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    If it was me, I'd live in Jupiter. Lots of terrific local unique restaurants. The water has a nice clear blue/green color, the lighthouse and inlet are very picturesque and it's a laid back town. But 15 minutes away from great shopping on PGA and and the gardens mall. Stuart, it's too far to get to things like shopping, if you're close to the inlet. Granted Jupiter inlet is a nice day inlet, not a Port. But Jupiter has a small town feel with a big town nearby. Also close to Palm Beach airport. Stuart/Ft. Pierce/Vero all far from a good airport.

    In Fort Lauderdale in Harbor Beach, the neighborhood off of Cordova Road, or Las Olas on the South Isles, you're 10 minutes from the inlet at 5 knots.

    As for insurance, it's going to be about the same for any waterfront place from Vero to Miami. The key is the house has to have all impact windows and doors for every opening (or FBC/Miami Dade approved hurricane shutters), if it does, insurance is about 1/3 and on most houses, putting all new windows and doors, they pay for themselves in insurance and electric savings in 3 years (or less) generally.
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2019
  11. cleanslate, Sep 15, 2019
    #11
    cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    What about Daytona Beach down to Melbourne area ? Daytona airport is right near by and you have Ponce de Leon , the town and inlet which is nice. I don't believe the realestate is a little bit more affordable and there are quite a few marinas around.
  12. rtrafford, Sep 15, 2019
    #12
    rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Loved Miami. Really enjoyed Ft Lauderdale. Very happy with Vero.
  13. Capt J, Sep 15, 2019
    #13
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    The problem from North of Ft. Pierce to New Smyrna is there isn't an inlet worth a sh@t. Vero is a LONG ways to an inlet.
  14. rtrafford, Sep 15, 2019
    #14
    rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    I have a slip in The Moorings, very south end of Vero. I’m 40 minutes to Ft Pierce inlet at 10 knots. No, it’s not Miami. But, no, it’s not Miami.
  15. jsschieff, Sep 17, 2019
    #15
    jsschieff

    jsschieff Senior Member

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    Consider Stuart. Lots of good waterfront properties with docks, the town is thriving and attractive, no high rises in Martin County so it feels less jammed than most communities, Stuart Inlet is not bad. I've lived in Stuart for five years and my wife and I are very happy to be here. Nice place.
  16. bayoubud, Sep 18, 2019
    #16
    bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    I'll second Stuart for the same reason above, no high rises, smaller town appeal.
  17. sgawiser, Sep 18, 2019
    #17
    sgawiser

    sgawiser New Member

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    We live in Jupiter and keep the boat at our yacht club in Stuart. Jupiter has everything close by but still is not full of high rise buildings although construction continues. We chose Jupiter because of the distance to PBI which has pretty good airline coverage. Restaurants are close and pretty good and the Maltz Theater is there as well. Not too far to West Palm and close to Palm Beach Gardens.

    Stuart is more boat friendly and we certainly like the inlet better than Jupiter. And housing is less expensive. We spent a good amount of time looking when we decided on Jupiter after living aboard in North Palm Beach for a number of winters.
  18. Danvilletim, Sep 24, 2019
    #18
    Danvilletim

    Danvilletim Senior Member

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    I think we are narrowed down between West Palm and Stuart. Jupiter doesn’t have anything nice in our price range on the water. Stuart or Sewall’s Point is minutes from the inlet. You can see the breakers rolling. Very cool.

    The West Palm Beach property is reportedly 20 minutes to the inlet but I’m not sure if this? Any one know how long to run from the border of lake worth / south end West Palm to the inlet? I think there are some amount of no wake zones some times of the year? I wish i had a chart of no wake zones.
  19. Spray, Sep 24, 2019
    #19
    Spray

    Spray New Member

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    about 35 min run from southern west palm to palm beach inlet. I don't use boyton inlet much but that's probably about the same time from southern west palm. Takes me 25-30 min from southern blvd to Palm beach inlet.
  20. sgawiser, Sep 24, 2019
    #20
    sgawiser

    sgawiser New Member

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    I would think that Stuart would be much more comfortable to live in than West Palm. Completely different more small town feel and boating is much more of the lifestyle there.
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