monkey blog

Across the state of Florida temperatures are hovering in the mid 70's while the rest of the country is trying to thaw out. Florida has some of the best year-round stand up paddle conditions in the country if not the world! Not only is the climate great in Florida but there are over 100 stand up paddle board businesses scattered throughout the sunshine state. If you are looking to get into stand up paddle boarding then Florida has unlimited possibilities. 

The Florida Key's offer crystal clear water and an island vibe, while the interior lakes of Florida can give a stand up paddle boarder a great backcountry feel. The waves of Cocoa Beach offer plenty of chances to learn how to stand up paddle surf as well. Make your way over to the Gulf Coast of Florida and enjoy a laid back lifestyle where you can take stand up paddle board lessons at some of the country's top beaches. Ft. Desoto Park was named the number one beach in America in 2005. There is a reason that this beautiful park is my absolute favorite place to stand up paddle in the Tampa Bay area. You can check out the nature tours that Water Monkey offers in the park here. 

Make your way north from Ft. Desoto to St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, and Clearwater Beach. All of these areas are served by Water Monkey and provide amazing places to take stand up paddle board lessons or rent a SUP for the day. Contact Water Monkey today to schedule a stand up paddle board lesson, tour or rental. 

Spring is just around the corner for the Tampa Bay area. This is the perfect time of year to get out for a stand up paddle board lesson with Water Monkey. Water Monkey offers intro lessons on the weekends from our water front location near St. Pete Beach. Stand up paddle board lessons are Water Monkey's specialty. With the amazing growth of SUP there are more than a few businesses offering lessons in the Tampa Bay area. Only with Water Monkey will you learn with a professional paddler and World Champion in racing. Check out our about page for more information on owner, Chase Kosterlitz.

Water Monkey is excited to provide stand up paddle board lessons and nature tours to all new stand up paddlers interested in getting into the sport. It won't take you long to realize the awesome exercise benefits from stand up paddle boarding. The Tampa Bay area offers some of the most pristine and beautiful areas to take a stand up paddle board lesson. Contact Water Monkey today to schedule your stand up paddle lesson! 

Winter is a great time of year to stand up paddle in the Tampa Bay area. However, it is also a nice time to get out of town and explore other SUP destinations. I am currently in Rincon, Puerto Rico for a couple of weeks of stand up paddle boarding and kiteboarding. Temperatures are mild and the trade winds provide natural AC everyday. Rincon has unlimited areas to explore on your stand up paddle board. There are a few companies that offer SUP rentals but I think there is room for a Water Monkey location in Puerto Rico! 

Stand up paddle surfing at the many breaks in the area is a unique experience. Coral reef lies just feet below the crystal clear water. Imagine surfing in a tropical aquarium and that is the best way to describe Rincon surf. Beginner stand up paddlers beware that as beautiful as the reef appears, the razor sharp coral will end your SUP vacation fast! When you are tired of the stand up paddle surfing you can drop a car and go on a stand up paddle downwinder. The constant trade winds are sure to keep you moving along fast. 

Rincon is definitely at the top of my list for an all around great stand up paddle destination. I love teaching stand up paddle lessons in St. Pete Beach but Rincon is a nice winter retreat! 

This winter has been pretty mild for St. Pete Beach and the surrounding Tampa Bay area. This is the offseason for Water Monkey so we have been planning an exciting year full of SUP activities. In the spring of this year Water Monkey will be offering stand up paddle boarding lessons on St. Pete Beach in addition to our waterfront location.  The Gulf of Mexico can get pretty choppy with all of the boat traffic and the afternoon sea breezes. For this reason Water Monkey will concentrate on doing our St. Pete Beach stand up paddle lessons in the morning. Afternoons will be mostly dedicated to lessons at our location on Blind Pass road not even 5 minutes from St. Pete Beach. 

With the endless options for places to stand up paddle, St. Pete Beach is one of our favorites. The long stretch of sand on St. Pete Beach is home to many hotels with visitors looking for new and exciting things to do. There is no better way to enjoy a vacation in Florida than to try a stand up paddle board lesson from Water Monkey.  Call or email Water Monkey to schedule your SUP experience. We can get you set up with stand up paddle lessons, tours, and rental today!

If you are looking for gold bars and ruby's on Treasure Island, you may not find anything. However, if you are looking for places to stand up paddle there is no shortage of options! Paddling the Treasure Island loop is one of my favorite stand up paddle work outs. The loop is a little over 8-miles and takes you through the inter coastal as well as the Gulf waters. Paddling through the narrow canals behind Treasure Island keeps you guessing and paddling faster to see what is around the next corner. Bring plenty of water and keep paddling until you reach Johns Pass to the north or Blind Pass to the south of the island. 

If you are looking to stand up paddle surf the waves then the huge sandbar on the Gulf side of Treasure Island a great place to visit. This 'secret spot' is one of my favorite places to stand up paddle surf. You won't find many surfers here because the sand bar extends about a quarter mile out and requires a lot of paddling. Armed with a paddle and large board, stand up paddlers will have no problem tacking the Treasure Island sand bar. If you are not experienced in the waves or in island circumnavigation contact Water Monkey and we can help you out with one of our many stand up paddle lessons. While our waterfront location is on the St. Pete side, we are only 100 ft. across the water from the island. Launching from our location is a great way to start a stand up paddle circumnavigation of Treasure Island. Check out the map above to see what I mean! Happy paddling and let me know if you find any of that treasure! 

The name says it all. Clearwater is obviously named for its turquoise waters almost year round. Maybe they should rename St. Pete Beach to Forever Sunshine Beach? Either way I think most stand up paddle enthusiasts can agree that both beaches are great places to paddle. Clearwater Beach has miles of protected inter coastal and mangroves to explore on a stand up paddle board. The waters behind north Clearwater Beach have huge potential for a fun stand up paddle lesson, unfortunately most of it is private and difficult to access. Water Monkey stand up paddle board instructors are happy to help you get out on the water regardless of where you are staying in the Tampa Bay area. The easy access to the inter coastal at our waterfront location in St. Pete is always open for stand up paddle lessons.  Give us a call and check out all of our lesson packages on our lessons page. 

As the cold weather starts to creep in I am reminded why Tampa Bay remains one of the best places to stand up paddle board. Some people are too quick to forget that just last weekend the temperatures were in the mid 70's. Water Monkey was on St. Pete Beach doing lessons and it could not have been a more beautiful day. Today the temperatures are hovering in the upper 40's and the wind is howling. However, if you don't like the weather today, just wait a couple of days and it will almost definitely be back to sunny and warm. 

Not only does Tampa Bay offer great weather for stand up paddle boarding, it has amazing places to paddle. Ft. Desoto Park is one of my absolute favorite places to paddle, especially in the winter months. On a paddle board you can see all of the marine life for hundreds of feet around you. Check out our Ft. Desoto stand up paddle lessons and tours HERE. Water Monkey is happy to take you stand up paddle boarding anywhere in the Tampa Bay area! Call or email us today to book a stand up paddle lesson. 

It's hard to believe that it is already 2012! Last year was Water Monkey's first full year in business and we want to thank everyone who supported us along the way. Water Monkey stand up paddle boarding did lessons and clinics throughout the Tampa Bay area as well as across the entire state of Florida. Everywhere we went we found new and experienced paddlers that were as excited about stand up paddle boarding as we were. The sport of stand up paddling is only going to continue to grow and we look forward to enjoying the ride with all the other Water Monkey's out there! Please enjoy the video recap from our 2011 SUP season below. Happy paddling in 2012!

A lot of people will say that stand up paddle boarding is the fastest growing water sport in the world, myself included. Its hard to believe that water-jet backpacks or barefoot skiing are growing at a pace faster than SUP. Regardless of the exact numbers, there is no doubt that stand up paddle boarding is here to stay.

As a stand up paddle board business owner I am able to have direct feedback on the sports' growth. When Water Monkey first opened in the spring of 2010 it took some time to establish the business in the Tampa Bay area. After a lot of sweat promoting around town and on our website things started to get rolling. There was a steady stream of St.Pete and Tampa residents calling to ask questions and schedule SUP lessons on the weekends. Our numbers remained steady through the summer and then dropped off toward our winter months.

I felt like Water Monkey stayed pretty busy but there is always room to work harder and promote stand up paddling more. In the spring of 2011 the phones starting ringing again after everyone came out of hibernation from our Florida 'winter'. Our numbers were up and Water Monkey was definitely busier through the warm season. This year however, we started to get much more interest from people coming from out of town. The beach brings out everyone's inner Water Monkey so you can't blame them for wanting to try something new. Many people had seen SUP in the news or on the water back at in their hometown. We even helped a Pittsburgh native start her very own stand up paddle business in Pennsylvania! In 2010 we serviced almost an entirely local population. This year we have given SUP lessons to people from over 20 different states. Stand up paddling is growing both in Florida and abroad. It is a very exciting time to be involved in such a fun sport that seems to be growing at an astronomical pace. Water Monkey looks forward to making 2012 an even bigger year for spreading the SUP stoke!

Winter seems to be the unofficial off-season of stand up paddle racing. Colder temperatures have a tendency to put a damper on our desire to be around the water.  Today we are a little over 3 months away from the first big races of the 2012 stand up paddle race season.   If you are a serious competitor you should be resting your body at some point during this off-season.  

Our bodies need time to recover and heal themselves after use.  I find that resting is often easier said than done. I feel like I’m going crazy whenever I try to rest for any period of time. This is when I remind myself that I had to learn the hard way last year when I did not listen to my body and was forced to rest for 4 months due to a back injury.

RELAX

Take some time off from paddling on the water and engage in active recovery exercises. Swimming, biking, and running are great activities that get you outside and active.  Make sure you keep the intensity of these exercises low and enjoy time away from the grind of SUP training. Not only will this rest be good for your body, it will be good for your mind. Most of us are super stoked on stand up but after a full season of racing you may begin to become burnt out.  Keep it fresh by mixing up your routine and getting off the board for a bit.  It never hurts to take some time off!