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Skateboarding => Travel Guide => Topic started by: professional on January 19, 2011, 10:52:45 AM
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At the end of February some friends and I are going to be driving through Florida hitting up whatever we might think is cool. So far we're going to be stopping in Orlando, Miami and Tampa. Can anyone else suggest cities to check out or even offer themselves up as a guide while we're there? Mucho appreciated.
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the best part about florida in my opinion is that (outside of the major cities you mentioned) basically every other city and town has a cement park, and no one really skates much street. every town i've ever been to in FL is full of spots that look like they haven't been skated in ten years. ledges that were drenched with wax that still grind great. I'd say search out every downtown you can and you'll find bygone goldmines.
cities just to check out, not for skating but st. augustine and key west are pretty interesting spots. if you're going as far down as miami you might as well take route 1 down through the keys anyway. IMO orlando isn't worth stopping in. everglades are worth even a two hour stop in. sounds like a fun easy going trip you're going on. have fun!
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don't come to bradenton
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getting sent to fort myers for a few days at the end of the month for work, gonna try and skate after work each day, if any pals are around that area lets link, shalom
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getting sent to fort myers for a few days at the end of the month for work, gonna try and skate after work each day, if any pals are around that area lets link, shalom
Oof. Of all the places in Florida that one was probably my least favorite to skate. I think they have a little ditch spot diy thing. Maybe hit up palms Skateshop on Instagram? I think they are based out of fort Myers
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Bonita springs used to be great parl but I hear it's gone to shit. North port is alright.
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Pensacola is dope. Waterboyz is a fun indoor park. Don’t know much else honestly
Destin/Ft Walton has a great park, scenic spots, and the OG Plus Skateshop
Skip Panama City Beach. Way too crusty, expensive tourist trap, and you’ll more likely not find shit to skate. Panama City itself isn’t bad but it’s a redneck hellhole.
Tallahassee (where I live) is whatever. A lot of hills and some awesome spots that have been destroyed in a lot of vids thrasher has been posting lately. It’s the Capitol tho, so some spots they arrest you on the spot. Police suck ass here. Our local park isn’t bad either
Jacksonville is top notch. Kona, South Jax Beach, Orange Park, and a bunch of other great parks. It’s a nice, inexpensive city too.
Gainesville has The University of Florida, which is like a skatepark. UF also has a literal skatepark in it. There’s also Possum Creek Park, which is a nice leg stretcher when you’ve been on the road for awhile but it’s nothing special. The city is also pretty spread out, so you’ll be driving a lot.
Ocala has a nice park and a bunch of crazy junkies that live there. Besides the park, there’s nothing to see there.
Along the Atlantic coast has a bunch of great cities. Daytona, Cocoa Beach, and Satellite beach has great spots and great parks. You’ll be able to surf there too. Possibly the only good waves in Florida
Orlando is whatever, over rated imo. The maitland banks are awesome tho. The brick QP Marc Johnson did a Casper stall on in Pretty Sweet for reference. One of the best Florida spots
Tampa / St Pete / Bradinton / Lakeland is the holy grail of Florida. Parks everywhere and famous spots you’ll recognize from a bunch of videos. Be careful skating downtown Tampa. Lake Bonny, Bro Bowl, SPoT, The Boardr, Bradinton, and tons of other parks that are amazing. Lakeland in particular is my favorite park.
Along the Gulf coast south of Tampa sucks imo. Naples and Ft Meyers both have parks. One is called the edge and is amazing, I don’t remember the other. Besides that, good luck.
West Palm is pretty fun. If you watch any of Grant Ya aura’ sold WKNDtage videos, you’ll get an idea of what the spots look like.
Ft Laudy is amazing. Ramp 48 is a top notch indoor park. Ft Laud beach has amazing spots everywhere you look, and it’s not as chaotic as Miami Beach. Also significantly cheaper than Miami
Miami is where all the fun will happen. Lot 11, South Beach, Brickell, and Downtown Miami are the hot spots. If you skate SoBe late night, you can see crazy drunk fights and drunk chicks and skate spots everywhere with virtually no heat. Cops are pretty cool is SoBe too. As long as you’re not being a total dick, they have bigger fish to fry. SoBe cops are pretty lenient with weed and public drinking at night too. Downtown cops aren’t so nice, and don’t skate things like Bayfront or the Triangle gap unless it’s gonna be fast.
Keys is more of a relax spot. You’ll find spots every now and then but a lot of the keys is like an island country. No sidewalks, terrible streets, no lights, etc. Key West is fun but besides Slappy curbs, there’s not much to skate. I wouldn’t bother making the four hour drive from Miami, unless you wanna get wasted. Key West reigns supreme with cheap partying.
Hope this helps.
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Pensacola is dope. Waterboyz is a fun indoor park. Don’t know much else honestly
Destin/Ft Walton has a great park, scenic spots, and the OG Plus Skateshop
Skip Panama City Beach. Way too crusty, expensive tourist trap, and you’ll more likely not find shit to skate. Panama City itself isn’t bad but it’s a redneck hellhole.
Tallahassee (where I live) is whatever. A lot of hills and some awesome spots that have been destroyed in a lot of vids thrasher has been posting lately. It’s the Capitol tho, so some spots they arrest you on the spot. Police suck ass here. Our local park isn’t bad either
Jacksonville is top notch. Kona, South Jax Beach, Orange Park, and a bunch of other great parks. It’s a nice, inexpensive city too.
Gainesville has The University of Florida, which is like a skatepark. UF also has a literal skatepark in it. There’s also Possum Creek Park, which is a nice leg stretcher when you’ve been on the road for awhile but it’s nothing special. The city is also pretty spread out, so you’ll be driving a lot.
Ocala has a nice park and a bunch of crazy junkies that live there. Besides the park, there’s nothing to see there.
Along the Atlantic coast has a bunch of great cities. Daytona, Cocoa Beach, and Satellite beach has great spots and great parks. You’ll be able to surf there too. Possibly the only good waves in Florida
Orlando is whatever, over rated imo. The maitland banks are awesome tho. The brick QP Marc Johnson did a Casper stall on in Pretty Sweet for reference. One of the best Florida spots
Tampa / St Pete / Bradinton / Lakeland is the holy grail of Florida. Parks everywhere and famous spots you’ll recognize from a bunch of videos. Be careful skating downtown Tampa. Lake Bonny, Bro Bowl, SPoT, The Boardr, Bradinton, and tons of other parks that are amazing. Lakeland in particular is my favorite park.
Along the Gulf coast south of Tampa sucks imo. Naples and Ft Meyers both have parks. One is called the edge and is amazing, I don’t remember the other. Besides that, good luck.
West Palm is pretty fun. If you watch any of Grant Ya aura’ sold WKNDtage videos, you’ll get an idea of what the spots look like.
Ft Laudy is amazing. Ramp 48 is a top notch indoor park. Ft Laud beach has amazing spots everywhere you look, and it’s not as chaotic as Miami Beach. Also significantly cheaper than Miami
Miami is where all the fun will happen. Lot 11, South Beach, Brickell, and Downtown Miami are the hot spots. If you skate SoBe late night, you can see crazy drunk fights and drunk chicks and skate spots everywhere with virtually no heat. Cops are pretty cool is SoBe too. As long as you’re not being a total dick, they have bigger fish to fry. SoBe cops are pretty lenient with weed and public drinking at night too. Downtown cops aren’t so nice, and don’t skate things like Bayfront or the Triangle gap unless it’s gonna be fast.
Keys is more of a relax spot. You’ll find spots every now and then but a lot of the keys is like an island country. No sidewalks, terrible streets, no lights, etc. Key West is fun but besides Slappy curbs, there’s not much to skate. I wouldn’t bother making the four hour drive from Miami, unless you wanna get wasted. Key West reigns supreme with cheap partying.
Hope this helps.
Quite a well thought out description of the Florida area.
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Damn bro I live in st Pete I think we got a decent skate set up with parks and downtown
There’s a bunch of parks through out Florida and Miami has a real dope scene
Don’t move here tho ;)
Pensacola is dope. Waterboyz is a fun indoor park. Don’t know much else honestly
Destin/Ft Walton has a great park, scenic spots, and the OG Plus Skateshop
Skip Panama City Beach. Way too crusty, expensive tourist trap, and you’ll more likely not find shit to skate. Panama City itself isn’t bad but it’s a redneck hellhole.
Tallahassee (where I live) is whatever. A lot of hills and some awesome spots that have been destroyed in a lot of vids thrasher has been posting lately. It’s the Capitol tho, so some spots they arrest you on the spot. Police suck ass here. Our local park isn’t bad either
Jacksonville is top notch. Kona, South Jax Beach, Orange Park, and a bunch of other great parks. It’s a nice, inexpensive city too.
Gainesville has The University of Florida, which is like a skatepark. UF also has a literal skatepark in it. There’s also Possum Creek Park, which is a nice leg stretcher when you’ve been on the road for awhile but it’s nothing special. The city is also pretty spread out, so you’ll be driving a lot.
Ocala has a nice park and a bunch of crazy junkies that live there. Besides the park, there’s nothing to see there.
Along the Atlantic coast has a bunch of great cities. Daytona, Cocoa Beach, and Satellite beach has great spots and great parks. You’ll be able to surf there too. Possibly the only good waves in Florida
Orlando is whatever, over rated imo. The maitland banks are awesome tho. The brick QP Marc Johnson did a Casper stall on in Pretty Sweet for reference. One of the best Florida spots
Tampa / St Pete / Bradinton / Lakeland is the holy grail of Florida. Parks everywhere and famous spots you’ll recognize from a bunch of videos. Be careful skating downtown Tampa. Lake Bonny, Bro Bowl, SPoT, The Boardr, Bradinton, and tons of other parks that are amazing. Lakeland in particular is my favorite park.
Along the Gulf coast south of Tampa sucks imo. Naples and Ft Meyers both have parks. One is called the edge and is amazing, I don’t remember the other. Besides that, good luck.
West Palm is pretty fun. If you watch any of Grant Ya aura’ sold WKNDtage videos, you’ll get an idea of what the spots look like.
Ft Laudy is amazing. Ramp 48 is a top notch indoor park. Ft Laud beach has amazing spots everywhere you look, and it’s not as chaotic as Miami Beach. Also significantly cheaper than Miami
Miami is where all the fun will happen. Lot 11, South Beach, Brickell, and Downtown Miami are the hot spots. If you skate SoBe late night, you can see crazy drunk fights and drunk chicks and skate spots everywhere with virtually no heat. Cops are pretty cool is SoBe too. As long as you’re not being a total dick, they have bigger fish to fry. SoBe cops are pretty lenient with weed and public drinking at night too. Downtown cops aren’t so nice, and don’t skate things like Bayfront or the Triangle gap unless it’s gonna be fast.
Keys is more of a relax spot. You’ll find spots every now and then but a lot of the keys is like an island country. No sidewalks, terrible streets, no lights, etc. Key West is fun but besides Slappy curbs, there’s not much to skate. I wouldn’t bother making the four hour drive from Miami, unless you wanna get wasted. Key West reigns supreme with cheap partying.
Hope this helps.
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I am gonna go to Tampa pro this year in April :)
Are there any good curb spots that someone could point me to?
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Damn bro I live in st Pete I think we got a decent skate set up with parks and downtown
There’s a bunch of parks through out Florida and Miami has a real dope scene
Don’t move here tho ;)
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Pensacola is dope. Waterboyz is a fun indoor park. Don’t know much else honestly
Destin/Ft Walton has a great park, scenic spots, and the OG Plus Skateshop
Skip Panama City Beach. Way too crusty, expensive tourist trap, and you’ll more likely not find shit to skate. Panama City itself isn’t bad but it’s a redneck hellhole.
Tallahassee (where I live) is whatever. A lot of hills and some awesome spots that have been destroyed in a lot of vids thrasher has been posting lately. It’s the Capitol tho, so some spots they arrest you on the spot. Police suck ass here. Our local park isn’t bad either
Jacksonville is top notch. Kona, South Jax Beach, Orange Park, and a bunch of other great parks. It’s a nice, inexpensive city too.
Gainesville has The University of Florida, which is like a skatepark. UF also has a literal skatepark in it. There’s also Possum Creek Park, which is a nice leg stretcher when you’ve been on the road for awhile but it’s nothing special. The city is also pretty spread out, so you’ll be driving a lot.
Ocala has a nice park and a bunch of crazy junkies that live there. Besides the park, there’s nothing to see there.
Along the Atlantic coast has a bunch of great cities. Daytona, Cocoa Beach, and Satellite beach has great spots and great parks. You’ll be able to surf there too. Possibly the only good waves in Florida
Orlando is whatever, over rated imo. The maitland banks are awesome tho. The brick QP Marc Johnson did a Casper stall on in Pretty Sweet for reference. One of the best Florida spots
Tampa / St Pete / Bradinton / Lakeland is the holy grail of Florida. Parks everywhere and famous spots you’ll recognize from a bunch of videos. Be careful skating downtown Tampa. Lake Bonny, Bro Bowl, SPoT, The Boardr, Bradinton, and tons of other parks that are amazing. Lakeland in particular is my favorite park.
Along the Gulf coast south of Tampa sucks imo. Naples and Ft Meyers both have parks. One is called the edge and is amazing, I don’t remember the other. Besides that, good luck.
West Palm is pretty fun. If you watch any of Grant Ya aura’ sold WKNDtage videos, you’ll get an idea of what the spots look like.
Ft Laudy is amazing. Ramp 48 is a top notch indoor park. Ft Laud beach has amazing spots everywhere you look, and it’s not as chaotic as Miami Beach. Also significantly cheaper than Miami
Miami is where all the fun will happen. Lot 11, South Beach, Brickell, and Downtown Miami are the hot spots. If you skate SoBe late night, you can see crazy drunk fights and drunk chicks and skate spots everywhere with virtually no heat. Cops are pretty cool is SoBe too. As long as you’re not being a total dick, they have bigger fish to fry. SoBe cops are pretty lenient with weed and public drinking at night too. Downtown cops aren’t so nice, and don’t skate things like Bayfront or the Triangle gap unless it’s gonna be fast.
Keys is more of a relax spot. You’ll find spots every now and then but a lot of the keys is like an island country. No sidewalks, terrible streets, no lights, etc. Key West is fun but besides Slappy curbs, there’s not much to skate. I wouldn’t bother making the four hour drive from Miami, unless you wanna get wasted. Key West reigns supreme with cheap partying.
Hope this helps.
Wish you could mail me some food from the Pesky Pelican haha. St. Pete rules!
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Damn bro I live in st Pete I think we got a decent skate set up with parks and downtown
There’s a bunch of parks through out Florida and Miami has a real dope scene
Don’t move here tho ;)
Expand Quote
Pensacola is dope. Waterboyz is a fun indoor park. Don’t know much else honestly
Destin/Ft Walton has a great park, scenic spots, and the OG Plus Skateshop
Skip Panama City Beach. Way too crusty, expensive tourist trap, and you’ll more likely not find shit to skate. Panama City itself isn’t bad but it’s a redneck hellhole.
Tallahassee (where I live) is whatever. A lot of hills and some awesome spots that have been destroyed in a lot of vids thrasher has been posting lately. It’s the Capitol tho, so some spots they arrest you on the spot. Police suck ass here. Our local park isn’t bad either
Jacksonville is top notch. Kona, South Jax Beach, Orange Park, and a bunch of other great parks. It’s a nice, inexpensive city too.
Gainesville has The University of Florida, which is like a skatepark. UF also has a literal skatepark in it. There’s also Possum Creek Park, which is a nice leg stretcher when you’ve been on the road for awhile but it’s nothing special. The city is also pretty spread out, so you’ll be driving a lot.
Ocala has a nice park and a bunch of crazy junkies that live there. Besides the park, there’s nothing to see there.
Along the Atlantic coast has a bunch of great cities. Daytona, Cocoa Beach, and Satellite beach has great spots and great parks. You’ll be able to surf there too. Possibly the only good waves in Florida
Orlando is whatever, over rated imo. The maitland banks are awesome tho. The brick QP Marc Johnson did a Casper stall on in Pretty Sweet for reference. One of the best Florida spots
Tampa / St Pete / Bradinton / Lakeland is the holy grail of Florida. Parks everywhere and famous spots you’ll recognize from a bunch of videos. Be careful skating downtown Tampa. Lake Bonny, Bro Bowl, SPoT, The Boardr, Bradinton, and tons of other parks that are amazing. Lakeland in particular is my favorite park.
Along the Gulf coast south of Tampa sucks imo. Naples and Ft Meyers both have parks. One is called the edge and is amazing, I don’t remember the other. Besides that, good luck.
West Palm is pretty fun. If you watch any of Grant Ya aura’ sold WKNDtage videos, you’ll get an idea of what the spots look like.
Ft Laudy is amazing. Ramp 48 is a top notch indoor park. Ft Laud beach has amazing spots everywhere you look, and it’s not as chaotic as Miami Beach. Also significantly cheaper than Miami
Miami is where all the fun will happen. Lot 11, South Beach, Brickell, and Downtown Miami are the hot spots. If you skate SoBe late night, you can see crazy drunk fights and drunk chicks and skate spots everywhere with virtually no heat. Cops are pretty cool is SoBe too. As long as you’re not being a total dick, they have bigger fish to fry. SoBe cops are pretty lenient with weed and public drinking at night too. Downtown cops aren’t so nice, and don’t skate things like Bayfront or the Triangle gap unless it’s gonna be fast.
Keys is more of a relax spot. You’ll find spots every now and then but a lot of the keys is like an island country. No sidewalks, terrible streets, no lights, etc. Key West is fun but besides Slappy curbs, there’s not much to skate. I wouldn’t bother making the four hour drive from Miami, unless you wanna get wasted. Key West reigns supreme with cheap partying.
Hope this helps.
Yo I can’t believe you know about that place! Haha I think they may have just closed down
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Anyone have recommendations for what to do in or around Miami on a rainy day? Covered spots or even other stuff like food places to hit up? Supposed to be on a trip down there this weekend and looking like at least one day will be a total rainout.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokpJTpLDmY
found this dope ass spot
DEFINITELY going to check this out when I go to tampa!!
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Anyone have recommendations for what to do in or around Miami on a rainy day? Covered spots or even other stuff like food places to hit up? Supposed to be on a trip down there this weekend and looking like at least one day will be a total rainout.
Lot 11 is like 70% skateable when it’s raining
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What's the lowdown on Melbourne area? Thinking about moving down there in the fall
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What's the lowdown on Melbourne area? Thinking about moving down there in the fall
West melbourne park. It's kind of ass. You got the metal mcgriff park a little bit south. Also kind of ass. Further north is satellite beach skatepark. Better of the two in my opinion. But still kind of ass. Cocoa beach skatepark is further north. It's got a lot of bowl and a mini street section. I like this one out of all the parks. Just moved from Cocoa and this was the park I would go to everyday. Or you can shoot over the 192 and head west to hit the orlando parks. Best parks in orlando would be OSP, azalea, and barnett.
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Hitting Jacksonville first week of May to do Kona. What’s the shop scene like?
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Hitting Jacksonville first week of May to do Kona. What’s the shop scene like?
The block skate supply is a very good shop. It's ran by Mike Peterson if you know of him....used to be a big name on consolidated
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Hitting Jacksonville first week of May to do Kona. What’s the shop scene like?
The block skate supply is a very good shop. It's ran by Mike Peterson if you know of him....used to be a big name on consolidated
Excellent! Thanks!
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Maybe the time I spent in south Florida ruined my experience albeit the company that I was spending my time with them.
I enjoyed Miami and ft Lauderdale Tampa was tight too, the humidity was gnarly but aside from that I'd rather have a car to each spot and no one annoying me to hurry up blah blah etc...
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In Florida a little over a year from NJ. The skate depression has subsided. I couldn’t get over the fact the flat ground here was worse than up north. Having a guy explain it’s due to the rain it makes sense now.
Everything is so far apart too. I wish a took advantage of the train systems up north when I got older as much as I did when I was younger.
The parks in NJ are much more low impact compared to TEAM PAIN ( bust ya ass ramps).
Trying to adapt instead of complain, got my trannie up and the pool coping is nice. Only time I feel like I’m skating granite plazas again (RIP Tim).
I’ll never stop skating.
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In Florida a little over a year from NJ. The skate depression has subsided. I couldn’t get over the fact the flat ground here was worse than up north. Having a guy explain it’s due to the rain it makes sense now.
Everything is so far apart too. I wish a took advantage of the train systems up north when I got older as much as I did when I was younger.
The parks in NJ are much more low impact compared to TEAM PAIN ( bust ya ass ramps).
Trying to adapt instead of complain, got my trannie up and the pool coping is nice. Only time I feel like I’m skating granite plazas again (RIP Tim).
I’ll never stop skating.
Team pain has been pumping out shit as of late. More so for street parks. Currently on the east coast of FL right on the space coast. Closest park for me is 20 minutes away. And then any other park is an hour + in either direction. You really want to be near orlando or tampa for some good parks. Next place would be miami as lot 11 fills a lot of gaps some parks miss. You can take a brightline to the miami stop and lot 11 is literally right around the corner. I planned a little 2 day trip recently. $150 train ticket roundtrip from orlando. Got a hotel room not to far away for $80.
Skated the park early, check in and eat. Go back and skate till 10 or 11. Head back to the hotel. Check out early. Eat. Head to the park and skate till your train comes. Park is REALLY good. Planning a week trip in june just driving from the jax to miami hitting parks and airbnbs.
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Hitting Jacksonville first week of May to do Kona. What’s the shop scene like?
Only shop i can think of is the block. They got a little street park outside their shop as well. Worth a visit. Kona on the other hand...it's worth a visit one time. Sort of like a skatopia. I would go there once to check it out...but thats it lol. Kona has fucking aged. Ramps when I went were unkept but skate-able. Snake run is cool. Street section...not so cool. If there is a park that I would hit it is the new one they just built under the overpass. I haven't hit that one yet but plan on skating it on a trip in june. But I hear lots of good things about it. The water front park south beach is really good as well. From what i remember is they have no lights at that one. But little and big stuff to fulfill the dream.
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Hitting Jacksonville first week of May to do Kona. What’s the shop scene like?
Only shop i can think of is the block. They got a little street park outside their shop as well. Worth a visit. Kona on the other hand...it's worth a visit one time. Sort of like a skatopia. I would go there once to check it out...but thats it lol. Kona has fucking aged. Ramps when I went were unkept but skate-able. Snake run is cool. Street section...not so cool. If there is a park that I would hit it is the new one they just built under the overpass. I haven't hit that one yet but plan on skating it on a trip in june. But I hear lots of good things about it. The water front park south beach is really good as well. From what i remember is they have no lights at that one. But little and big stuff to fulfill the dream.
I 2nd this. The block is legit and good people. Park out back is fun too. Jax beach park is fun and the new riverside park under the bridge is sick. Kona is cool once, but the other parks Jax has are a lot better forsure!
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Hitting Jacksonville first week of May to do Kona. What’s the shop scene like?
Only shop i can think of is the block. They got a little street park outside their shop as well. Worth a visit. Kona on the other hand...it's worth a visit one time. Sort of like a skatopia. I would go there once to check it out...but thats it lol. Kona has fucking aged. Ramps when I went were unkept but skate-able. Snake run is cool. Street section...not so cool. If there is a park that I would hit it is the new one they just built under the overpass. I haven't hit that one yet but plan on skating it on a trip in june. But I hear lots of good things about it. The water front park south beach is really good as well. From what i remember is they have no lights at that one. But little and big stuff to fulfill the dream.
I 2nd this. The block is legit and good people. Park out back is fun too. Jax beach park is fun and the new riverside park under the bridge is sick. Kona is cool once, but the other parks Jax has are a lot better forsure!
Really been looking forward to going to that riverside park.
Looks pretty from what I’ve seen.