Along many portions of Clearwater Beach hard boards are restricted. There are rules regulating the use of boards on Clearwater Beach and Sand Key. In many areas regular surfboards are restricted, but soft foam surfboards are allowed in the surf. This is good to know, because on occasion summer swells grace the beach, bringing waves only to select beaches, often the beaches with these regulations. This video shows how fun a foam surfboard is, and John Akerman shows just what can be done on one of these foam surfboard in fast gulf coast surf.

During July of last year a large tropical system had moved into the gulf. It parked itself over the state, and remained there for a whole month. This video was shot during one of the south swell days during that month. Apparently, Sand Key goes off with big south swells. The Ultimar portion of Sand Key, too. We were shooting this in between storms. One storm would move in, dump rain for about 20 minutes, then the sky would begin to clear. It’s always fun dodging the squalls. You’ll notice a large squall off in the distance, one headed right for us. We got a few clips.