Map › USA › Dunedin Causeway & Fred Howard Park › Dunedin Causeway
Florida Gulf + Keys · Dunedin / St. Joseph Sound · Pinellas County · Dunedin
Dunedin Causeway
Nearby Fred Howard Park 12 km · Cypress Point Park 27 km · Picnic Island Park 33 km · Lassing Park 37 km · Pass-a-Grille Beach 40 km · straight-line distance
When it fills in
Two different clocks here. Frontal wind arrives with the front, can be up before dawn and often holds a day or more. Summer sessions run on a sea breeze that needs the day's heating, so it is an afternoon wind. No local fill-in hour has been published.
The wind
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
mixed
fills in: Two different clocks here. Frontal wind arrives with the front, can be up before dawn and often holds a day or more. Summer sessions run on a sea breeze that needs the day's heating, so it is an afternoon wind. No local fill-in hour has been published.
Typical strength
Tampa Bay windy-season regional average is about 14 kt; Dunedin-specific seasonal averages were not found.
The quiver, in words
Indicative for a 75-85 kg rider, worked from the regional windy-season average of about 14 kt rather than from any local measurement. A 12 m is the everyday kite from October to May. Nine metres once a front is properly established, 7 m on the hardest days.Summer means a 15 m or a foil, on the afternoons a sea breeze shows up at all.
Direction to shore
The causeway runs east-west and riding is on the south side, so south is onshore, east and west come in sideshore, and north blows off the road and down through the power lines. South, southwest and west are the clean angles.
Dominant direction
S, SW and W are the directions that actually work. North and northwest are cramped by the power lines and the narrow south-side strip, so a north day is rideable but not the one to pick.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan, riders' month57
- Feb, riders' month49
- Mar, riders' month56
- Apr, riders' month58
- May, riders' month42
- Jun29
- Jul12
- Aug15
- Sep14
- Oct, riders' month32
- Nov, riders' month44
- Dec, riders' month39
per cent of the month at force 4 or more
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec.
- 12Jan16°
- 11Feb18°
- 12Mar23°
- 13Apr25°
- 11May28°
- 10Jun30°
- 8Jul32°
- 10Aug32°
- 10Sep30°
- 11Oct26°
- 11Nov23°
- 11Dec18°
avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted
| Month | Force 4+ | Knots | From | Air | Water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57% | 12.2 kt | SSE | 15.6°C | 16.3°C |
| Feb | 49% | 11.3 kt | N | 17.5°C | 18.3°C |
| Mar | 56% | 12.2 kt | S | 20.7°C | 22.7°C |
| Apr | 58% | 12.5 kt | E | 22.6°C | 24.7°C |
| May | 42% | 10.6 kt | N | 25.4°C | 28°C |
| Jun | 29% | 10.1 kt | WSW | 27°C | 30.2°C |
| Jul | 12% | 8.2 kt | E | 27.9°C | 32.2°C |
| Aug | 15% | 9.6 kt | E | 28°C | 31.8°C |
| Sep | 14% | 9.8 kt | ENE | 26.4°C | 30.4°C |
| Oct | 32% | 11.1 kt | NNE | 23.1°C | 26°C |
| Nov | 44% | 10.9 kt | NE | 20.8°C | 22.9°C |
| Dec | 39% | 10.8 kt | NE | 16.8°C | 18.4°C |
modelled
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.
ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024
The water
Type
sound
Standing depth
Shallow and flat close in on the south side, shallow enough to walk in from in places. It deepens west of the restaurant toward the state park, which is where the foilers go. No depth survey has been published, and it is the current rather than the depth that makes getting back hard.
Tides
Tidal, and a tide change can set up very strong current.
Temperature
26°C summer · 16°C winter
Wetsuit
Shorts are typical in spring, summer and fall; shorty or full wetsuit may be needed in winter, especially with colder north winds.
Currents
Strong current on tide changes; a dropped kite may be swept out or across the bay.
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
3 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: Small beach with a grassy rigging strip behind it; room varies by pull-off. The road and the power lines are close, so the usable window is narrower than the beach looks.
Somewhere else
Fred Howard Park, 12 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
A small beach of mixed sand and grass on the south side, by the sailboat and kayak rental at the grill. Parking sits right at the launch, restrooms and the concession are on the western portion before the second bridge, and the grass gives you somewhere to rig and pack down. The north side is not a riding area.
Space
Small beach with a grassy rigging strip behind it; room varies by pull-off. The road and the power lines are close, so the usable window is narrower than the beach looks.
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Read the tide chart as carefully as the wind forecast; the current on a tide change is the main hazard.
- Launch and land well clear of the road and the power lines.
- Wear booties if you are walking out through the shallows.
- Stay on the south side, by the sailboat rental. The north side does not work as a kite spot.
- Wear booties: shells, rocks and oysters are all in the shallows.
- Rig on the grass behind the beach rather than on the sand strip by the road.
- Pick S, SW or W. North is possible but the power lines and the space make it a poor trade.
- Watch the marked boat channels; this is a working causeway with rental boats and kayaks coming and going.
- Daytime parking is free, but leaving anything overnight needs a permit ($10 for two days, $100 a year, 2026).
Getting there
Airport
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is the nearest major airport listed for Dunedin; Tampa International Airport (TPA) is another major option.
Route
Drive to Dunedin and follow Curlew Road west onto the causeway. Parking along the access areas is free and sits next to the launch, so a car is the practical option.
Transfer
35 min
Cost level
medium
Staying
Stay in Dunedin, Clearwater, Palm Harbor, or the wider St. Pete-Clearwater area.
No-wind days
Honeymoon Island, Caladesi Island access, fishing, kayaking, sailing, beaches, and the Dunedin waterfront.
FAQ
Is Dunedin Causeway good for beginners?
Not for unsupported beginners: the launch sits close to power lines and a road, and tidal current can make recovering a dropped kite hazardous, even though the water itself is shallow.
What is the wind like at Dunedin Causeway?
Wind is a Tampa Bay mix of cold fronts and sea breeze, with a windy season running roughly late September through June and lighter wind in summer.
When is the best time to kite Dunedin Causeway?
The best chances run October through May, with October-November and March-May typically the strongest windows.
Are there rules at Dunedin Causeway?
As of 2026 the City of Dunedin sets causeway recreation hours of 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and bans alcohol, camping and ground fires; riders are told to stay on the south side, since the north side is not a rideable kite spot.
Last updated: August 2026