Waterfront fun in the Sun
The Eckerd College Waterfront the place for fun, sun, and water sports. From paddle boarding, swimming, or taking a wake boarding lesson, anything you are interested in doing you can do at the waterfront. Each week special activities are offered to satisfy everyone’s study break needs. No matter the activity they offer it, except I’m certain plenty of our boaters on campus wish they could rent out the motorboats, but unfortunately that is not an option. But if you really want to take put boats, you can become part of the waterfront team!
Every day they have the following activities and equipment you can rent out or do:
· Kayaks
· Paddleboards
· Fishing gear
· Tents
· Water bottles
· Windsurf boards
· Wakeboarding
· Fishing trips
· Sailing
You can even take lessons in certain activities every day or certain days they are being offered. Everything that is offered is for FREE! The best value you can find anywhere in St. Petersburg. Even though you can easily just take the rentals into Frenchmans Creek, you can also take them to other parts of Florida to kayak, paddle board or canoe down another river or coastal area.
Each year they also hold special events like the talent show, the rodeo, and everyone’s favorite, Splash Bash!!! Each event is hosted with a live DJ, games, food, and prizes. No event is ends without a splash!
There are three different parts to the waterfront: recreation, ECSAR, and the sailing team. The recreational part is for everyone to rent the equipment. ECSAR is the water rescue portion. Every student is allowed to join and can learn about how to work the boats on campus where they use them to help rescue boats in need whether they ran out of gas, have engine problems, or are in an emergency. The sailing team is a close nit family of students who are completely committed to the sport. They practice almost every day with the help of their coaches Kevin Reali and Zack Marks who helps their team excel on and off the water. From what team member Dana McLean says is that “they love going to practice every day and love being at the water front!”
Everything about the waterfront makes it one of everyone’s favorite places here at Eckerd. Living in Beta, I get to enjoy it almost every day whether it’s just looking out my window or walking a few steps over to join in on the fun. So I encourage everyone to enjoy as much out of it as you possibly can and have a little bit of an adventure instead of watching an episode of something on Netflix to pass your free time.