Staying Home Sucks, home
Cedar Key School
Cedar Key, the nearest town. Photo: LittleT889, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Cedar Key

Windsurf spot · United States

Is it worth the trip?

64Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

2 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 94 out of 100

Wind
E 11 kn
Gusts
18kn
Shore
side
Water
flat
Air
25°C

Tue 3 · 100 out of 100

Wind
ESE 8 kn
Gusts
12kn
Shore
side
Water
flat
Air
26°C

Wed 4 · 100 out of 100

Wind
E 8 kn
Gusts
11kn
Shore
side
Water
flat
Air
24°C

Thu 5 · 31 out of 100

Wind
ESE 6 kn
Gusts
8kn
Shore
side-on
Water
flat
Air
23°C

Fri 6 · 0 out of 100

Wind
N 3 kn
Gusts
5kn
Shore
offnot safe
Water
flat
Air
23°C

Sat 7 · 0 out of 100

Wind
NE 10 kn
Gusts
14kn
Shore
offnot safe
Water
flat
Air
25°C

Sun 8 · 0 out of 100

Wind
ENE 7 kn
Gusts
11kn
Shore
cross-off
Water
flat
Air
23°C

Tap a day for wind, gusts, shore and air. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 150, fair
  2. Mon 292, good
  3. Tue 396, good
  4. Wed 4100, good
  5. Thu 584, good
  6. Fri 60, poor
  7. Sat 70, poor
  8. Sun 80, poor
  9. Mon 90, poor
  10. Tue 100, poor

The spot in six facts

  • Faces Sopen to the S
  • Best wind: W or Ealong the shore
  • Avoid: Nblows out to sea
  • Shelteredto the swell
  • Water 21 °C2 mm shorty
  • Best Apr–Jul4 good days in 7

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know gusts, offshore wind, tides or your skill.

Wind forecast and score for each day at Cedar Key
DayScoreWindGustsShoreWaterAir
Sun 1Nov50, fairwind from the east, 12 knots17knsideflat24°C
Mon 2Nov92, goodwind from the east, 11 knots18knsideflat25°C
Tue 3Nov96, goodwind from the east-south-east, 8 knots12knsideflat26°C
Wed 4Nov100, goodwind from the east, 8 knots11knsideflat24°C
Thu 5Nov84, goodwind from the east-south-east, 6 knots8knside-onflat23°C
Fri 6Nov0, poorwind from the north, 3 knots5knoffnot safeflat23°C
Sat 7Nov0, poorwind from the north-east, 10 knots14knoffnot safeflat25°C
Sun 8Nov0, poorwind from the east-north-east, 7 knots11kncross-offflat23°C
Mon 9Nov0, poorwind from the north-east, 8 knots16kncross-offflat21°C
Tue 10Nov0, poorwind from the north-north-west, 15 knots25knoffnot safechop17°C

Wind is the day's best reading, mean and gusts, in knots; the arrow points where it blows to. Shore "off" blows out to sea. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovHigh 05:03 +0.5 mLow 12:41 −0.5 mHigh 19:51 +0.2 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 00:50 +0.0 mHigh 06:44 +0.4 mLow 14:01 −0.4 mHigh 20:54 +0.3 m
  • Tue 3 NovLow 02:26 −0.1 mHigh 08:37 +0.4 mLow 15:15 −0.3 mHigh 21:41 +0.3 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

best Apr–Jul

Good windsurf days in a typical week, each month, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan2of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb2of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar3of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr4of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May4of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun4of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul4of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug3of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep2of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct2of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov2of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
  12. Dec2of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast. Reanalysis wind misses some local thermal winds, so a spot known for an afternoon breeze may do better than this.

Map

the spot and its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Cedar Key

Known for kitesurfing and windsurfing, by the OpenStreetMap map of the area. The shore faces S, so wind from the N blows out to sea (our estimate from the coastline).

Water about 21°C: 2 mm shorty. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

A spot for kitesurfing and windsurfing, as OpenStreetMap maps it, on a shore facing S. Wind from the S blows onshore, wind from the N blows out to sea, and wind from the W or E runs along the shore. It is sheltered to the open sea. The sea floor shelves very gently: 10 m deep about 20.0 km out (1 in 2000). The sea is about 16°C in January, its coldest month (3/2 wetsuit), and 31°C in July, its warmest (no wetsuit). For windsurfing at beginner level the best months are usually April, May, June and July, with about 4 good days in 7. From the weather of past years. The town to stay in is Cedar Key.

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$978–US$1,780 each

about US$978–US$1,780 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to TPA, estimated from distance and season, 1 airline on the route, with a hold bagabout US$181–US$382
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$154–US$255
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$301–US$502
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$636
Totalabout US$978–US$1,780

Kit hire is not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Cedar Key

Closest

Cedar Key

1 min by car · 29 places to stay

about US$114/nightcountry average

See 29 places to stay in Cedar Key · Booking.com

About Cedar Key its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$114 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 7h 15m

About 7h 15m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → TPA, direct, then 2h 45m by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.