Florida / Pinellas County / Upham Beach
Gulf coast · St. Pete Beach
Upham Beach surf spot
“Southwest breaks of note are Treasure Island 's Sunset Beach and St. Pete's Upham Beach.”
From VISIT FLORIDA, read 2026-11-03. 1 more source below.
How to get there
Access point: Upham Beach (pin: the beach concession OpenStreetMap maps there), St. Pete Beach, Pinellas County. Location as mapped on OpenStreetMap (27.73614, -82.75137), looked up 2026-11-03.
Parking, bathrooms and the essentials
- Parking
- Not stated in the sources read for this page.
- Restrooms
- Not stated in the sources read for this page.
- Showers
- Not stated in the sources read for this page.
- Lifeguards
- Not stated in the sources read for this page.
- Hours
- Not stated in the sources read for this page.
Which way it faces
Worked out from which way the beach faces
225° southwest (SW)
Swell that lines up: from 190° to 260° (S to W), the dark blue wedge. Swell from up to 145° and 305° (SE and NW) can still reach the beach at an angle; outside that, it is blocked by Florida itself.
Offshore wind: from about 45° (northeast), the orange dashes. Wind from N through E blows off the land.
This is geometry, not local knowledge: the seaward direction of the OpenStreetMap coastline next to the spot (this way), checked 2026-11-03. It ignores sandbars, jetties, shoals, islands. The sources below beat it where they disagree.
Check it before you call in
- Buoy: NDBC 42098, Egmont Channel Entrance, FL (214), 24 km away. Wave height, period and direction in real time. How to read it.
Open buoy 42098 - Tides: NOAA station 8726533, Johns Pass, 6.2 km away.
Tide predictions · Station page - Surf zone forecast: NWS Tampa Bay (TBW), the office that covers this beach. Rip current risk, surf height and the forecast discussion.
Surf zone forecast · Rip current safety
Links chosen by distance from NOAA's own station lists; checked 2026-11-03.
What the sources say
- The break
The T-groins have had the unfortunate side effect of making waves reflect off of them, creating choppy conditions.
Source: Beachapedia (Surfrider Foundation), "State of the Beach/State Reports/FL/Surfing Areas - Beachapedia", read 2026-11-03 - Swell
Formerly, long rides were possible when winter cold fronts passed by.
Source: Beachapedia (Surfrider Foundation), "State of the Beach/State Reports/FL/Surfing Areas - Beachapedia", read 2026-11-03
Sources
- Florida's Best Surf Spots, VISIT FLORIDA, read 2026-11-03.
Southwest breaks of note are Treasure Island 's Sunset Beach and St. Pete's Upham Beach.
- State of the Beach/State Reports/FL/Surfing Areas - Beachapedia, Beachapedia (Surfrider Foundation), read 2026-11-03.
At Upham Beach at St. Pete Beach on Florida's west coast, a $1.5 million experimental project consisting of five T-groins made out of "geotubes" filled with sand was installed in 2005.
- OpenStreetMap: location. OpenStreetMap amenity/restaurant "Paradise Grille - Upham Beach", looked up through Nominatim.
Something wrong or out of date? Email israel@y00r.com. More Pinellas County spots: Pinellas County surf spots.