Skimboarding in Pensacola

A Guide to Skimboarding in Pensacola - Locations, Tips, and Pics

Pensacola has a lot of beaches, and these beaches are great for many different activities. But one up and coming beach activity is skimboarding. If you don't know exactly what skimboarding is, check out the Wikipedia article about it.

Skimboarding Pensacola Beach

The beaches in Pensacola are suitable for both wave skimming, where you ride out to a wave, and shore skimming, where you ride along the shore. The conditions of the ocean, as well as what the tide is, makes a big difference as to which type of skimboarding is best.

There are two great beaches in Pensacola that offer good skimboarding; Pensacola Beach, and Johnson beach on Perdido Key.

Pensacola Beach - One of the key features in Pensacola is this beach. It stretches for miles and gives plenty of room for skimboarding on the white sandy beach. Separated from the city of Pensacola by two bridges, it takes about 20 minutes to get there, and a $1 toll bridge.

Pensacola beach is a very good skimboarding beach because of the easy parking, soft sand, and good beach breaks. Waves vary significantly from a small ripple at low tide, to waist height on stormy days. Pensacola beach is fun because it has variety - you can go for the waves if you want, or try skimming along the shore. Parking is easy with many free lots all along the beach.

Pensacola Beach on a nice day

Johnson Beach on Perdido Key - Located just a little west of Pensacola City, this beach can be more convenient to go to for those living in west Pensacola and near NAS Pensacola (although you can also go to the beach on NAS Pensacola!).

Similar to Pensacola Beach in the waves and sand, it unfortunately doesn't have quite the same number of parking lots. And you may have to actually go into the park, and pay a fee to find a parking spot. But the beach is fantastic and stretches for miles to allow near endless skimming.

Checking Skimboard Conditions for Pensacola

What the water conditions are has a lot of influence on what the waves are like at the beach. So knowing the water conditions can give you a better idea of whether it will be clam waves, and big waves at the beach.

Rough Water and Bigger Waves at Pensacola Beach

This tide chart shows when the high and low tide will be for the Pensacola area and can give you a general idea of what the beach and wave conditions are. Generally high tide means bigger waves, and low tide means more shore skimming on calmer waves.

Pensacola Beach typically has small beach breaking waves. But when the conditions are right, the waves can get much larger and more aggressive. So knowing the weather and tides can help predict when the skimming will be good.

Making or Buying a Skimboard

For those who might want to skimboard in Pensacola, but don't have a board, there are plenty of buying options. A simple wood skimboard is sufficient to allow hours of fun. Wood skimboards are usually $100 or less, and can be found in some stores, or online at websites like Amazon.

Making a wooden skimboard can also be done. Making one is easier than one might expect, and here is a great article explaining How to Make a Wood Skimboard in 8 Steps.

If you have any questions about skimboarding in Pensacola, just leave a comment below!