Whether looking to “catch a wave” or seeking calmer waters, from the water’s edge to well out into the Gulf and going airborne or gliding along, summer is a hot time for a bevy of board sports from Barefoot Beach to Marco Island. We checked with some leading local experts for the ins and outs of many of them.

Boogieboarding

It’s a first water board sport for some. Longtime Naples resident Sharda Spahr, who has owned the Old Naples Surf Shop (oldnaplessurfshop.com) since 2011, is more expansive. “It’s a fun way to be out and enjoy the water for any age, not just kids,” she said. Users throw it down and lie on their stomachs; it’s like bodysurfing, but with a board.

eFoiling

Battery-powered motors lift users on boards to hover above the water and observe the aquatic world below. After an on-land training session, Smile Surf & Sail (foilnaples.com) recommends the optimal location based on weather conditions for individual and group lessons on beaches, in the Everglades and along inner coastal waterways. “The Gulf is pretty flat most mornings,” said Laura Foht, who does an extensive weather check the day before appointments to make sure conditions are calm enough. The store also sells eFoils.

Kiteboarding

Enthusiasts have their feet affixed to a board that’s smaller than a surfboard, and are glided along and lifted off the water by an overhead kite. “People get addicted to it,” said Enrique Gianello, a certified instructor of kiteboarding with Wind Stalkers, a division of Naples Kiteboarding (napleskiteboarding.com). “They are hooked on flying a kite in the second hour [of lessons]. In contact with the water, you can reach incredible speeds.” He also teaches standup paddleboarding and eFoiling, and sells and rents equipment for all three sports.

Skimboards 

Aficionados run along the sand in shallow water, throw down a board and jump on it. Expertise is marked with successful spins and jumps. Naples native and part-time instructor Alex Bevard, who has been competing for 15 years in skimboarding and won the PCB Spring Skim Jam in Panama City in April, loves it “because you can ride whether it’s flat or if there are waves.” Lessons with him can be arranged via his Instagram (@abevard90). Austin Bleiweiss said skimboarding is “a mix of skateboarding and surfing.” Many skimboarders surf also.

Kneeling is also an option in enjoying standup paddleboarding. Photo by Randy Kambic

Standup paddleboards (SUPs)

They’re lightweight and easy to transport, and users relish the higher vantage point while paddling SWFL’s beautiful waters. “More and more customers are saying, ‘I love it for fitness, but I want to move a little faster,’” said Ryan Young, owner of Naples Outfitters (naplesoutfitters.com) which sells and rents SUPs along with kayaks and many other items and gear and provides repairs. SUP manufacturers are responding by making more “touring boards that are longer, leaner and can cut through wakes” besides the traditional, more stable ones.

Surfing

Many enthusiasts hit the beaches here right before a storm and venture to the East Coast on surfing safaris. “Some go up to Englewood or Venice beaches, as the configuration of the coastline up there can produce greater waves,” added Spahr.

Wakeboarding

Enthusiasts are towed by a motorboat on a board that’s wider than a slalom waterski, facilitating greater balance and firmer landings after going airborne. Foht’s 11-year-old son Finn “loves going fast and doing big jumps” while wakeboarding, often in backwaters behind Keewaydin Island or out in the Gulf. Wakeboarders can also be towed by eFoils.

Windsurfing

Adjusting the position of the sail with a horizontal bar, the body is like a moving boat mast. It provides tremendous exercise from shoulders to feet, especially in the arms.

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Old Naples Surf Shop, a local institution in area water sports since it opened in 1983, sells skimboards, boogie boards, SUPs, surfboards, skateboards and more. It sponsors individual riders and an annual Skim Jam competition. “There’s tremendous camaraderie among the riders,” Spahr said. The 13th edition in May will benefit the Audubon Western Everglades’ shorebird program, which counts her as a board member.

Bevard is a team manager and sales rep for Wave Zone Boards/Hammer Traction, and assistant manager for a Zap Skimboards team. It includes fellow Naples residents Giorgio Tomasi, 10, a four-time Skim USA Tour champion in his age group, plus Alex Farrell and Bleiweiss. Owner of Beach Bum Services, which specializes in yacht detailing, Bevard also runs Boards for Humanity, collecting new and used skim-, surf- and skateboards and delivering them to youngsters in the U.S. and Caribbean region.

Bevard, 34, advises anyone who wants to try a board sport to get out and do it. “You won’t regret it!” he said.