Is Summer the best season in The Villages?
 

This is just my second summer since moving here in December 2022. I absolutely love the warm winters here and being able to be outdoor and active. I wasn’t so sure I’d enjoy summers though because of the heat/humidity, but was willing to tolerate them as a trade off for living here year round.

I have to say that summer has become my favorite season here in The Villages. Thoroughly enjoying the lack of crowds and the ease of getting in restaurants with no reservations, plenty of seating at the town squares, light traffic, easy-to-get tee times, empty pickleball courts, uncrowded pools, rentals in my neighborhood remaining empty for most of the season, etc, etc.

Regarding the weather and temps, I enjoy getting up early in the morning for a golf cart ride and already in shorts and flip flops. The afternoons are very tolerable. If I’m in my golf cart there’s a good breeze, and other wise I have found plenty of indoor activities to keep busy in the nice AC. Evenings are great after 630 or so to get out for dinner, music at the squares, walks, boozey bingo at Sawgrass, etc.

I sorta now wish summer would never end. Anyone else enjoying summer in The Villages?

This is our fifth summer here. Do like the lack of crowds at restaurants but day after day above 90 is a bit much.

Overall though this is a great place to live

THANK YOU!!! Everyone was telling me I'm crazy. The humidity is NOTHING compared to NC. I love also early morning swims and the cooler evening breezes. But the lack of crowds and full timers (my apologies to the snow birds. Please dont yell at me) just seem happier and more excited to be here...glad to hear I'm not alone

We like the summer best too, getting out of the pool or a golf cart in January isn't much fun in the cold weather. Makes me wish the villages was further south.

I can tolerate the summer heat here much better than I can tolerate the winter cold in Massachusetts.

For me the huge black eye on the summer is the unpredictable lighting pretty much every afternoon and evening. I rather enjoy the heat, and the humidity is tolerable, but the lightning makes every day’s swimming and golfing plans a total crapshoot.

Yes, because there are more daylight hours to enjoy all of the outdoor activities. Besides that I keep my house at 79F and my wife will often say “I’m cold” so we go out to warm up.

Summertime! Yessss! 😃😃😃

Although I like less traffic and no crowds I cannot tolerate the heat and humidity. Up until last year I maintained my lawn and landscape but finally had to give it up as just could not take the heat and the lawns were too wet to keep manicured in the mornings so gave it up.

I've been here 22 yrs and have always said I enjoy our summer season better than winter season.. UNTIL this summer... I CAN'T WAIT FOR COOLER TEMPS.

Couldn't agree more. My son lives near Raleigh, NC and the temperatures in the summer are the same or hotter than here, the humidity is the same or higher, and they have essentially no breeze. Meanwhile, my wife is visiting Cape Cod this week and yesterday's high was 65. Hardly meets the definition of summer. There are places with a better climate, but not many. 10 years and counting as a FROG!!!

Summer by far! for all the reasons listed already plus one more. The heat and humidity makes my arthritis almost disappear. Those six-month winters back in Minnesota were a real trial towards the end.

You are not kidding, I'm not scared of much, if there's a hurricane I'll move out of it's way, if it's a tornado (and I've been through several) I'll find the safest place in the house and hunker down, but this lightening is unreal! We had a strike a few days ago that everyone in the house including the dogs jumped up a few inches when it hit. Lightening tracker said it hit a few hundred feet away across the lake. Ugh.

NO! I’ll take SoCal summers any day over the humidity here. We bought an Atomic Cool Kart as a 2nd cart just for the AC because otherwise we’d never leave the house for 6 months. The pools are too hot to be refreshing, and we don’t do other activities (golf (yet), pickleball, etc), but definitely wouldn’t be doing them in summer if we did. While I hate the crowds in winter, I’ll suffer with the crowds just because the weather is sooo great then. The only thing we like in summer is the afternoon storms (minus the lightning) because they’re filling up our half empty ponds.

I have to add though that my perspective is as someone who came from mild SoCal winters (coldest winter weather I’ve experienced was here the last two winters), so I can’t relate to the cold snowy winters many of you lived with, and are happy to have behind you.

Yep! Terrifying! Never experienced anything like it in my life before moving here. It has struck several times here in DeLuna last summer and this summer.

You have to come from Texas to really appreciate a Florida summer. Is my favorite? No, I like the shoulder seasons best, when the snowbirds aren't here, but it's still in the 70's. It really doesn't start hitting the 90's regularly until July, and unlike Texas, it starts to cool off around labor day, so there's plenty of gorgeous weather to enjoy without the crowds. But even Summer is tolerable. It would never even occur to me to play golf in August in Houston. Here, there is always a breeze to control the humidity, and most days there's an afternoon shower to cool things off. I can't remember a 100 degree day in the four years we've been here. Back in Oklahoma where I grew up, it starts hitting 100 in June and by August it's a daily occurrence.

Weather-wise, this place is a close to paradise as any place I've lived since my hippy days, living in a tent in Big Sur.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh !
Don't tell anybody.

And people drive more sanely and with more patience and courtesy.
We should give examples to the in the snowbirds.

Misery - The first step is to acknowledge that you tend to justify your bad choices. 72 degrees 50% RH makes a lot more sense to me. I despise diaper rash.

I don’t mind the heat but how do I cool my garage and attic space….LOL.

Sorry you have to wear diapers :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

For me, the Heat is a downfall. This is our second summer in TV, next year will be heading north to the lake house. Good at 75, but anything above 80 it’s just too much. That said I love Snow, cold is very tolerable, freezing rain I stay inside. However spouse can’t tolerate cold, so here we are.

We rarely dine out, shop at retail or grocery stores, so crowds in high season aren’t really a problem.

depends

I like April and Oct/Nov. The weather is more moderate and there's some semblance of crowds at the squares, while it's still not in full snowbird mode so you can still get in and out of Publix quick enough.

I prefer going to activities when there's a decent amount of people there.

Summer experience in TV is relative to where you're from. I've been tracking the temps from up here in MD and it's pretty much been the same TBH, such that we decided to come down for a few weeks. We also went up to Maine for a week and it was "wicked hot" up there. I think the difference is that it gets hotter sooner in FL and stays that way longer. I lived in AZ for 11 yrs and I always said the feeling of being hot is "cumulative" throughout the year ... loved it there!!

You can install what they call a mini-split HVAC unit in your garage. We did that and it's such a luxury to get into a cool car. Actually, our washer/dryer is in the garage which was the main reason that we did it.

I always wait till they aren't looking and take it off.

I love our two seasons. 6 months of summer, and 6 months of summer..

Shhhh!! We LOVE the summers too - don’t tell anyone because the snowbirds will never go to their other state! LOL!!

This is what we did too. We set it to 78, but lower it if working in the garage. I agree it’s great to get into a cool car, and our Atomic Cool Kart too. And our garage freezer doesn’t have to work too hard.

Yes, definitely relative. We came from SoCal, and even though we had a couple periods each summer in the triple digits, they were short lived. Our summer (dry) heat only lasted about 3 months, and the evenings were always much cooler. No Lightning storms either. Ever. Having experienced AZ heat in summer I can’t imagine loving it. It was awful! Which is why we retired here. This was the lesser of two evils “weather wise” for us, lol.

Stop!
 

PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS. We don't want everyone to know.

The summer is definitely the best time of the year in TV. In fact, the winter is not only over crowded but way too cold.

Look live summer time in TV!

Really? I live in West Dennis all summer and the coolest it’s been during the day was 69 one day this week, has been a beautiful and breezy 70-80 since late June!

I agree with you completely except the weather. This is our second summer here full time and ITS HOT! I’m not enjoying this weather this summer but when I compare it to the trade off of ice and snow and endless gray skies, I will take it.

Same here - came from West Coast (first California then Colorado), and came very close to retiring in Arizona, since that is where most western retirees flock. So glad I chose Florida over Arizona. Even with humidity, summers are far more tolerable weather-wise here in Florida.

Yes, really. And my wife is actually staying in West Dennis. So who do YOU think I'll choose to believe :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I’ve lived in the South all my life so the heat and humidity is nothing new in the summer. I had my share of snow when I lived in NC (though nothing like many of you have experienced in other states). I love the summers here for the same reasons mentioned. When it’s too hot, I find indoor activities in the A/C. I’m wouldn’t trade living here for anything else.

Yep. Summer is my favorite too. I don't care about restaurants or entertainment so much as access to the pools for swimming laps and fewer golf carts on the multimodal paths, making it easier (and safer) to bike. I also work full-time so the longer days in summer give me more time after work in the evening.

I am greatful for the snowbirds because they still pay amenity fees and support all the infrastructure.

It seemed a little busier this summer than last, at least at the pools. But then again, this is only my second summer, lol.

Yeah, that is one downside. I ride bike and swim between 4:30 p.m. and 7 PM and you never know if it's gonna rain.

The humidity gets to me. I accept the trade offs but wish I could spend more time in the garden during the hot months. It just gets to be too much. Just adore the cooler months. Miss the tulips and daffs in the spring tho.