[MRM]

It sounds like you're looking for a snowbird home where you can wait out the bad weather months before returning home. Your situation is similar to ours. Summers here are glorious but winters are as bad as summers are good. We plan to rent for the first few years before settling in and buying anything. I'd suggest doing that. Is state income tax a consideration? You may be able to claim state income in your winter home for the months you work there, but you already knew that. Just something else to think about.

Places we've considered include Corpus Christi and Galveston, Texas. They would have a lot of the activities you list. The drawback there is that the gulf water is brown because the wind and waves wash sediment into that part of the coastline. Florida beaches have clear blue water because all the sediment blows west into the Texas coast.

How warm do you need the winters to be? If not too warm, the northeast half of Florida might also be an option for you. My sister has been trying to sell us on something in the Palm Coast area. From pictures it looks beautiful. Apparently this is one of the last sections of Florida not to be overrun by snowbirds and tourists, so it retains it's Old Florida charm and affordability. St. Augustine regularly tops lists of "best" places to live.

If you don't need to live close to the ocean or gulf, but want to live be the water and fish, central Florida might be attractive. No mountains, but there are lakes the size of oceans, and prices inland are very reasonable. You could fly into Orlando and inside of an hour be on a lake in the middle of nowhere that looks as untouched as a scene from Jurassic Park.

A place on the west coast that I just stumbled on is Crystal River, Florida. It's an hour or so north of Clearwater/St. Pete. It is on the coast and has good access for salt water activities but doesn't have a lot of beaches, so it's not touristy. The river flows into the Gulf at that point, so there is fresh and brackish water for as far as you care to explore. Real estate is much more reasonable than in the Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area.

If you do consider an OUS location, rent before you buy. The expat life is not for everyone. I don't like it. I'd love to rent a villa for the season in pretty much any country in Europe, but I would never settle down as an expat again. Other people love it, so YMMV.