I am planning to move to the Florida Gulf Coast near Sarasota from New Jersey. I sail from the beach here and would like to know the options available in the Sarasota area. I know beach permits are available in Naples; do other beach communities on the gulf have similar programs?

Some beach permits are available, not many. I'm guessing Sarasota Sailing Squadron is your best bet.

http://sarasotasailingsquadron.org/

Yep, SSS is a great option and the pass to the gulf is right next to the club. Great gulf and bay sailing, you really can't do much better than SSS if your looking for places near Sarasota :-)

There was a little sailing club with a couple of f18s near the MOTE aquarium when we visited it last year

That's the Sarasota Sailing Squadron.

I really just want to sail from the beach with my 16. Does anyone know if permits are available or if there a waiting list to get a permit? Here is South Jersey some beaches are packed while other have space available. I have no idea how or where to check in the Florida area.

Short answer, NO!

Dunedin Causeway (Clearwater) is your best bet. Or, membership at GYC. (St. Pete).

Basically, Florida does not have beach access unless you live on waterfront property or you're renting a motel room and most of the motels don't want to be bothered.

There are exceptions but they are few.

I only know Pinelllas County... We have the Gulfport Yacht Club in South St. Petersburg, It's the closest to you and AFAIK it requires a membership to launch there. The Clearwater Sailing Center on Sand Key, it cost $10 to launch there if you aren't a member, memberships are just under $400 a year. And the Dunedin Causeway in Dunedin, AFIK it's free to launch there but it is the furthest away from you.

There are numerous boat ramps as well...

I really like Clearwater! Also, I was a member at GYC and have only good things to say about them. I left because I got tired of making the two hour, one way drive.

On the east coast, all of volousia county you can launch your boat from and even keep it on the beach most of the year.

Unfortunately thats quite a drive from the west coast.

The Clearwater Sailing Center is much more than $400. It is more like 1200 to keep a catamaran there (they actually charge by the foot). You must get a full family membership (around $800 if memory serves) and then pay for the rental space (around $400). I may have those figures backwards... I looked at it 3 years ago and was a bit surprised at the costs.

The Dunedin causeway is free to launch, but required a weekend permit ($10) for overnight (weekend) or $100 for an annual permit. This allows you 2 nights mast up per week. There were complaints from local residents, and more so from local police that put the permits in place. Originally was going to be 2 nights per month, but we got involved and worked with the town to increase that to 2 nights per week.

Oh yea, there is also the Courtney Campbell Causeway. There is also a public beach right next to the Clearwater Sailing Center that people can launch sailboats from.

I think you can legally launch a non-motorized watercraft from any public beach in the county, but there are few that you can get your boat trailer close enough to (I could be very wrong in this assumption though.) I'm not sure if the same rules apply in other Florida counties.

I just checked out this (https://public.myfwc.com/LE/boatramp/public/) Many of the boat ramps listed seem to be for non-motorized or limited horsepower watercraft.

How about a beach between Siesta Key and the Port Charlotte area?

I'm using google maps to look at the link I mentioned above... Indian Mound Park might work.

It looks like there might be a spot just East of the Manasota Beach Public Boat Ramp.

The North Jetty Park Primitive Boat Ramp looks real promising. Easy access to the Gulf.

Maybe the Turtle Beach Public Boat Ramp? You might be able to park on the East side of Blind Pass Rd and hustle your boat to the west side, then launch from the beach.

There is a small beach just south of the Sarasota Sailing Squadron.

Maybe Centennial Park?

All this is guessing from the information that the fwc provides in the link I posted earlier. Let us know if any of these pan out.

I guess I am just spoiled; here in South Jersey we keep our boats on beach for about $150 per season.

And the season in south Jersey is what, 4 months?

In Florida it's the full 12 mo. so it's going to cost more. With so much beach, you would think it would be a lot cheaper and easier, to find a place to leave your cat on a Florida beach but the developers have already taken most of the best spots, so really there are not a whole lot of good, safe, places to leave your baby, where some crack-heads won't be sleeping on it or trying to push it out to sea.