The inshore fishing isnt bad but I think its better in South Florida. We really only have reds, specks and flounder - alot of them but really thats it. In S. Florida, you have all of the above plus tarpon and snook. At least its alot less crowded around here and we dont have miles of no wake "manatee zones".
Offshore though is fantastic, yeah we have to go a bit further to get to blue water then SE FL, but we do produce some nice bluewater fish, afterall nearby Destin is the "Luckiest Fishing Village in the World". Our bottom fishing is some of the best if theyll ever let us keep anything!
Reading the surf is pretty easy. Look at the waves breaking. Waves break more violently over shallow water so youll want to find that cut where the waves are breaking less violently. This is an area where the undertow is ripping out to sea creating a "cut" through the sand bars and the fish sit up in these areas to feed. Also sometimes there will be scalloped shaped cut out in the sand. We dont have large tides here like where you do so I dont know if looking for the scalloped cut out would help.