Over 1,000 native trees were already there. The resort was designed around them. That tells you something about how Cabo Rio thinks about what they’re building and who they’re building it for.

There’s a version of luxury that doesn’t need marble lobbies or valet parking. It needs the right place, the right atmosphere, and the right reason to come back. Cabo Rio Resort is being built around exactly that idea.

Cabo Rio Resort is 25 acres of shaded, Old Florida land that has been quietly taking shape on Kings Highway in Fort Pierce for a while now. The kind of project that takes longer than expected, because the vision behind it is bigger than most. The kind of place where founder Jim Chalmers spent years getting it right before inviting anyone in to see it.

The property has history. It sits on land once owned by the inventor of Crayola crayons, and before that, a thriving pineapple plantation. That heritage runs through their brand identity, not just the landscape. The development team has been intentional about honoring all of it. Over 1,000 native trees remain on site and the resort’s layout was designed around them. What’s coming isn’t a clearing. It’s a destination that grew out of the landscape rather than over it.

Mike Addeo, Operations Manager at Cabo Rio, describes the vision simply: a high-end, community-centric destination that balances luxury with Old Florida. Designed for luxury travelers, seasonal residents, families, and a new generation of active RVers looking for something genuinely different. Not a quick getaway. A place where guests arrive and immediately shift into vacation mode, the kind of atmosphere you’d find on a high-end cruise ship or a five-star resort, set inside a gated, tree-canopied community that happens to feel like it’s always been there.

What’s coming: a 600-foot lazy river that winds beneath the native tree canopy, complete with a canopy boardwalk and a bridge leading to a private island where kids can play while the rest of the group unwinds poolside. A beach-entry tropical pool, a signature restaurant serving local fare and craft beers, a tiki bar, a 7,000-square-foot clubhouse, and an on-site spa. And a FlowRider® Double.

That last one is worth pausing on. The FlowRider® Double is our most popular installation worldwide, and for good reason. It creates a continuous sheet wave that accommodates multiple riders at once, from absolute beginners to seasoned wave riders, making it as much a spectator experience as it is a riding one. Plus an opportunity to flow side-by-side with a friend. An amenity of this caliber is rarely found outside of cruise ships and international mega-resorts. Bringing it to a gated resort community in Fort Pierce, under a tropical canopy, for families and active travelers and surf enthusiasts and first-timers alike, is genuinely a first of its kind moment for this destination.

And as Mike puts it swimmingly, “Why wait for the ocean? At Cabo Rio, we bring the wave to you — where five-star luxury meets a 600-foot lazy river and the thrill of the surf, all under a historic tropical canopy.”

The wave is coming. We’ll have more to share as installation progresses and we can’t wait.

Welcome to the FlowRider® family, Cabo Rio.

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