South Florida Kayaking:

Florida Keys Kayaking and Everglades Kayaking

Florida kayaking is a fun and interesting adventure with mangrove forests, clear shallow water, exotic birds and warm sunny weather year round. Kayaking in the Florida Everglades and Keys is becoming one of America's best winter kayaking locations.   South Florida is easy to get to.  Fly into Fort Lauderdale, Miami or Fort Meyers. The town of Flamingo is the south east entrance into the Everglades and Everglades City is the northwest entrance into the Everglades.  Crystal Seas Kayaking departs all the their tours from Everglades City.

When you kayak Florida you have a good chance to see manatees, dolphins, egrets, falcons, rays, nurse sharks and occasionally an alligator. It is rare to see alligators during the winter months in the Ten Thousand Islands region of the Everglades as alligators generally move further inland and away from the beaches.  However, it is not uncommon to see alligators from the highways that lead you into the Everglades during the winter months.  Highway 41 is a great place to see alligators.  To see manatees, you will want to kayak the Everglades or kayak the upper Florida Keys.  In the southern Florida Keys, there is less wildlife than in the Everglades as it is more developed and there is more boat traffic.

The best time of year to kayak south Florida is November through April.  May through October is the rainy season and it is not uncommon to experience severe lightening storms.  Also, during May through October in the Everglades, insects like mosquitoes are extreme.  The mangrove areas in the Florida Keys are sprayed for mosquitoes so kayaking during those months is tolerable as long as you can withstand the extreme heat, humidity and possible rain storms.

For those looking to kayak Florida Keys and the Everglades, guided tours are available and recommended.  The Florida Keys offers mangrove forests and canals as well as beautiful shallow waters.  The wildlife includes sponges, eel grass, small fish, egrets, nurse sharks and in the upper keys, manatees. To see the best wildlife, you will want to kayak in the Everglades.  The Florida Keys is highly populated with human and boat traffic and the Everglades are much more remote making wildlife opportunities greater. Crystal Seas Kayaking offers guided three hour, full day and multiple day tours in the Everglades.  Groups sizes are kept small and custom tours are also available for larger groups of ten people or more.  Family tours are also available.  There is no experience necessary.  The guides are experienced sea kayakers and go through extensive training to ensure the safety of every guest. 

If you are taking a Florida Keys Kayaking trip or Everglades trip without a guide, make sure that you bring a GPS, updated and detailed chart and compass to navigate and never kayak alone.