I’m heading there this weekend, and it’s a trek for me…unless that red tide is hanging out…I can’t seem to get any current (this week) info…no one’s picking up at the ranger number and no one’s answering their emails either…has it gotten that bad? I was wondering why there were open camp sites…
Can anybody give me a current ‘smell-u-all’? (like a visual, but with your nose)
thanks
Ed
thanks
That’s where I started…I was hoping that it had moved farther south in the week…next post wasn’t going to be until late today and we are packed and ready to go…good news is that I finally got a ranger on the phone. He had just toured the park and said it had cleared up a while back…that stuff is nasty. Once I was out on the east coast, water was as nice and clear as a spring, but I was coughing and sneezing. So were 2/3 of the guys out surfing. We found out from a surfing site that the red tide had moved in but the authorities were reluctant to scare off all of the tourists. They finally did announce it in the paper…thing is, you can’t see it, you just feel sick, and people that have asthma can really suffer.
Ft. Desoto
Hope you have a good time. I visited my brother in late March (he lives in Tampa) and we went kayaking at Ft. Desoto a couple of times. Loved it. First time I had had my boat (a Necky Manitou) on anything other than a lake. The 2-3 foot swells were a lot of fun.
Just spent 8 hours
at Fort Desoto paddling in the lagoon at the North Beach. No redtide there! Very nice day… got a little too much sun but learned a lot (part of which was that I’m doing pretty well in my learning) and gained a bit of confidence. I’ll probably get back ASAP to practice since it is such a nice clean bottom.
Have a great paddle!
3hrTour
Shell Key
When I visited my brother in the Spring, we circled Shell Key and and were in that general area for a couple of days. I can’t wait to get back to do it again.
I was
there Friday (12th) no noticable red tide. The kids and I went over to Shell Key for a picnic. We also got real Close to a dolphin. The kids were in awe! I love that area and camp there frequently.
It was nice
Turned out to be a fun trip. We went to the North Beach and paddled to Shell key and then went the other way (in spite of warnings from other kayakers). I thought they were warning us against the treacherous waters between Fort DeSoto Park and Egmont key, but I think it was because it turned out to be ‘naked men beach’ that direction! The paddling was more challenging that way and I can see why you’d want to have plenty of energy stored up to cross that channel. We saw no sign of Red Tide…note to myself: ALWAYS bring the dollie, no matter what my wife says…it’s a long walk from the car to the beach at North Beach.
Also, the campsites are in the backwater. I thought they were right on the gulf, and think now that it might be a long paddle from campground to open water.
Yeah
it would be a good paddle from the campground to the Shell Key area. However, there are alot of other areas to check out that are closer.