Staying down there about 10 miles west of Panama City Beach for a couple weeks, looking to find kayak rental and place to paddle. I can transport locally if needed but ideally the rental is at the water. Also any restaurant tips or cool things to see.
The National Seashore is worth a visit. I have put in at Big Lagoon State Park they have a ramp.
Here is a link to a trip we took a few years back.
Big Lagoon SP, and Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola, FL - Paddlers’ Place - Paddling.com
Apparently the link doesn’t work when I clicked on it, but if you click on the search magnifying glass in the top righthand corner and type in National Shore you can get to the thread with the photos.
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It worked for me.
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Thanks Diane, for letting me know. My computer still has problems with this site. The only way I can get to the old thread seems to be doing a search. I tried again this morning with the same results. I just get a blank screen when I click on the link. It is frustrating to deal with the new site, but I like the folks that are on here so put up it with. Thanks again for the heads up.
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Thanks, this looks great. Do you know if there are any rental places nearby? It would be a long day for me as I will be staying just west of Panama City Beach (Rosemary Beach area) but maybe worth it.
I don’t know of any. I brought my 2 sea kayaks and let Curtis my BIL paddle the Buccaneer and I paddled my Shearwater Merganser I built. You might want to checkout this link to FL paddle trails and resources.
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It gives me issues as well, mostly errors with a “Try Again” or Go Back" choice. It gets frustrating.
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Not real familiar with 10 miles west of Panama City. Rental kayaks will be more sit on rec boats and not for you to transport. Oddly this is prime kayak weather, but most are expecting that to be summer stuff. If you do any bay kayaking beware of tides and inlets. Currents at like Panama City can be REAL troublesome.
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I looked and as stated in another post, looks like most rentals are short sit on tops. Wondering about trying to buy a basic cheap boat instead as I will be there a month. Looks like several boats in the hundred dollar range (right now anyway) on FB. Wouldn’t be a dream boat but a lot more flexible than dealing with a couple hour rental. Anyone done this when you traveled? And is a SOT the better choice for this area?
Be aware that strong rip currents are common as are 10-15 mph winds, mostly north this time of year. Temperatures mid 60s to upper 40s are typical.
For the conditions down there I would prefer a sit in kayak, but that’s what I am used to.
Kayak rentals are fairly expensive down there. You might be better off buying an inexpensive kayak if you can find one or make an offer to rent one of these from the owner for a month. Some of the rental places might be open for a long term rental with a sufficient deposit if they have a boat that you would like.
I was going to spend $200 on a used sea kayak on craigslist a couple of years ago while visiting in FL for my Dad’s 100th birthday so I could do some paddling in Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River on the East coast. This was after finding the limitations with renting a kayak. The fellow I called about the kayak loaned me one instead when he found out what I wanted to do. I think buying one is an option. I would have brought my kayak if I had known about the rentals in the area. The only time I have rented a good sea kayak was in Charleston for $30 a day with gear and had the mistaken idea this was a common practice.
Rstevens15 - Feb weather history says average high is near 70 but agree it could be all over the place. Two state parks near me have decent sized inland lakes and gulf access so they will be good places to start. Also agree rentals seem high and are mostly short SOTs or 10’ sit in rec boats.
castoff - I wish they rented $30 sea kayaks, never seen that rate anywhere even for cheap boats for a daily rate!
both - good idea trying to rent from a seller, have to see what’s available once I am down there.
I don’t know if your trip is over or not but there is Econfina Creek. It is about an hour North of you. Contact Econfina Creek Canoe Rentals, https://www.canoeeconfina.com/ .
If you buy a boat you can go East of Panama City to St. Joe Bay. You can launch at the city park or go on down to the back of the bay and there is a launch in each corner of the bay. Watch the weather as the wind tends to pick up in the afternoon from the SE. The bay has no river running into it so the water stays clear.
If you go around to St. Joseph State Park you can paddle the grass beds looking for critters( Urchins, Sand dollars, sea shells),. You just can’t keep anything that has life in it.