I may find myself in Sanibel Florida - near Fort Meyers - for several days in January/February. Tough duty eh?
Does anyone have any advice regarding potential day paddling trips? Also, is there a place in the area where I might be able to rent a decent kayak for a few days?
Look For Sea Shells
Sanibel is the beach combing captial of the US. Lots of sea shells
Especially if you can get away from the public beaches in a kayak
Ain’t that the truth.
I’ve spent a lot of time walking beaches on Sanibel and Captiva. Love it. But I’ve never done any paddling there. Hope to get on the water down there this winter.
Sanibel kayaking
Try www.tarponbayexplorers.com . They rent kayaks (mostly tandems) and are located on Commodore Creek Water Trail.
In the area
Yep, Tarpon Bay as mentioned. Not great equipment, but it will get you there. There is a ‘paddle trail’ that starts near Tarpon Bay that is a nice paddle.
I have taken my Klepper folding kayak down there (to the Ft Myers area and Sanibel) many times as I am in the area most years in March.
From Sanibel, there are some very nice islands to paddle to, and years ago I did a few overnight trips staying in various spots with my cousin who lives in the area and knew his way around.
Also near by is Lee County Manatee park on the Estero river. They rent canoes and kayaks, and we have seen tons of Manatee in the river near there over the years.
http://www.leeparks.org/facility-info/facility-details.cfm?Project_Num=0088
Also there is Koresan State Park which rents canoes and kayaks.
http://www.floridastateparks.org/koreshan/
CHECK THESE LINKS
They just had the Calusa Blueway Festival the beginning of November. This site shows paddling trails in the area you are going to. They have links to outfitters on their site.
http://calusablueway.com/
Here is a link to an outfitter in that area. Can’t vouch for them one way or another.
http://www.calusabluewayoutfitters.com/
Terrific links
thanks for that. I will follow up.