st. lucie river aquatic preserve info?

Advice
#1

hi y’all,



i’m reposting this here for better publicity…



does anyone know anything about kayaking in the st. lucie river aquatic preserve in port st. lucie, fl?



or is anyone headed that way in the next couple of days?



this is the link i found mentioning canoeing as one of the public uses: http://www.stlucieco.gov/esl/northfork_of_slr/



i’m here through the weekend and am thinking of trying it out.



thanks in advance for your thoughts.



michelle



(i got one great reply on the original–i put it on the get togethert o paddle thread. but, since therewas only one reply and i have been seeing kayaks all over car-tops since arriving, i’m thinking only those actually looking for float-mates are reading that board.)

#2

The North Fork of the St Lucie River…
My parents live near there and I’ve been up that river a bit…lots of birdlife…I’d love to kayak it…my Dad sailed up it a bit…told me there have been manatees seen on the North Fork…so, did you get to kayak here?

#3

sadly, no
in fact, i didn’t even get to the interpretive center to find out more about it.



i did get to conchy joe’s for chowder, though, on the way back from a trip to jensen’s beach. my nother said it was better then the chowder at the new england fish market.



after eating we went up a1a and ended up driving past a refuge for which i forget the name. stopped in there and apparently the north fork/aquatic preserve passes through a part of that as well.



since the purpose of the trip was to visit my mother who who just moved down there in september and is very lonesome, i really wasn’t free to run about on my own at will. we mostly beachcombed.



next trip down i’m looking at the cape canaveral/merrit island area for paddling (manatees there also); the aforementioned refuge and it;s little bit of the north fork; perhaps even the north fork itself; and two or three days on the gulf side near sanibel.



ahhh, so much water, so little time…



thanks for asking! :slight_smile:

#4

Kayaking the St. Lucie
Adventure Times Kayak in West Palm Beach hosts trips there all the time. They can give you the put ins, route maps, provide a guide if you want one. The St. Lucie is probably the best spot of water for kayaking in all of South Florida.



Regards,



Bill

#5

Thanks for the info Bill
I’ll be in Florida with my family in December and was also looking for new places to kayak and Adventure Times seems to have some good programs and rentals.



Here’s the link if anyone else is interested:



http://www.adventuretimes.com/shop.htm






#6

Merrit Island
Lot’s of Gators in the inner swamp areas on Merrit island. They are facinating, just check the landings when getting in and out of the boat–take no pets with you. Also, don’t get between open water and the gator.

There is a canoe/kayak trail in the Cape Area. Turkey Creek is also a nice paddle down Palm Bay.