Sarasota Kayak Tours – Something Totally Different and Exciting Than Your Usual Holidays

If you love kayaking, Sarasota is a heaven for you! There are scores of kayak tours here which you can take on your own or prefer a guided tour. You can paddle around the sun coast area for great relaxation and view some amazing nature and wildlife, unique to this area.

The Sarasota Keys and waterways are perfect for kayak enthusiasts, no matter whether you have no experience or are a seasoned kayaker. You can take the tour on your own kayak or you can get a number of rental services. An outstanding service among these is Seashore Eco Tours offering rental kayak Sarasota on South Lido Key at 190 Taft Drive Sarasota, FL 34236 and offer special mangrove kayak tours at this Sarasota location.

Places You should Kayak in and around Sarasota are:

• Sarasota Bay
• The Intra-Coastal Waterway
• Blackburn Bay

& off the beaches of

• South Lido Key
• Siesta key
• Turtle Beach Lagoon
• Casey Key (Nokomis Beach)
• South Lido Beach Park where you can get those dreamy kayak tours through mangroves and mangrove tunnels
• Whitney Beach, Longboat Key and north of Whitney Beach between Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key
• Venice Beach

Mangrove Kayak Tours from South Lido Key

The most exciting kayak tours among the Sarasota kayak tours is the mangrove kayak tours offered at South Lido Key. Renowned for the Canopy Mangrove Trails, these tours offer manatee viewing since it’s very close to the Pansy Bayou, a protected manatee sanctuary in Sarasota Bay.

Canoe trails go on winding through a canopy or red mangroves until kayakers come out into open water and bright sunshine of Sarasota Bay. The beautiful part of these tours is they are interesting for seasoned paddlers and easy for novices. The mangrove tunnels offer excellent eco tours as well as adventures. Interestingly, the mangroves are close to everything, Longboat Key, Lido Key and downtown!

Enthralling

The South Lido trails may look ghostly to newcomers, with mangrove branches and roots reaching out to paddlers. If there is low tide during your tour, you can get a chance to view dozens of mangrove crabs clinging to the trees. Sometimes they may fall into your kayak.

It’s no wonder, if you are too imaginative and think that these trails were cut by Spanish pirates or Native American paddlers, though the truth is less thrilling.

In the 1950s, as a measure taken for mosquito control, ditches along Little Grassy Lagoon and Brushy Bayou were cut. Mangroves grew over them and became dark tunnels ideal for paddling.

The South Lido trails are shallow, usually only a few inches deep. They are also short in length, less than a mile. So, it’s nothing to worry about – you are neither going to get lost nor drowned.

The current keeps you pulling through and this is extremely relaxing according to many kayakers.

Fishing

While you enjoy the eerie shades of the mangrove tunnels during your tour, you can also do a lot of fishing. As mentioned before, there are abundant crabs here. Starfish and sea horses are also common.

Manatees and Dolphins

Manatees and dolphins are commonly seen in Sarasota Bay from March to December, when the water is warm. Manatees are seen in the rest of the year too, but not very frequently. Dolphins too may be seen year round since they feed and frequent through the mangrove islands and channels around.

Ideal for All Ages

The kayak Sarasota Bay and Lido Key tours are ideal for all ages including children. Children are provided with lighter paddles and smaller life vests. Even tandem (double) kayaks are available so that an adult can accompany a child.

Are you excited enough and planning a Lido Key and Sarasota Bay kayak tour? You should do that if you want to experience something totally different than your usual holidays.