I do need to say up front that I have never kayaked in my entire life, so my review is from the perspective of an absolute novice. I've always wanted to try it, but it's one of those hobbies that seem to have a couple of barriers. Like, friends have invited me, but I didn't have a kayak to join them. Or I've looked at some of the tour groups, but I never wanted to be that first-timer that kind of holds up the rest of the group, y'know? When I found out my friend Kelly was going on this tour and she had only been kayaking once before, I figured that whatever happened, there'd be at least one other person in the same predicament.
I am so glad I went!! The tour was PHENOMENAL. The tour guides bring everything you need - kayak, paddles, and life jackets, so you just have to drive yourself to the location and bring some water & snacks. There was some instruction before we all got in the water, but it's definitely one of those things where you just need to do it for a while before "getting" it. (I'm still not 100% that I got it, but I was way better at the end than at the beginning.)
It was a smallish group, about 7 or 8 of us, and we were the only kayakers I saw the entire time we were on the creek. I only ran into two people (fortunately, the people I knew!), and only got stuck on a log once. But I got unstuck and learned to watch out for logs. The tour guides gave some follow-up instruction when I needed it (turning is hard), and the other folks in the group were super-nice and not once did I feel like I was THAT person slowing anyone down. You just kinda paddle forward, and sometimes run into logs if you need to stop. It gets easier after that.
I saw 30 million turtles sunning themselves on the side of the creek, a baby snake merrily swimming along, some swallow-tailed kites, an orchid native to NE Florida, and someone tried to point out a baby alligator, but I did not see it. The weather was perfect and the setting was gorgeous. It was so blissfully quiet, as well. A lot of St. Augustine is about getting stuck in traffic, and that gets old real quick. Coming out to this quiet little pocket of uninterrupted nature was exactly what my brain and my soul needed.
Two thumbs up, five stars, A++, highly recommend, would (and will!) go again! read more
