Sea Kayak Trip Through Emerald Waters and Mangroves

(Key West, Florida) 85 degrees, clear blue skies

We decided to take an escorted kayak trip while we are in Key West.  We have an inflatiable kayak but we have not kayaked in the ocean.  We hoped to learn more about the creatures that lurk in these beautiful waters.  This trip did not disappoint and was worth every penny.

We signed up for the Boca Chica tour with Blue Planet Kayak.  The brochure said their groups were small.  It turned out we were the only participants for their 10 am tour.  Perfect!

Blue Planet Kayak launch

Our guide, James, has lived in Key West most of his life and knew so much about the marine life we saw.  If we had been on our own we would have unknowingly floated right over many unique and wonderful creatures. 

We saw lots of huge conch like this one.  Our guide pulled this one out for us to see and then gently returned him to sea floor. 



Can you see him peering at us



This strange creature is a sea hare  Our guide told us this creature has an internal shell and is hermaphrodite which basically means it can be a male or female depending on who it might encounter. It does not move very quickly so this makes reproduction rather convenient.

Sea Hare

We traveled through mangroves and found lots of sea urchins. sea cucumbers, and some lobsters hiding out. 

Pencil sea urchin



James looking for something to show us



Anemone


We went out at low tide and later in the day we able to float over the flats as the tide was coming in.  It was beautiful. 

For us the highlight of the paddle was seeing four Spotted Eagle Rays.  They are easy to find once you know what to  look for.  They are black with white spots and their wings can reach up to nine feet.  This one cruised by us.  I think he was as curious about us as we were about him.  It was such a thrill to see them.  This picture really does not show how spectacular they are to see . You will have to go yourself and take in this wonder. 



Spotted Eagle Ray



Lobster Traps

We saw so much on this paddle trip.  I was not able to capture all of it in photographs,  This off the beaten path trip was a delight.