Florida Everglades
January 11-15, 2021
Experience a relaxed tour of the scenic 10,000 Island’s area of Everglades National Park. You’ll enjoy short paddling distances during the day and primitive camp on beautiful sandy beaches at night. Time will be available to build sand castles, catch fish, walk the beaches, and view wildlife. There are numerous species of birds in the Everglades to view. You’ll likely see and possibly paddle with dolphins. It’s not uncommon to also see a manatee or a few sea turtles. Guides will also provide you with the opportunity to develop some navigational skills, learn about ides and tidal charts, and more.
Itinerary
Guide: Shireen Cave & Jeff Holmes
All trips in the Everglades require a permit and they cannot be obtained more than 24 hours ahead of the start time. The itinerary below describes our ideal trip, but adjustments will be made as necessary.
Day 1 – We’ll plan our departure time according to the tide want to be on our way from the ranger station at Everglades City by maybe 11 am. We’ll paddle to Chokoloskee, then wind our way through the mangrove swamp to the coast. Our first night will be Rabbit Key, a paddle of just over 10 miles.
Day 2 – Spend the morning relaxing and enjoying the sites. We’ll launch as the tide comes up and make a short jaunt over to Pavilllion for the night. Getting there early will allow plenty of time to explore this beautiful key. Take a hike along the beach, catch a fish if you bought a license, and we’ll share a campfire after dark.
Day 3 – Today we’ll paddle to New Turkey Key by way of Chatham River and Mormon Key. You’ll have a chance to practice your piloting skills and read a compass or GPS. We’ll have a safety topic to discuss at the end of the day and the guides may have a surprise up their sleeve. At camp we’ll briefly talk about our day and call it a night.
Day 4 – Our journey today will cross open water from New Turkey Key to Pavilion and then on to Rabbit. If conditions are calm we will take some compass bearings and head away from the coast to take an arching route to Rabbit far to the west of Pavilion and out in the Gulf. We should still get to our campsite with time to relax and share a fire. We’ll discuss the tides for tomorrow and plan our departure accordingly.
Day 5 – It will either be an early rising day or a late one depending on what time the tide allows us to ride it back to Everglades City. If everyone is up for it we could make it a long day and head further north to a different pass into Chokoloskee Bay. Typically we’ll be off the water by 2 or 3 pm so we can get all our gear cleaned up and packed away before the trip comes to an end and we all head our separate ways.
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Registration Deadline:
December 1st, 2020
Length:
5 days and 4 nights
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Group Size:
Minimum: 5
Maximum: 8
* Trip will not place unless we reach minimum number of participants
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Experience Level
Participants should have at least L1 or 1 Star skills. This would be the equivalent of completing our Kayaking Fundamentals I class.
What To Bring
Participants are responsible for their own transportation to the starting point. Bring your kayak, paddle, PFD, sprayskirt, safety gear, all food, camping gear, and personal items in dry bags. We’ll provide a list of necessary gear in our confirmation e-mail. Be sure to have appropriate clothing for the environment. Remember, it’s not always warm in Florida in January!
Price:
$742.00
Trip Includes:
5 days and 4 nights camping, skills coaching, on water navigation, national park permits, introduction to tides and charts
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Equipment Rental
*Outfitting prices are in addition to the base price of the trip
Water Ready Outfitting = $187.25 (includes kayak, paddle, PFD, bilge pump, paddle float, and up to 3 dry bags)
Camp Side Outfitting = $107 (includes tent/ground cloth, sleeping bag/pad, and cook set)