About My Tours
Abundant wildlife can be found in the shallow, tranquil waters off the lower Florida Keys. We commonly spot juvenile nurse, bonnethead and lemon sharks, hawksbill and green sea turtles, Bahama and Atlantic sea stars, herons, egrets, ibis, queen or horse conch and lots of interesting little things. It’s not uncommon to come across Florida manatee.
Paddling here isn’t a “lazy river.” Though we don’t have rocky rapids or steep waves, kayaking in the Keys involves tides, winds and currents–inevitably, at some point, you’ll be paddling against at least one of them.
For an easy paddle, choose a day with winds under 10 mph. Winds of 15 mph and above can feel difficult if you’re not used to at least some exercise. Winds above 20 mph are challenging even for someone in good shape.
Outgoing tides typically have a stronger pull than incoming.
Be warned, the mangroves get buggy during rainy season (summer and fall.)
PADDLE TOURS: January-April 2026
- Sunday 10 am–Blue Planet Kayak
- Mon 10 am–Blue Planet Kayak
- Tues 10am–Blue Planet Kayak
- Wed 10–Blue Planet Kayak
- Thurs 9am–Geiger Key Paddle
- Thurs 11:30am–Geiger Key Paddle
- Fri 10am–Blue Planet Kayak
- Sat 10am–Blue Planet Kayak
- Sat 2pm Geiger Paddle Hut
Please make reservations and ask any questions directly to the outfit providing the tour. My availability isn’t guaranteed, but if I can’t join you that day, I promise you’ll enjoy an amazing tour with one of my colleagues!
How to Get There: Blue Planet Kayak offers a pick-up/drop off service. The dock is on Stock Island, which sits on the outskirts of Key West, just over the Cow Key Bridge. Turn onto MacDonald Ave (which inexplicably changes into “Maloney Ave” in the middle) and you’ll find yourself among working-class neighborhoods and the commercial spiny lobster fishery.
Blue Planet Kayak launches from a small, no-frills dinghy dock in a houseboat row. A couple of these houseboats get rented out as AirB&B; slip rents cost upwards of $2000 a month. There’s 2 public toilets shared by everyone in the marina, including guests of Blue Planet.
The kayaks themselves (Blue Planet doesn’t offer paddleboards) are spacious, cushioned, sit-inside, 12′ or 14′ kayaks. They have some back support, which is nice considering you’ll be sitting for most of 2 ½ hours.
We head out facing Boca Chica Key, most of which is a military air station where they train Navy pilots on “Super Hornets.” Sometimes the jets circle low and loud, like our own private air show. You’ll see US1 crossing the Boca Chica bridge on your left.
In this harbor, people store their big boats, or even live on them, for months and years at a time. Sometimes the boats get abandoned by people who can no longer afford their upkeep. The Coast Guard is in charge of disposing of derelict vessels, but it’s slow business. The capsized boats make for intriguing photographs, giving the place a slightly haunted vibe.
After winding through saltwater flats filled with turtle and manatee grass, we enter an unnamed mangrove island with a maze of canopy-shaded tunnels. The trees cut the winds, so even if it’s a choppy day, water sits tranquil in the mangroves. It’s gnarly, strangely beautiful, and full of life if you know where to look.
Guides bring nets with them and may gently pick up animals you might not otherwise get to see.
Where to Eat Nearby: I recommend two excellent lunch spots close to the Blue Planet launch, both at the end of the same bumpy, sometimes puddle-filled, dirt road.
First, you’ll come upon HOGFISH BAR & GRILL, serving fresh seafood and family-friendly fare at picnic tables overlooking shrimp boats and/or a cute houseboat marina. Hogfish, if you’ve never tried it, is a Florida Keys specialty, a tropical wrasse notoriously difficult to catch unless you’re spearfishing.
Continue down that road to THE DOCKS, one of my favorite restaurants in the Keys. The Docks offers a more upscale (but still casual) foodie experience. With a spacious, friendly bar open to a romantic patio overlooking a marina, it’s got one of the more inventive menus in the Lower Keys, and, of course, super-fresh seafood which is also sold in the attached fish market.
How to Get There: Geiger Key Paddle Hut offers a pick up/drop off service. It’s attached to a popular tiki bar restaurant (Geiger Key Marina) 10 miles north of Key West. The area consists mostly of pricey residential homes and an r.v. campground where sites cost upwards of $3000 a month.
Here on the edge of the “backcountry,” the water is clear and pristine, many shades of blue. You’ll be able to see (and hear) Navy jets taking off and landing at Boca Chica Key, and, if it’s a clear day, glimpse the Fat Albert: a small blimp on a tether on Sugarloaf Key, eyes in the sky for the Dept of Defense.
We’ll paddle to Saddlehill Key, a shallow mangrove island with one shaded “cut” through, as well as a shallow maze over coral limestone. Float over sponge beds and into a deeper, man-made canal where wildlife loves to hide. This is one of the most stunning paddles in the Lower Keys you can do without either having to self-guide or go out on a boat.
Go closer to high tide if you can, the maze is too shallow to traverse at low tide. If the tide is high enough to accommodate our fins (made specifically for shallow water) you can choose to paddleboard. Otherwise, it’s basic sit-on-top kayak for this 2 hour trip.
BRING SUN-GEAR! There’s very little shade out there. By sun-gear, I mean hats with visors and shirts with sleeves. Sunscreen is awful for the ecosystem when it gets in the water, besides doing absolutely nothing to help keep you cool.
Where to Eat Nearby: The restaurant at GEIGER KEY MARINA serves tasty fresh seafood and Floribbean comfort food with a Cajun kick in a honkey-tonk atmosphere. Bathrooms are clean and spacious. It’s the neighborhood watering hole, but also a tourist destination due to stunning views of blue flats and lush mangroves.
Burned out on seafood and sunshine? Drive a few minutes South on US1 to BOBALU’S for plenty of indoor seating and one of my favorite pizzas in the Keys.