Spend enough hours paddling the same waterways and you start collecting stories. We asked a few of our guides for the strangest things they've seen from beneath a clear kayak. Here's what they told us.
"A Manatee Fell Asleep Under a Guest's Kayak"
One guide recalls a manatee that simply parked itself under a guest's hull for nearly ten minutes, seemingly napping. The guest didn't move a muscle the entire time, terrified of breaking the spell. Everyone else in the group just watched in silence.
"A Fish Jumped Straight Into Someone's Lap"
Mullet are famous for launching themselves out of the water for no obvious reason, and one unlucky (or lucky, depending who you ask) guest on our 3-hour beach hopping tour ended up with an uninvited passenger for a solid three seconds before it flipped itself back overboard.
"The Glow Attracted an Audience"
On the LED night tour, guides describe entire schools of small fish gathering directly beneath the illuminated hulls, forming a moving, glittering cloud that follows the group through the dark water. One guide called it "like paddling through a snow globe."
"A Bird Used a Kayak as a Fishing Perch"
At Clam Bayou, an osprey once landed directly on the bow of a guide's kayak mid-tour, apparently deciding the moving platform was a better vantage point than any mangrove branch nearby. It stayed for almost a full minute before diving for a fish.
Wildlife doesn't read the schedule, that's what makes every tour a little different. Book your own encounter and maybe you'll have a story for us next time.