Florida Outdoor Getaways 2008 - (Page 16) Above, kayaking in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale area. Photo courtesy of Blue Moon Outdoor Center. Right, kayak fishing. Photo courtesy of Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau. > By Lynn Waddell Ocean fireflies, yoga, manatees, Indian mounds, Fort Lauderdale’s rich and famous and Everglades camping all have one thing in common: You can best access them via paddling. Bioluminescent Kayaking They look like flying embers from an undersea fire, but they are cool to the touch. These flicks of blue-green light that scatter in all directions at the slightest disturbance in the water are bioluminescent organisms that bed in the lagoon waters of places like the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. In spots, they are so thick that Above, not an X-ray the water is aglow but a close-up view of and everything glowing waters off of underwater – Florida’s Space Coast. Photo by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. seagrass, fish and even your hand – takes on a Harry Potter dimension. Kayaking is the preferred way to experience this wizardry. Outfitters A Day Away Kayaking Tours (321-268-2655, adayawaykayaktours.com) and Adventure Kayak of Cocoa Beach (321-453-6952, www.advkayak.com) explain the natural bioluminescent phenomenon as well as the area’s history as they lead the way to the glowing sea. Tours run summer to early fall, when the organisms are most visible. than horsepower. North America Canoe Tours’ Everglades Adventures combines both for an overnight camping trip that takes you deeper into the swamp than most adventurers would ordinarily have the time or energy to paddle. From Everglades City, a motorized skiff carries you and your kayak to swamp trailheads, eliminating open-water paddling against tides and winds as well as having to carry gear. You and no more than five others (including a naturalist guide) will paddle through narrow mangrove tunnels, camp on raised platforms above the swamp swimming with ‘gators and explore areas of the Everglades few ever see. All of the Everglades paddling trips involve at least two nights of camping and require some paddling experience (239-695-4666, www.evergladesadventures.com). Everglades Overnight One of the great things about paddling is that it enables you to shimmy into places you can’t reach via motorized boat and see things you might overlook. The downside is that manpower is slower 16 VISITFLORIDA.com/outdoors http://adayawaykayaktours.com http://www.advkayak.com http://www.evergladesadventures.com http://VISITFLORIDA.com/outdoors
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