Kayak & Hiking
Everglades/10,000 Islands

Sea Kayak Instructor Certification
                Family Kayak Tours
                Birthday Parties
                Corporate Events

Guided EVERGLADES Kayak Camping Tours or  Day Tours   Small Groups -led by FL Master Naturalist-

Equipment: Have your own kayak or canoe?  Excellent!  If you don't, we provide a variety of sea kayaking equipment, utilizing different makes and models so we hope to match closely to what you are comfortable paddling.  Long and sleek? Got it!  Wide and stable?  Got that too!  No extra charge for using one of our kayaks!  Need a canoe? We don't have any of those, but  we can arrange a rental from a local company at a cost of $25 per day.  We carry sea kayaks of  Nigel Dennis, Valley, Wilderness Systems, and Perception.  Paddles are Harmony, Werner, or Betsy Bay Greenland Paddles (wood)

How to sign up online
Check our Schedule
If there is a date not listed that you would like to see a trip- let us know. If the trip seems like it is to many miles, or not enough, let us know. If you are the first to sign up, we can change the trip to meet your desires.  We can add a day, change the camping location- the more communication with us, the better your trip will turn out to be!

Seniors- we have many people come on our trips that are over 65. 
 

Nov 28th Singles Kayaking Event Fundraiser
for Horse Rescue South Florida

Women's Weekend and classes
We offer a variety of Women's only overnight trips and classes..  Have a women's group or just join one of ours.

 

A Day in the Everglades kayak/Hike Adventure
Full Day to explore the mysterious and alluring Everglades National Park.  Explore Ancient Calusa Shell Mounds, hike a tropical hardwood hammock, explore island beaches.  Tides and wind dictate our route so each time is a different adventure!
Everglades NP is a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Site and a Wetland of International Importance. Launch Everglades National Park in Everglades City.

 Book a Tour

Estuary Kayak Tours- Nurseries to Aquatic Life (3 or 6 hours)
Kayak Fort Myers, Estero, and Bonita Springs
It all starts here.  Fresh water rivers flow into the saltwater bays and passes to create one of the richest marine habitats on the planet.  Wading birds, dolphin, crab, turtles, ray, manatee, birds of prey, shore birds, shrimp, sea grass, all coming together to create an incredibly diverse habitat.  Launch locations:  Big Hickory Island or Estero Aquatic Preserve)  WE hold beginner classes here as well as birding tours, rescue classes and singles and family kayaking tours. Check the schedule or email us to do a custom trip for you!

 Book a Tour

Everglades Challenge and kayak the 10,000 Islands (2-10 Days)
Spend the night camping on a barrier island in Everglades National Park
Trips can be 1-10 nights, custom dates no problem.
We do all the planning, get the permits and bring the kayaking equipment as well as a FL Master Naturalist Guide for your journey. Launch Everglades National Park


 Book a Tour
 

Guided Hikes in Everglades National Park 
        Nature walks with a Florida Master Naturalist From 1  to 3 Days.  Contact us for more information.  You can do this as a stand alone trip, or as an add on to your kayaking trip with us.  We meet at the Flamingo Entrance Visitor's Center (Eastern Entrance) to the National Park.  Please note that an entrance fee to the park and transport is not included in the tour price.   Tour Price is $100 per day and includes lunch.  We offer group discounts!





 

Kayaking Everglades National Park, at 1.5 million acres,  is a kayakers  paradise. 

Paddle your Kayak thru the ancient mangrove forests and barrier islands to reach the Gulf of Mexico and our backcountry campsites on white powdered sugar sand beaches. 

Walk the rugged coast, examine marine life, study the tropical coastal ecosystem.  Find a Gumbo Limbo Tree hidden in the forest, pick up a conch shell on the endless beach of Pavilion Key. 

Visit the site of the old Watson House, Everglades most infamous resident who was shot by the people of Chokoloskee in 1910 then buried on Rabbit Key.

Everglades N.P  is a World Heritage Site and a International Biosphere Site and a Wetland of International Importance.  Boasting rare and endangered species, it is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. 

It is a mysterious and ancient place steeped in Native American Culture and Pioneer History, Calusa Indian Shell Mounds dot the coastal area where they hunted for food and gathered materials for shelter in small dug outs

Hardscrabble pioneers tried to eek out a living cutting buttonwood for charcoal, harvesting mullet, and poaching birds and gators.  Shallow waters and rich estuarine environments, provided all that was needed. 

When the park was formed in 1947, homesteaders were forced out and the land was taken over.  Some moved to nearby Everglades City, Ochopee, or Naples, others left never to return.

What remains now is a protected, wild area that can be explored by kayak or canoe.  Travelers come from around the world to witness this diverse and complex ecosystem.  The Everglades  only exists here- no other place on the planet is like it. It boasts the second largest Mangrove Forest, only Bangladesh has more. 

Your kayak can glide over 100 miles of rugged and untouched coastline with out passing a road, without passing a town- back county kayaking doesn't get any better. 

So if you are a kayaker, a photographer,  a birder, an adventurer, or just someone looking to take  a break from it all, please consider joining us on one of these wonderful trips into a place that will tug at your heart and awaken your soul.

We are privileged to be legally Permitted Guides of the National Park.  Guides are Florida Master Naturalists specializing in the coastal region, but knowledgeable in Wetlands and Uplands as well.  We are Wilderness First Aid and CPR certified by the American Red Cross.  We practice Leave No Trace and do our very best to make sure your experience is one you will treasure forever

We have available ( and sell)  NIgel Dennis Kayaks from Sea Kayaking UK as well as Betsy Bay Paddles.  To use one of these on a trip, there is no extra charge, just let us know in advance!  Picture above is on the Imperial River.

This website is owned by Chicago Kayak.  We are now permanent residents in Florida, spending 10 months in the Everglades and the 2 summer months up north guiding and teaching in the Great Lakes area and  Alaska.

An overnight kayak tour to Picnic Key (below)

 

Contact us

Kayaks for sale from Sea Kayaking UK
We use this kayaks for our trips, some we sell used and new kayaks.

Check out our Chicago Kayak Center for pictures, specs and more info

Small Groups in Ft Myers and Everglades City-led by FL Master Naturalist

Coming soon - Swamp Walks and Guided Hikes!