Kayaking near WDW?

[jsmla]

I tried to do a search but it's not working for me so here goes:

Hubby will join me for part of my trip but he is NOT a theme park kind of guy. He loves kayaking and canoeing so I was wondering if anyone out there knew of a nice place where we can rent equipment and spend a day paddling. I was thinking maybe somewhere where we might see manatees? Has anyone done this?

Thanks!

Jennifer

[ChrisAlli]

You won't see manatees but at Fort Wilderness you can rent canoe's and kayaks. You might see an alligator!!!

[jsmla]

Thanks for the reply!

I didn't want to have to say this on the Dis but I need to make something clear.

DH doesn't just "not care" for Disney. He has what I'll call (in the spirit of diplomacy) a fairly deep dislike of the mouse. I'm looking for something off-site and very natural. So far I'm looking at:

Crystal River
Hormossa (sp?) Springs
Merritt Island

Hubby is an experienced paddler so we don't really want a group tour, just somewhere where we can rent equipment and explore.

Thanks again!

Jennifer

[Kren]

Hi, I can't speak to either of your first two listings, but I grew up in the Cocoa/Merritt Island area and the intracoastal there is very nice for kayaking and all kinds of boating. You have the Sykes Creek area/Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and for sailing/motorboating/windsurfing, you have the Indian and Banana rivers (which are salt-water lagoons, not rivers, but HUGE).
I would look into that area... Googling should bring up lots of info.

[MercyMe]

http://www.floridastateparks.org/bluespring/default.cfm

I think you would really enjoy Blue Springs State Park and Hontoon Island and it's only 55 miles from WDW. Blue Spring is a designated Manatee Refuge.

[jsmla]

Thanks everyone! I'm thinking we'll spend Friday somewhere around Anna Maria, Saturday paddling and Sunday, well, Sunday is going to be a Disney Day!

Jennifer