Kayak tours, Sarasota/Siesta Key, Anna Maria area

[Mike Jones]

Thinking of having a go at this and have Googled a few places, but reviews seem mixed. Any personal experiences to share?

Mike

 

[wilma-bride]

Mike, we didn't end up doing it but we researched this topic a lot before our tour of Florida a couple of years ago and the place we were going to go with was Shan-T Kayak Tours www.shantkayaks.com

They're based in Bradenton and looked great but we just ran out of time in the end and there were other things we wanted to do more.

If you're interested, I have listed below some of the other things that were on our list from that trip too:

Robinson Nature Preserve, Bradenton
De Soto National Memorial, Bradenton
Myakka River State Park - we actually did this one, it was a little bit of a drive but absolutely fabulous (and would have been a lot better had we not been rained out)
Coquina Baywalk, Anna Maria Island

Hope this helps

 

[Mike Jones]

Thanks Jo, will have a look at that. I have done the Myakka River Park airboat in the past, pre-Amanda, and wouldn't mind a revisit.. we're trying to be careful not to stick too much into the 4 Gulf days, as we want to try and enjoy the island itself, and chill before we hit the parks for the next 7 days! So far, off Siesta Key all we've planned is to have a quiet nosy round Sarasota, visit a restaurant on Anna Maria, and possibly the Myakka and kayaks. Otherwise it's sunrise on the beach, swimming, walking the beach, eating, sunset on the beach, drinks in the local bars.

Mike

 

[wilma-bride]

Thanks Jo, will have a look at that. I have done the Myakka River Park airboat in the past, pre-Amanda, and wouldn't mind a revisit.. we're trying to be careful not to stick too much into the 4 Gulf days, as we want to try and enjoy the island itself, and chill before we hit the parks for the next 7 days! So far, off Siesta Key all we've planned is to have a quiet nosy round Sarasota, visit a restaurant on Anna Maria, and possibly the Myakka and kayaks. Otherwise it's sunrise on the beach, swimming, walking the beach, eating, sunset on the beach, drinks in the local bars.

Mike

Any plans to visit Yoders? It's well worth it

 

[ford family]

Thanks Jo, will have a look at that. I have done the Myakka River Park airboat in the past, pre-Amanda, and wouldn't mind a revisit.. we're trying to be careful not to stick too much into the 4 Gulf days, as we want to try and enjoy the island itself, and chill before we hit the parks for the next 7 days! So far, off Siesta Key all we've planned is to have a quiet nosy round Sarasota, visit a restaurant on Anna Maria, and possibly the Myakka and kayaks. Otherwise it's sunrise on the beach, swimming, walking the beach, eating, sunset on the beach, drinks in the local bars.

Mike

We had lunch yesterday at The Beach House on AMI.
Great location, excellent food. Pretty busy right now as the snowbirds (plus us rainbirds) are in town.

ford family

 

[juliebro]

Any plans to visit Yoders? It's well worth it

It certainly is!

 

[Sencybil]

We did kayaking at Weeki Waatchi state park, and it was great. Its probably too far for you though - we were staying in Clearwater and it still took about 2 hrs to get there in the morning due to traffic. However - it was beautiful, reasonably priced and a pretty easy paddle. Afterwards we went into the park and saw ther mermaids! Then stopped at Tarpon Springs for a lovely Greek dinner on the way back.

Sencybil x

 

[Mike Jones]

Any plans to visit Yoders? It's well worth it

.. hadn't heard of it before, but having seen the website will certainly be going if we can! Was disappointed to learn that Sugar and Spice had closed, so this should be a great replacement!

Mike

 

[juliebro]

Then stopped at Tarpon Springs for a lovely Greek dinner on the way back.

Sencybil x

We visited Tarpon Springs last year and found it a really interesting place. Like a Greek island in the middle of Florida!