VOTED #1 KAYAK TOUR TOUR ON MARCO ISLAND

Duration

2 hours

About

Come take a kayak tour on the relaxing calm waters of Rookery Bay reserve, where you can explore the most pristine mangrove forest in North America. Florida Adventures and Rentals is the only kayak company on Marco Island with full-time Florida Naturalist tour guides.

Let us take you through the mangrove mazes and tunnels where you can discover some of South West Florida’s most popular wildlife. Over 150 species of birds can be seen and identified, as well as manatees and dolphins. You will explore oyster reefs, mudflats, and hidden bays. In some areas you will be so close to the mangroves that your guide will be able to show you the small creatures that live in this beautiful forest, like the mangrove tree crab and the mangrove periwinkle. Also, other shells, such as, the famous horse conch, lightning whelk, sea stars, urchins, will be easy to be identified and you will have the great opportunity to see them very close while your tour guide shares important facts about this amazing ecosystem.

What Makes Rookery Bay a Special Place

Locations that are traditionally used for nesting and raising young birds are called rookeries. At Rookery Bay Reserve, there are nesting areas where most water birds roost nightly in, usually there are multi-species groups on small mangrove islands. The leafy canopy of mangrove trees provides an important habitat for a variety of bird life. The birds that use these mangrove rookeries include several species of Herons, Egrets, Frigate birds, Cormorants, and Pelicans.

Rookery Bay Reserve protects 110,000 acres of coastal lands and waters at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve represents one of the few remaining undisturbed mangrove estuaries in North America. An estuary is a coastal body of water, where fresh water draining from land mixes with salt water from the sea. Estuaries are areas of high productivity, providing nurseries for many species of fish, including feeding and resting grounds for local and migratory birds.

The Rookery Bay and Ten Thousand Islands ecosystem are a prime example of a nearly pristine subtropical mangrove forested estuary. The mangrove’s roots provide structure and shelter for juvenile fish. Because the leaves of mangrove trees are constantly being shed, they provide an important food source for aquatic consumers called detritus. Mangrove leaves and twigs that fall into the water attract algae and bacteria, also known as decomposers. These microscopic organisms break down the leaves and serve as food for small invertebrates like worms and crabs, which, in turn, are fed upon by small fish, and so on.

Very popular mammals in these waters are dolphins and manatees. They can be found year-round in the waters of Rookery Bay. The manatee is a slow-moving marine mammal weighing around 1,300 pounds. They typically remain submerged for 3-4 minutes grazing in shallow water on aquatic vegetation.

Departure Location

We depart from Isles of Capri Paddlecraft Park just minutes from Marco Island, located at 1295 Capri Blvd, Naples, FL 34113.