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Kayaking Down the Weeki Wachee River

March 13, 2009

The Weeki Wachee River may be one of Florida’s best kept secrets.

Weeki Wachee Springs Offers Beautiful Views

Weeki Wachee Springs Offers Beautiful Views

If you want to see what’s left of part of the “real Florida”. You have to check it out Weeki Wachee.

Weeki Wachee is in Hernando County, Florida, located about an hour north of Tampa at the intersection of Highway 19 and State Road 50. It’s crystal clear waters twist through tons of stunning scenery to flow 12 miles west into The Gulf of Mexico.

The naturally beautiful springs are home to one of Florida’s oldest attractions, Weeki Wachee Springs, famous for its live underwater shows featuring beautiful mermaids. (Fun for little girls, and grown men.) It recently went from private ownership to become a Florida State Park. It’s still the same as it was when I went as a kid, which is not a bad thing. It’s a nice respite from today’s modern hyper-active world. They also have the Buccaneer Bay Water Park.

Weeki Wachee Springs Park dates back to 1947. I went there as a kid in the 70’s, re-visited in 2000, and made my latest visit in November 2008 over Thanksgiving weekend.

We spent a half day for the park, and half a day to kayak and canoe down the river. Going down the river was by far the most enjoyable for getting away from the hustle and bustle and seeing the real Florida.

The Canoe and Kayak rental says, “Your self-guided adventure averages about 2.5 hours”.

I feel sorry for the people that paddle through it that quickly. We took about 4.5 hours, stopped to enjoy the lunch we packed, took beautiful pictures and relaxed in the comfortable light breeze, warm sun, and tranquility of the Weeki Wachee river.

There were many people that just whooshed past us with their mouths just blabbering non-stop, missing half the sights and sounds, and breaking the tranquility like scraping of nails on a chalk board. We let them pass and then resumed our enjoyment.

Wildlife we saw included turtles

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Turtle Getting Sun on Weeki Wachee

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Comcast Broadband TV Commercial Rejects

There were snakes and racoons…

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Snake Swimming in Weeki Wachee River

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Racoon Drinking Crystal Clear Spring Water

We also saw many different types of birds, fish and ducks. There were Manatees too, but I missed the shot as too many people scared them away at the end of the trip.

This was a fun, interesting and relaxing day. It was great being away from the hectic world, enjoying peace and quiet, nature and stunning natural beauty.

Weeki Wachee River

Weeki Wachee River

Book your canoe or kayak trip at http://www.floridacanoe.com/

Learn more about Weeki Wachee at http://www.floridastateparks.org

See all 69 pictures in the full gallery - Weeki Wachi Kayaking

4 Responses to “ Kayaking Down the Weeki Wachee River”

  1. [...] fell in love with the beauty, nature and tranquility of Weeki Wachee Springs, which I just posted about. Recently I read an article in the St. Petersburg Times about how many [...]

  2. Lori said:

    Yes, Weekie Wachee is the most beautiful river I have ever seen. This river is definitely my favorite for kayaking and swimming. An added bonus is the rope swings along the way. It is so much fun to swing through the air and drop into the cleanest water I have ever seen. If I lived closer, I would be there every weekend with my kayak.

  3. Lori said:

    Don’t forget to take a camera with you on this river. There is so many beautiful sites including, birds, fish, manatee, racoons, flowers, and ducks.

  4. myra said:

    i live about an hour from the river i go almost every weekend sometimes i float down others i conoe either way i have a great time its so great i think every one should go