Skinny Water Paddling Co offers guided kayak adventures and ecotours of Estero Bay. We also offer kayak rentals delivered to you for own adventure.
Our focus is spotting wildlife and experiencing the natural wonders of Florida.
10/02/2023
What a great article written by paddling’s best advocate!!!
Florida's Great Calusa Blueway: Recovery after Hurricane Ian A day after Hurricane Ian ripped through Southwest Florida and the water receded, I was able to step out of the building where my family and I were sheltered. Communication had been limited; we were unaware of what was happening beyond the view of our hurricane-safe windows. The multitude of milit....
09/05/2023
Incredible!!
Zoom in… They are flamingos! “8:30am today, September 3rd Estero bay preserve between hell peckney bay and hendry creek 16 adults flying east In the Estero bay!” AMAZING! Photo by John Robberson
08/11/2023
This would a really cool area to watch the sky at night!!!
The peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower is here!
August 11 through 12, the cosmic event will reach its most spectacular. As Earth passes through the debris field of the comet Swift-Tuttle, it will be possible to see up to 50 to 100 meteors per hour.
If you plan to come to Big Cypress National Preserve, smart choice! As an International Dark Sky Park, your views will be unparalleled. Pack a lawn chair, bug spray, water, and a snack. Areas such as the grassy field along Seagrape Drive, the boardwalks, preserve-wide gravel roads, even parking areas make excellent staging points to watch the shower. Allow your eyes to fully adapt to the darkness for about 30 minutes for the best viewing experience!
Image Description: The hazy arm of the Milky Way going through a starry sky with a meteor shooting across.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
08/07/2023
Great morning tour on Saturday with a great family from Germany and some friends from Mel’s Diner.
We paddled close to 5 miles today searching for wildlife and this crew was awesome. We saw a ton of birds. Low tide brought out the wading birds on the flats. We saw manatee at two different locations and dolphin in a couple of spots as well. The heat is real folks!! the manatee and dolphin were spending very little time on the surface and it seemed like everything was searching for cooler water down deep. We had a great morning, thanks for coming out folks.
07/28/2023
This is an example of what I’m hearing from all up and down the reef system in the keys. Climate change is real folks, and no matter what you believe to be the source, the changes the earth is going through will effect our everyday lives. Changes like this we can do without
07/27/2023
Great morning tour with a wonderful family from Connecticut on Wednesday. Turned into a really good bird day as we saw little green herons, great blue herons, greater egrets, of course a few brown pelicans, osprey, and spoonbills. I personally hadn’t seen the spoonbills since the hurricane so I was pretty excited. Near the end of the tour we also saw a few manatee cruising the middle of the bay. I was really impressed with the three kids on this tour, they paddled hard, joined in the conversations, had really good questions, and one of them shared a boat with me whom they had never met. I had a great time with you guys, thanks for coming out.
Happy Monday. We have tours leaving daily at 8:00 am this week. This is a great time for a early bird sunrise tour. Since it's hot enough for the world to combust right now I really like to launch at sunrise. It's beautiful weather and the wildlife are more active. So any early birds out there give us a shout, this is your time of year. 🛶🛶
07/23/2023
We’re Back!!!
We had a great first day back on the water with some old friends and we made a couple of new friends along the way. My daughter Maddie even came along to help out with a great tour. We got to observe multiple dolphin feeding and just cruising around. Some great Osprey, Herons, and pelicans. We paddled a couple of miles into the center of the bay and were rewarded with an encounter with a group of about 6 manatee who joined us and then started chasing each other around possibly begging a breeding aggregate. Maddie even spotted a couple of sharks on the way back in. Thank you guys for coming out with us. What a great morning
07/07/2023
🛶Anyone want to go kayaking?🛶
After a longer than expected hiatus courtesy of Hurricane Ian, we are finally open for business again. We are very excited to be back on the water and look forward to sharing our adventures with you. With eco tours running daily at 8:00 a.m. daily we can have a great time and beat the heat. Pictured here is a great scouting trip I took with my daughters last week. The estuary looks fantastic! We had great water quality and a lot of wildlife to see along the trip. Give us a shout in the comments below or book an ecotour directly at www.skinnywaterpaddling.com
05/06/2023
This is very cool. If you aren’t familiar with the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust I suggest you check them out. Definitely one of my favorite conservation groups!!!
BTT Discovers Bonefish Spawning Site in the Florida Keys | Bonefish & Tarpon Trust The recently discovered bonefish PSA in the Florida Keys. Photo: Ian Wilson-Navarro
Curious manatee🛶
Going through some highlights from last spring.