Mangroves and Manatees: Florida Part 2

One of the highlights from our trip to Florida was getting a big group together to go stand up paddle boarding! Sam and I got into paddle boarding this last summer. We found it to be a great and easy way to get the kids out on the water. It can be as intense or laid back as you want it to be. It makes for a great activity for all age levels and abilities! If you haven’t tried it before, I highly recommend you do.

We had 9 boards out on the water and 2 riders! Sam took Aspen and Odin rode along with Charlie, freeing me up to take video/pictures and enjoy a solo ride.

This was the first time Sam let me be in charge of taking video with our GoPro. Well, let’s just say I shouldn’t quit my day job anytime soon to pursue a career in videography! Regardless of my lack of video skills, I still got some cool pictures and had fun! Our first stop was in the cove to find the Manatees!

We made it over to the cove where the Manatees like to hang out and just spent some time relaxing waiting for them to come to us! Everybody was able to see the Manatees at some point while we were out on the water! Unfortunately I didn’t get any video or photos. It was pretty cool to see though. You don’t realize how huge they are until they are next to you! We wish we had been able to have more interaction with them but still a cool experience. This is something we would definitely like to do again.

Everyone was having fun and the kids were doing great so we started making our way through the mangroves. We seemed to find the perfect balance between being stationary and on the move. It was enough to keep their attention and interest. If we sit in one spot for too long both kids want to be getting in the water and start to get antsy. The joy of having two water babies! It keeps their interest if you keep moving and even let them help paddle. We were able to be out on the water for almost 3 hours!

We got spread out between the cove and the mangroves! It was fun to just see everyone doing their own thing and taking it at their own pace. It was so beautiful and peaceful paddling around. If you found yourself getting a little warm all you had to do was dip your feet in the water! I often found myself at the back of the group. Sometimes lingering behind everyone is the best place to be. I got to soak up these moments of being with my sweet family.

I still need some practice with our underwater attachment for the GoPro. It was a good learning experience and can’t wait for the next opportunity to use it now that I have some things figured out. This wasn’t our first time using it but it was the first time in salt water. It appears to be the cause of a lot of residue on the lens. Now we know to bring a towel to wipe the lens when using it in salt water.

MANGROVES! I did not particularly like this part but everyone else seemed to really enjoy it! It freaked me out a little bit having the mangroves surround you on 3 sides and then water underneath you! Now looking back at the pictures, it really was beautiful. I would have appreciated had the guide told me before hand that there are no alligators or snakes in the mangroves!