Kayaking at Weeki Wachi

It's hard to find things to do these days, but for Father's Day, we lucked into some kayaking spots at Weeki Wachee. We've been to the park before and enjoyed the springs (we do enjoy tubing in a few of the Florida springs), but were not sure if we could properly social distance at the park itself for now. The last time we visited, it was quite busy. The entrance fees were quite reasonable for something akin to a small water park. The kids tubed on the small section of the springs and saw manatees. I still plan on taking in the mermaid show one day - it rained just at the start of our last visit so we had to give it a miss.

Anyway, just note that when booking the kayaks, the site will display only the availability at that moment. Don't try, like we did, to book the same slot from different devices - book for the group at the same time. The booking also had us arrive 30 minutes ahead of our 8am slot, but that was when they opened and we were only allowed in about 5 minutes ahead. There is the larger parking lot but you can drive into the kayak area parking lot. Also the kayak area seems to only have port-a-potties, not proper toilets.

It was a rather efficient operation - checking in, getting life vests, going to the springs to hop in the kayak. It was really pretty and relaxing in the beginning of the run. As we got closer to the end, there were more residences by the springs, so a lot more happening. People were out on boats, playing music from backyards, just having a good time. We did not see any manatees like I wanted. It being our first time, we also had trouble figuring out the end point to return the kayaks - there was no sign. The route was to stay left and the end point would be to the left of a bridge. We actually finished in good time - we were told that the first to finish is usually at 10:30 but we were done about 10:20. Next time we'll have to take it a little slower - it's a 4 hour rental after all. We beached and swam a bit along the way, but you are told to stay with the kayak at all times.

Our return shuttle to the car was on a school bus, which was pretty cool. Daddy enjoyed his treat!