The pink visitor center at Flamingo, wrecked by hurricanes decades ago, has risen again. It’s just you and the solitude and wildlife of Florida Bay. We passed a few fishermen (the area is known for excellent fishing, as the wildlife also knows.) But largely, when you paddle into Snake Bight, you see little evidence of man. At times we were paddling in water so shallow we had only inches to spare we were always checking where the deepest water near us might be. After Christian Point, the mud flats were to our right and ahead and they were filled with spectacular wildlife - two dozen roseate spoonbills, an equal number of white pelicans, dozens of brown pelicans splashing repeatedly and noisily into the water as they hunted, thousands of other birds, and even two sharks cruising the underwater seafood banquet.īefore the tide got to its lowest, we headed back to Flamingo, this time with the current helping us. We started two or three hours before low tide, so on the way out, we were paddling against a current, but it wasn’t bad. We loved the bountiful bird life so much, however, we returned in 2023 and tried the second option - paddling along the shore just beyond Christian Point. There were at least two dozen roseate spoonbills gathered near us when we paddled into Snake Bight, a wilderness area where mudflats attract many birds near Flamingo in Everglades National Park. On the beach, though, it was just us in a beautiful wild spot as we dined and waited for the tide to come up enough to float us out. This was comical - we sank to our mid-calf in mud it was like trudging through quick sand. But at low tide, you can’t reach it it is edged with 40 feet of shoe-sucking mud that must be crossed. When we reached Bradley Key, however, we saw the downside to low tide. With low tide, the mainland shoreline along our route was filled with a variety of shore birds. We packed a picnic and had perfect weather. We loved our canoe trip to Bradley Key in January 2022. If you kayak around Bradley Key, you will find a landing beach on the opposite site, where you can stop and picnic. This is the only nearby island in Florida Bay that you are allowed to land on. In its heyday (1890s to 1920s), Flamingo was a series of shacks built on stilts along the coast between present-day Flamingo and Cape Sable.Ībout a mile from Flamingo, you will come to an island close to shore, Bradley Key. Watch for pilings in the water, some of its last traces. If you paddle west (you’d make a right turn when you reach Florida Bay), you are kayaking along the shore of what was the original fishing village of Flamingo. For more about the Cape Sable area, see below.Ī flock of big beautiful white pelicans flying over Snake Bight near Flamingo in Everglades National Park, (Photo: Bonnie Gross) Paddling west from Flamingo in Florida Bay This is an expensive outing ($219 per person) that takes you in a wilderness area. (I saw the tour boat recently making sure everybody got a chance to spot manatees and crocodiles before even heading into Florida Bay.)Īn additional experience available is an all-day small (six people max) boat trip along Florida Bay to the wild Cape Sable coast offered by the Everglades National Park Institute. I have no doubt if you are unfamiliar with the Everglades, the naturalist narrators will provide lots of useful information and identify the wildlife you are likely to see from the boats. TripAdvisor reviews range from raves to yawns. I have taken both commercial boat tours in the past, but not recently enough to comment on them. The Flamingo Marina offers several boat tours – one into the Florida Bay, one up the Buttonwood Canal through Coot Bay and Tarpon Creek into the Whitewater Bay. The area has a few hiking trails (I’ll cover them shortly) but a ranger in the Flamingo Visitor Center gave the best advice when he told us: “If you want to experience this place, be in a boat.” Boat tours from Flamingo, Everglades National Park (Photo: Bonnie Gross) What’s there to do in Flamingo? Osprey and its nest (left of the bird) near Flamingo, Everglades National Forest.
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