I had a great trip with Epic Adventures at Blue Springs. We put in just north of the park, off W. French Ave, and paddled on the St John's river to the springs. It was beautifully peaceful on a Monday morning. Our tour guide said the place is lousy with motor boats on the weekends.
It was the tour guide that took all these pictures. After the trip he uploaded them to a Flicker website and you can take any you wanted. I think that is a fabulous service. That way I didn't have to worry about taking my own pictures and possibly dropping my camera in the river! I should get a waterproof camera if I want to to get any shots while I'm paddle boarding. Losing my phone would be disastrous!
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| At the launch site... trying to strike a flattering pose ;) |
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| Action shot... still a little shaky on my feet but I didn't fall in! |
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| We saw maybe a dozen manatees. They are very cute and much larger than you would expect when they are right next to your board. I got on all fours or sat when they were near us because I was afraid I would loose my balance if the bumped the board. |
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| Another action shot. I think I did pretty good :) |
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| Love the anhinga's. I never tire of pictures of them spreading their wings to dry. |
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| This was at the start of the run to the spring. The water gets beautifully clear when you get closer to the boil. The water out in the St Johns was so dark you could only see down a foot or two. It' not dirty, just dark from the tannins off the trees. |
The last part of our tour was to paddle to the boil and take a short swim. The water was cold but man oh man did it feel good!!! The park ranger did yell at us... said we were not allowed off the boards in the swim area, but our guide yelled right back that he was told if we kept one hand on the board, we were allowed. He was a very good guide, nice guy, and stood his ground. He was also super supportive and encouraging. There was a couple from Ohio on the tour and it was their first time paddle boarding. The guy was on his feet, no problem, but the lady only tried to stand when we were in the clear waters of the spring. Of course, they both eventually fell. They both got back on and laughed it off.. no harm done. I love people that try new things and laugh and try again.
It was a great morning and now I know of another place to put in my paddle board if I want to venture out on my own. I did buy a second ISUP so am hoping to meet another person to accompany me in the future. I think for safety reasons, I won't do this alone, but I would do it without an official tour.
Full disclosure - we did see a gator! And he was a big one!! Yes, they are all over the waters here. The cool springs does not scare them away, they love it too. He was on the other side of the river and he stayed on his side while we stayed on ours. I really don't think a gator would ever come after a paddler unless the paddlers got into its nest or bothered its babies. So, if you ever see baby alligators, don't think "ah how cute... I need a closer look", because a very protective mother gator is bound to be somewhere very close!!!
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