Fully Guided Kayaking Backwater Manatee and Dolphin Tour
Description
With 15+ years of faithful service, A1A Outdoor Center has earned the title, "Most Respected Tour" for a reason. We treat our guests like family. On this tour, you'll receive individual guidance as necessary to get into and out of your vessel, and get help with simple instructions. No experience necessary. And if you are an experienced paddler, we'll only help when asked. We'll enjoy relaxed manatee and dolphin viewing as well as other marine wildlife at your pace, paddling along natural mangrove shorelines, marine islands, and scenic tidal flats. Frequent sightings include manatees, dolphins, jumping fish, otters, shore birds, diving birds, birds of prey (osprey, bald eagles) and occasionally bottom marine life such as crabs, rays, skates, fish and more. No matter what the sightings though, you'll have a great time learning about Florida lagoons and enjoying a tranquil paddle in paradise.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We typically meet here before heading out to our backwater adventure. If you need anything, we have it for hydration, dry storage, sunscreen, and more.
Our fully guided kayak tour is 2 hours of wild exploration along the calm inshore backwaters of the famous Cocoa Beach Thousand Islands Marine Sanctuary. We'll paddle along mangrove shorelines in search of curious manatee and friendly dolphin and surely see a variety of other wildlife including raptors, shorebirds, otters, and shallow water creatures like crabs, stingrays, and jumping fish!
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- If you need paddling lessons, we may have to schedule a private tour for your group. Please let us know by calling 321-505-7455.
Reviews(17)
Very fun and informative experience! Eric is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the local ecosystem, kayaking basics, and just the local town itself! He was an amazing guide and while we didn’t get to see any manatees because of the weather we still had so much fun learning about the other wildlife along our journey! We definitely plan to come back!
We had an absolutely magical time on the kayaking tour with Eric!! It was a week ago and I'm still thinking about it daily. Not only did we get to see a whole bunch of manatees close up, but we paddled through the mangroves and felt like we were in a whole new world. I got so many awesome pictures and was still able to be in the moment. Eric set us up for success, giving us ample opportunity to make sure that we were prepared beforehand and we all felt completely safe and secure the entire time. As a queer person who was a bit nervous about traveling in Florida, it was really special to get to support such a wonderful queer owned business! All of the employees were so welcoming and kind to all of us and gave us some tips on places to eat/drink in the area too! I would highly recommend A1A to anyone vising the area, as it is clear that they love sharing the beauty and fun of the area they serve.
Eric was an amazing guide. So very knowledgeable and had an answer for any questions we had about the environment we were so thoroughly enjoying his knowledge of the local flora and fauna. We could have spent the entire day kayaking with him. Thank you so so much for an awesome time and experience. We want to come back again and hopefully get to experience the bio luminescence on a future trip.
Great guided trip with Dakota and her cat. The weather was beautiful 😍 lots of parking where the kayaking is
just rent kayaks and go explore the water by yourself. dont waste money on the guided tour. few reasons for the 2 star review #1 i was told it will be a private kayaking tour for our group of 8 people - tuned out to be a tour for group of 15. very upsetting since when i was booking i specifically asked and didnt want to be a part of a large tourist group. Guide had no explanation and didnt care much about it , told me to call the office and figure it out. office staff was apologetic but didnt offer any compensation or solution. #2 our guide just wanted to be done - we were the second LARGE group of the day and she was tired. we were exceptionally large group and she mentioned that herself multiple times. She just kept pushing everyone to paddle along and get the "route" done. #3 our guide blatantly gave wrong information out - anything to keep us moving along. ex: we saw manatees instead of giving the group time to enjoy these creatures she pushed most of the group to the island with some birds. when i inquired why she said she didnt want to disturb the manatees because of "MATING SEASON" its the very END of November there is not the mating in November. She just wanted to be done. in the end we did not get to enjoy the company of the manatees. we also finished in about 1h30 min most of which time we spent paddling along in a super large flotilla.... at the end i asked if we could rent the kayaks for 20-30 min to paddle and she said NO. very disappointing wasted time.
The place was great, the staff was friendly nice and helpful. If we were only renting please use them. However the tour wasn’t that good. It was open ocean channel where I thought it would be inlet. We did see dolphins at a distance but wished we would of gone into Merritt island tour.
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We're glad to hear that you found our place great and appreciated our friendly and helpful staff. However, we're sorry to learn that the tour didn't meet your expectations. We understand your disappointment in not being able to explore the inlet or Merritt Island as you had hoped. We do not go into the ocean for many reasons, paramount is safety. The inlet has powerboats, cargo ships, cruise ships, even submarines traversing it, so it isn't a place we, or any kayak outfitter would go. We try to make each paddle fun, and sometimes the weather and wildlife do not want to cooperate. Our open water paddles on the bayside are typically focused on manatees and dolphins, and while we experience them on most trips, often up close and personal, some days are better than others. Your feedback is important, and we'll take it into consideration as we plan future tours. If you're ever back in the area, we would love the opportunity to provide you with a more satisfying experience. Please don't hesitate to reach out, and we can help find a tour that better matches what you're looking for.
Very knowledgeable guide and super friendly. Beautiful mangrove and plus we were able to watch a shuttle launch from the water
The Guide das friendly and knowlegeable. The attitude of the company not. We arrived 10 minutes before time (10:00). Were told we should have been there at 9:45 and the group had left. Moreover no transportation was provided to anyone from meeting point to embarkation site. A 18$ Uber ride esa necessário to move fronteira one to the other. Finally, we did not see manatees and were told that seeing them is chancy - less than 50% of times… the mangrove was beautiful and we did.see a dolphin though. Frustrating but not entirely
Our party had a nice time and the guide was good. Unfortunately we didn’t see any wildlife except for a couple of cool birds. No one’s fault, just disappointing. But we got a good arm workout and enjoyed a beautiful day on the water.
Awesome day on the water , Guide was great and took us on a wonderful adventure weather was perfect and water was flat
