Mangrove Tunnel & Manatee Kayak Eco-Tour
Description
Paddle into one of Lido Key’s most unique eco-adventures: the mangrove tunnels. This guided kayak tour takes you through calm, winding waterways where mangrove branches create shaded “tunnels” overhead—quiet, beautiful, and full of life. Along the way, our friendly local guides share fun, easy-to-understand info about the mangrove ecosystem and help you spot wildlife like coastal birds, fish, rays, and—when they’re around—manatees and dolphins. Booking is simple: reserve by the number of guests in your group, and the type of watercraft you prefer (single kayaks, tandem kayaks or stand up paddleboards). Our goal is to keep everyone comfortable and having a great time on the water. What sets us apart: We're Hawaii transplants who brought our love for the ocean to Sarasota. We're the only outfitter offering kids' programs and maintain a 5-star TripAdvisor rating. Note: Guides may make changes to routes and equipment based on conditions and safety.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- ARRIVE 15 MINUTES BEFORE YOUR BOOKING TIME. The time on your booking is your launch time — when we push off from the beach. Check-in, gear fitting, and your safety briefing all happen before that. If you arrive at your booking time, the tour is already starting.
- Bring water. We do not provide water or snacks. Florida heat is no joke — bring at least 16 oz per person, more in summer.
- Wear clothes and shoes you are comfortable getting wet. Water shoes or flip flops work.
- Bring sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses with a strap.
- We provide a small dry bag for your phone and keys. All other items (towels, change of clothes) should be left in your car.
- Parking is available. However, give yourself extra time during weekends or holiday time periods (i.e. spring break).
Reviews(1,097)
It was an excellent tour. Our tour guide, Drew, was knowledgeable about the mangroves and wildlife, while also letting us enjoy the scenery in silence. I would most certainly recommend this tour to anyone asking me about what to do in the Sarasota area. In addition, the tour was reasonably priced and allowed us to see really cool birds from the water such as the osprey and the ibis.
The mangrove excursions is a great experience because of the beauty of the wildlife and the mangrove area. It's not very dependent on the 'tour guide' per se as long as he or she is reasonably knowledgeable you will have a fabulous time! On our particular Excursion by Surfit, the tour guide was very knowledgeable about the animals the wildlife Etc and to that I give him high marks. But I did not think it was professional nor appropriate to suggest and almost guilt trip you to giving a five-star review. Please, that's not appropriate! The people helping you on and off your Boats were very friendly and very polite. I would recommend wearing water shoes. And use 'Badger' or other water friendly sunscreens that use zinc oxide as the active ingredient (as some of these commercial spray-on sunscreens are so toxic they just kill water life not to mention do anything good for your health) Picture is one of the birds that would swim under your boat to catch fish that your oars scare away!
Joe was excellent at leading our group. He was funny, knowledgeable and loves to talk( in a good way). Saw lots of wildlife.
Seabiscuit was our guide who was amazing!! Great knowledge and fun facts plus lots of humor. Unfortunately we saw no manatees or dolphins. I do think the price was a little expensive.
Cody was amazing and super knowledgeable would go with him again for just him and his knowledge alone.
There is no way manatees could be present. The water level too shallow and the mangrove canals too narrow.
My family and I had a great experience. I have two teenager daughters and they really enjoyed it. Kayaking was new for all of us and it was very quick and easy to pick up. We went out with Sea Biscuit and he was fun and very knowledgeable! I would recommend this as a fun family activity and we would definitely do it again the next time we are vacationing here.
The original day we booked with Seabiscuit he was great! How ever the weather took a turn and we played it safe and went back to land. They were awesome about rebooking for the next morning. We then had JJ as our guide. He was also great. We would most deff do this again!!
Our guide was great! He was laid back and shared a lot of information. We got to see several Manatees. He made our trip fun and laid back at the same time.
Beautiful experience with an excellent guide, J.J., who explained the biodiversity. It is a pity that they do not have an option in Spanish.
