Pros and Cons
What does shallow water mean for us?
Guests in ok physical fitness absolutely love a low water tour.
In short low water means more wildlife, clearer water, but a more strenuous tour. If you will have a hard time getting in and out of your kayak or are approaching the weight limit you might not enjoy the low water tour.
Pros
- Clear Water
- Concentrates Wildlife
- River otters are not seen during high water
Cons
- More difficult kayaking
- Might have to exit your kayak
- Walking might be necessary
What is more difficult?
During low water, the route is limited to narrower passages and guests must be able to steer well in order to stay in the narrow channel. If guests are beginners and aren’t capable of steering very well they can find themselves running aground often. In addition with shallower water, heavier guests will have an even narrower area in which they can kayak.
- If you believe you are not capable or willing to kayak during a low water tour, we will do our best to reschedule you to a different time or date
- Low water typically occurs during a full or new moon combined with a cold front bringing a north wind.
- Water levels are lowest from February to April. The longer the dry season lasts the lower the water becomes.
Elderly
Most guests in fine physical fitness will be ok with a low water tour however, there is always the potential that guests will have to get in and out of their kayak two to three times during low water.
Heavy Weight
This is a double-edged sword. If you are heavier set your kayak will require more water to float. You also might find it difficult to get in and out of your kayak if need be.
Low Water Gallery
Low Water = Clear water
If we have a high north wind in combination with low tide we can expect to have low water conditions. We can not predict low water based on tide alone and if the wind changes just a bit from North to North West water levels can be significantly different.
- Sharks, Blue crabs, manatees, and river otters are most often spotted on low water tours
In Summary
We believe communication along with setting the expectations is key to our guests having a great time, which is key to our success! We are in the Everglades so the setting in which we operate makes our job pretty easy. Guests might read descriptions on our website or reviews on TripAdvisor stating how it was the perfect combination of pace and difficulty.
However, this is a wilderness environment, and changes in tide, wind, temperature and our guest’s ability all play a part in whether or not you believe it was difficult.
In our opinion, the absolute best conditions possible for this tour will be a north wind, cooler temperatures, and somewhat low water. The north wind will provide us with clear low water.
The cooler temperatures will concentrate the manatees in our area and the lower water levels will make it easier to spot wildlife. A drop in one or two inches in water levels can empty out a football field-size bay, which exposes prey to wading birds and concentrates just about everything we see. There is a very fine line between when the water is too low or just perfect.
With that said we always try to run our tours, but sometimes after a morning tour our guides will call us and ask us to cancel the tour or they call us to say, I think we will be good. This is why we will try to give everyone a low water warning and give you the opportunity to cancel for yourself if you aren’t willing to kayak in these conditions.