Kayaking Trail Darts Among the Mangroves

Many southwestern Florida water trails follow a course charted by the Calusa Indians. 

From a distance, the mangroves seem impenetrable. But all along the Gulf Coast of southwest Florida are inlets into the acres of these tough tidal plants with exposed roots digging into the water.

Once inside the mangrove world, exploration by boat reveals a maze of hidden waterways.

Mangroves, which trap the sands holding some coastal islands together, also form a barrier to the hum of frenetic activity in the lives of beach-seeking vacationers who fill Florida each winter and spring.

On a March morning last spring, as the beach traffic was building on busy Summerlin Road, I drove to quiet Bunche Beach, slid a rented kayak into Matanzas Pass, paddled in the shallows at the edge of Estero Bay, then slipped into a skinny trail of water in the mangroves, out of sight and earshot of all the human hubbub. 

Bunche Beach, between Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island, is one of many convenient launching places for paddling on a portion of the grand, new Great Calusa Blueway. This is a nature trail of water that runs nearly 100 miles along the coast and among the mangroves. The trail meanders through Estero Bay from Bonita Springs north to Fort Myers, through Matlacha Pass between Cape Coral and Pine Island, and around Pine Island Sound to the barrier islands of Sanibel, Captiva, North Captiva and Cayo Costa.

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