Kayaking In Mangrove Tunnels With Robbie’s Of Islamorada In Florida

Our final week in Florida was spent in Key West which was a lot of fun (more about that here). Despite having such a great time there, we decided to take a day out and drive back up to Islamorada which is about a third of the way down the Florida Keys.

That’s because we’d received a couple of recommendations to rent a kayak from Robbie’s of Islamorada and go kayaking among the mangrove tunnels there. Those were solid recommendations as we had a superb time. What made it an even better day is that our dog Truffles was able to join us on the adventure.

At the time of our visit in February 2024, here’s how much it cost for equipment rentals for all day usage at Robbie’s:

• Single kayak – $45
• Double kayak – $60
• Paddleboard – $50

You can – in theory – kayak over to Indian Key State Park. Unfortunately the water was too choppy the day we visited, so kayaking over wasn’t an option. However, there is a boat ferry you can take instead of kayaking. Also, it should be noted that dogs aren’t allowed on Indian Key State Park. If we had been able to kayak over that day, we’d therefore planned to just kayak around the park and then take it in turns to go on land, with the other one of us staying on the kayak with Truffles.

So Indian Key State Park was out that day. What was in was kayaking around the surrounding mangrove tunnels which was an excellent experience nonetheless.

The very friendly employee went through some brief safety details and showed us the different routes we could take in our kayak. Our main focus was what was labeled ‘The Tunnel’ as that’s the main mangrove tunnel. However, he also shared that our kayakers had seen a large saltwater crocodile sunning itself outside a property near the lagoon, so we added that to our to-see list.

Soon enough we were underway, paddling out towards the first mangrove tunnel.

It wasn’t long before we reached that first tunnel.

Although Shae and I were the ones doing all the paddling, we were ably assisted by Captain Truffles.

Something we didn’t have on our bingo card for the Florida Keys was a raccoon overhead in a mangrove tree.

The route then took us out into the small lagoon…

…before Truffles navigated us back towards the longer mangrove tunnel.

Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in brackish (salt and freshwater combined) water. They have roots that grow both above and below the water which gives them a distinctive look.

We were soon at the longer mangrove tunnel which was incredibly picturesque. The overhead branches along the tunnel were very low at times; one of the tips from the employee at Robbie’s was to lean backwards or forwards to avoid them rather than leaning to the side to ensure we didn’t topple off the kayak.

Another family who were also out kayaking let us know as they passed by that there were starfish on the riverbed. Sure enough, when stopping at the end of the mangrove tunnel we saw loads of them.

At the end of the mangrove tunnel we could’ve continued to ‘the aquarium’ by crossing over the power boat channel. We decided not to go that far though, instead deciding to take a quick diversion on the way back.

When heading out, the employee at Robbie’s had mentioned that a crocodile had been spotted outside one of the waterside homes. He’d let us know whereabouts that was, so we paddled our way in that direction. Sure enough, there was the croc – sunning himself with his mouth open.

Needless to say, we didn’t get too close just in case he decided he wanted to hop in the water for a splash around. Still, Truffles’ face seemed to be asking us why we brought her – a puppy-sized snack – near a crocodile.

As we paddled away from the crocodile, we continued looking over our shoulders for some time just in case! Thankfully he decided that the beautiful day called for sunbathing rather than playing with kayakers.

On our way back to Robbie’s we got to enjoy a short mangrove tunnel one more time.

Final Thoughts

If you find yourself down in the Florida Keys, we’d highly recommend renting a kayak from Robbie’s of Islamorada and exploring the area. It’s a beautiful habitat and you might get to see some unexpected wildlife too!