Caladesi Monthly Paddle Social 3-26

Stand Up Fitness/ Kahuna Kai's monthly paddle social was a huge success. We met at the Dunedin Causeway and made the .75 mile or so paddle across to Caladesi Island State Park. I described this paddle a couple of weeks ago in a previous post with some awesome shelling pictures. This paddle didn't involve quite as many shells, but made up for it with many new friends. There were more than 20 paddlers on the water enjoying a beautiful day in the upper 70's. Everyone from first time SUP'ers to racers enjoyed this perfect spot. Brody and Jesse even brought the next great paddler, their new son Jonah aka "JAWs". The tide was out and made for quite a different paddle than last time. A sand bar that was covered on our previous paddle proved to be a great landing spot. Sponges, full shells, and star fish were to be found. Small bonnet head sharks, rays, and dolphins made this a truly pristine eco tour. It was really fun to see small groups of paddlers form and explore different areas. Some headed for the mangrove mazes, some explored the pine island to the east, some went shelling, some hung on the beach, and some even went tandem paddling on the Yak. This place has so many diverse areas to explore and is truly one of the bay areas gems. If you missed out on this paddle The Kahuna Kai Adventure Center will run weekly 3 hour Sunday tours! Call 727-742-8870 or check out Standupfitnessinc.com for more details. After the paddle many of the crew dined together in our ever growing SUP community. However, Erica and I decided to hold off on the food and wait around for the sunset. Our patience was rewarded with a spectacular light show courtesy of mother nature. It doesn't get much better than this. Slideshow time!

Caladesi Island

It was a beautiful Blustery Sunday and Erica and I decided to paddle from the Dunedin causeway to Caladesi Island State Park. This Paddie is amazing! National Geographic Traveler even highlighted it as one of the best adventures in Florida! The causeway connects the mainland to two State Park's. The populated yet beautiful honeymoon Island to the north and Caladesi to the south. A pass separates the two parks and leads out to the gulf. It was a terribly windy weekend, so it wasn't exactly ideal paddle conditions, but we made the most out of the approximately one mile crossing. We landed on the beach with a dozen or so kayaker's and began exploring. I was taken aback by the amount of shells on the island. Of all the places I have been in Florida including Sanibel I have never seen more shells. I am talking about thousands of the small conchs, mostly with the animal in them so no taking those, but there were star fish, sand dollars, and lightning welks everywhere. I am not sure if these where normal conditions or due to the rough gulf, but regardless it was beautiful! After exploring the shells for half an hour we got back on the boards and headed north on the inter coastal side of the island. There are more small beach's and Mangrove mazes to explore. This trip is a must do for any paddler! Erica really kicked some serious butt today staying on her feet in rough conditions! Enjoy the flickr slide show!




For those of you in the bay area, Kahuna Kai and Stand Up Fitness will be running their monthly paddle Sunday the 21st from 3-5 for $25. Act now as there is a limited amount of boards. Call 727-742-8870 for more information. If you can't make it this weekend Kahuna Kai will be running a weekly Sunday tour as well as running lessons from the causeway.