Daycation

Clear-Bottom Kayaking ‘A Picture-Perfect View’

Text & Photos By Danielle Veenstra

You’ve never really gone paddling in Central Florida until you’ve navigated the spring-fed waters of the Silver River in an all-new, clear-bottom kayak. It’s like having your own personal glass-bottom boat—with manatees and gator sightings a delightful bonus!

A shouted “WHOA” shatters the silence of the Silver River as a man in a double kayak points past his feet. His oar lifted high out of the water and his body rigid with shock. The clear kayak he propels offers a bird’s eye view of the river’s bottom.

An alligator. It had to be an alligator.

Instead, the word “manatees” ripples across a pod of a dozen kayakers who are part of a Silver Springs Get Up and Go Kayaking tour.

Grazing along the riverbed, a pair of sea cows, as large as their nickname suggests, whisker their way through the vegetation they found. They float up like balloons for occasional sips of air before heading back to their feast. Never paying any mind to the frenzy they caused above the water.

Nestor Batista, the very surprised kayaker, and friend Jason Rodriguez snap pictures through their shared clear kayak. The native New Yorkers have paddled in and around their home state before, but it was their first time on a river in Florida.

“We’re at the end of manatee season,” says their tour guide Alex Tricoli, “so we’re lucky to see them.” While Tricoli spouts off facts about the gentle manatees, including their abilities to control floating through farting, his tour group circles the pair for a quick glimpse at their underwater life— and maybe a selfie or two.

Tricoli, born and raised in Ocala, started as a tour guide in August 2020. His extensive world traveling, degree in adventure tourism, and the pandemic led to his eventual job application with the tour group.

Even on his worst days, he says his work doesn’t feel like work.

“Ocala has the nickname ‘Slowcala’,” Tricoli says, “and people complain that there isn’t a lot to do, but when you go out in nature and you see all of these different animals—manatees, monkeys, fish life, bird life—it’s so much better than being cooped up in a city.”

With a loud, booming voice, the friendly tour guide grabs the kayaker’s attention and steers them down river. Now he’s on the hunt to find his friend, George The Dinosaur Dog, otherwise known as a large, 10-foot alligator.

The Silver Springs Get Up and Go Kayaking tour directs a group of six clear double kayaks in a 90-minute loop. As Florida’s natural beauty passes above and below in clear view, the tour guides answer questions and provide an ongoing dialogue about the history of the state park and the river.

For over 10,000 years, people have been drawn to the springs, from the first Neolithic peoples to Spanish explorers and the Seminoles. And in more recent history, this included Hollywood movie directors for films like James Bond and Tarzan.

Movie props and Native American and Spanish settler recreation villages dot the landscape of the river, providing a sense of timeless history.

“[Silver Springs] really wraps up all kinds of different people,” says Mario Simauchi, president and co-owner of Get Up and Go Kayaking, “from movie buffs to adventurers and history enthusiasts. It captures a wide audience.”

Simauchi and his coowner Samantha Heimgartner knew it was a no-brainer to offer clear kayaks on the Silver River. The glass-bottom boats that have been a staple of the Silver River since the 1900s gave a picture-perfect view of the river’s wildlife. The next logical step was personalized clearbottomed vessels.

“I think the coolest thing with clear kayaks is being able to see the wildlife swimming right beneath you,” Heimgartner says. “It gives you that full immersion into your surroundings.”

The ancient river attracts visitors with its consistent backdrop of animal calls, sparkling year-round 72-degree waters, and a snarling green forest. Around every bend is a sight to see.

Can you find the manatee?

Unfortunately for the kayakers, that does not include George The Dinosaur Dog.

But Tricoli isn’t too concerned. If George isn’t home, then his other friends might be around.

“I see the booty of Vladimir,” he calls to his trailing group.

A passing kayaker comments on the alligator’s “thick lambchops” and suddenly the air thickens with tension as Vladimir grows closer with every sweep of the paddle. His front legs are wrapped around a young tree like a teddy bear as the 8- to 10-foot alligator rests in the sun. One eye tracks the kayakers carefully.

Tricoli asks if anyone wants a picture, but no one takes him up on his offer.

The affectionately named alligator seems content in his personal patch of sun. Vlad returns to his catnap when it becomes clear the group is leaving his part of the river behind.

Because this river is being flooded with water from Florida’s largest first magnitude spring system, the steady, three-mile-per-hour flow gives kayakers a chance to rest their tired shoulders.

Over 530,000 gallons of water gush into the river per day. An average city’s water tank holds about 1 million gallons of water. With this in mind, the Silver Springs System pumps out over 18 months’ worth of a city’s water supply in 24 hours.

Tour guide Tricoli points to the swaying eel grass brushing the bottoms of the kayaks. It creates a living curtain that parts in their wake.

He explains that the invasive plant species was transplanted to help combat the growth of bad algae caused by fertilizer and chemical run-off. The contamination has reduced wildlife populations along with the deterioration of the river’s groundwater, according to the Florida’s Springs Institute.

Simauchi and Heimgartner have been avid supporters of the Florida’s Spring Institute and the Saving the Springs Foundation. In fact, every time someone books a tour with their company, part of their booking is donated to the foundation.

“They’re trying to preserve something that has been around for centuries,” Simauchi says. “It’s so important because it’s the water that we drink, and it’s in our farmlands.”

The more narrow, tree-lined Fort King Waterway offers a shady option for exploring Ocala’s history and natural beauty.

Despite these underlying threats, there is no question that the springs, its wildlife, and its five-and-a-half miles of river waters are breathtaking.

Tricoli herds the group through the last leg of their adventure, paddling down the Fort King Paddle Trail.

This branch of the river narrows to three kayaks across. Craggy limestone rocks climb up toward an unkept forest that hides historic wonders. Through the trees, replicas of old cracker villages and trading posts appear as if they had stood there for centuries.

For a moment, ghosts of settlers past whisper through the forest. And standing tall among the oak trees is the trail’s namesake, Fort King. (Editor’s Note: Not to be confused with the recently built replica on Fort King Street east of 36th Avenue in town.) It was an important defensible position on the river for the Seminole Indians. Like a modern day’s sniper’s nest.

The tour guide’s recognizable storytelling voice winds through the group as he talks about wars long past. He explains how Chief Osceola of the Seminole Indians knifed the early settler’s peace treaty to a tree and ripped it in two. They wanted to trick his land away from him, but they didn’t realize he could read English.

“So technically,” Tricoli says with a grin, “we’re still at war.”

The paddle trail spits the group back out at its starting point. The launch ramp is a flurry of activity as the group drags their kayaks from the river. Flush with vitamin D and new memories, they split ways with huge smiles on their faces.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

If you’re interested in booking a clear-kayaking tour with Get Up and Go Kayaking, visit getupandgokayaking.com/silver-springs. The price for one adult is $50 and for children under the age of 12 it’s $40. To rent a clear kayak from Silver Springs State Park, visit silversprings.com/paddling.