Kayaking At Silver Springs, Florida

Have you ever woken up and just been surprised by something awesome that someone has planned for you? This was me. My husband woke up and told me he had a date planned out for us. He had decided to take us kayaking over at Silver Springs in Ocala, Florida. I was so tired that it took me a good minute to realize that we are going on a date. Those who are parents know that dates with your loved one doesn’t happen all too often. I think I was more surprised that he had planned everything. Like how sweet of him. Just the thought of us two, alone on a kayak, out in the water, without any kids for a few hours was awesome. The perfect and most relaxing date ever… and definitely well needed.

We headed out in the morning around 9am and arrived about an hour later. We went during a weekday so it wasn’t packed with tons of other tourists or kayakers. It was perfect. It felt like we had the whole spring to ourselves so we really had time to just talk amongst ourselves and be able to really bond. Definitely beats going out to a restaurant and dealing with waiters and neighboring tables. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

ARRIVING AT SILVER SPRINGS STATE PARK

Silver Springs is like a loop. We decided to rent a tandem kayak (double) at the spring park and do the loop around the spring. It took us about two hours to do it and that was with constantly stopping to take pictures of all the beautiful animals and scenery. I think it’s pretty awesome that they have a good selection of kayaks for rent their and at a pretty decent price.  For more info on their kayak and canoe rentals click here.

Before we even started we were already seeing turtles and tons of fishes. I never thought I would see so much marine life at once at this spring but men was I wrong. We saw turtles sunbathing or playing around in the water… We even saw one pair of turtles mating. That was pretty funny. I caught them on candy camera too. They didn’t look to happy when I interrupted their fun time. We also saw several alligators. Yes!! Several of them!!! They were all tiny though and always swam away from us. My husband said that they are more scared of us then what we are of them. I must agree. We tried to get close enough to one to take a picture and the little guy hid behind a tree branch. Sadly we didn’t get lucky enough to see manatees this day but there are manatees here as well.

These two hours were so relaxing. It was exactly what Rob and I needed. Some alone time out in nature with no kids, just mother nature whispering her precious song to us as we drift through the spring. It was so beautiful.

ABOUT SILVER SPRINGS STATE PARK

Silver Springs is not just a place to kayak but also a place to walk around and enjoy nature on foot. There’s also other things to do such as taking the glass boat out to the spring, going to the water park “Wild Waters,” have events such as weddings or receptions, camping, and hiking. The only thing you can’t do is swim at the spring cause of the alligator population which I am perfectly ok with. I am definitely planning to go back one day to explore the other activities of the park and try to enjoy it to its fullest. If you haven’t gone to Silver Springs yet, I highly recommend it. You won’t regret it.

UPDATE (January 2020): Wild Waters has closed.

Related Article: Ultimate List of Florida Springs

LOCATION​

Silver Springs