I have been visiting the Cape Haze florida peninsula for many years, and I continue to be amazed at how beautiful the place is.  Last year I went kayaking for the first time.  Since then, Bobby purchased his own kayak.  Since I do not have my own, yesterday we drove three minutes from our Cape Haze Resort condo over to Grande Tours Kayak Center at 12575 Placida Road, Placida, Florida http://www.grandetours.com where I was able to rent a kayak and put in.  The rental was $25 for the first two hours and $5 per hour thereafter.  They charged Bobby $6 to launch.

We did not get there until 2 pm.  High tide was scheduled at 3 pm, so we decided to head north into Coral Creek rather than go into Gasparilla Sound.  The plan was to paddle for a while then do some fishing, so I made sure my Kayak rental was equipped for fishing poles.  Generally we like to use artificial lures, but I had some live shrimp, so as soon as we hit the water, I put shrimp on the line and cast along the mangroves and piers.  I caught nothing but a few pin fish.

Heading upstream, we had the wind at our backs, so the paddling was pretty easy.  Beauty everywhere.  Coral Creek has mangroves, sea grass, and lots of cuts and small islands.  Along one of the shores, we passed Coral Creek Golf course and then continued back into the wilderness. 

Since we needed to be back by 4:30, it seems that no sooner did we start, that it was time to turn around and head back.  Now we were paddling against the wind, but with the current.  Any time you get on the water here is time well spent.  Later in the week if we get a day that is not so windy, I am going to get started first thing in the morning and explore Coral Creek by kayak with my camera.  Two and a half hours was not enough time.