This week we’re kayaking in New Smyrna Beach! You can have all kinds of great adventures close to home such as hiking, biking, and paddle boarding. You just have to change your perspective and look at your hometown like you’re a tourist.
Since we live in Central Florida, we have water all around us so one adventure that we decided to try is kayaking the Indian River North Loop in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
In one of our previous episodes, we went biking in NSB and toward the end we pointed out an area across the river. We said that next time we’d either find kayak rentals in New Smyrna Beach or maybe even paddle boarding. And here we are!
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Kayaking New Smyrna Beach
There are a ton of great spots to go kayaking in Central Florida including New Smyrna! On the way to the beach when you cross some of the main causeways, it’s incredible how many people you’ll see putting their boats into the water.
The boat ramps are super busy on the weekends. Central Florida is a boater’s paradise having the river and the ocean so close together along with so many islands to visit all along the way.
Kayak Rentals in New Smyrna Beach, Florida
There’s a bunch of places you can rent kayaks in New Smyrna Beach. Since we wanted to do the Indian River North Loop, we went with Paddleboard New Smyrna. You can launch right from their shop onto the loop. If you’re coming from Ridgewood, it’s located just over the bridge and on the left across the street from all the boat ramps. They seemed pretty laid back and had everything ready when we got there. We even reserved and paid for everything online!
Kayaking Indian River North Loop
Indian River North is part of the larger 121 mile Indian River Lagoon system that’s part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It’s brackish water which means it’s freshwater and saltwater mixed together so you can see all kinds of wildlife from dolphins, manatees, and a lot of birds like pelicans!
The total loop is about 6.5 miles long which is a hefty workout in the full sun. We opted for half that and turned the larger loop into a 4 mile smaller loop. We still got to see a lot of wildlife, huge mansions and boats along the canals, and we passed under multiple bridges.
We launched right from the back of Paddleboard New Smyrna shop into the canal:
But if you bring your own kayak you can launch right across the street:
As we made our way along the back canals, there were a lot of condos along the banks of the wide canal. We passed under an overpass and the closer we got to the mouth of the main Indian River North, the houses and anchored boats kept getting bigger and more expensive.
We’ve seen a lot of dolphins in the river in the past but on this particular trip, they kept evading us! It didn’t stop us from searching though. Before venturing into the river, you really have to watch the tides to make it a lot easier on yourself.
Going either clockwise or counterclockwise can be very different workouts depending on which way the tide is moving in or out. We went counterclockwise and made a left turn to head into the less busy back canals. As we turned left, we saw somewhat of an island and had to check it out at these GPS coordinates:
Since this loop is in the full sun the entire trip, it was crazy hot! It’s a good thing we brought a cooler with ice and some drinks and hats or we would’ve been in trouble. Make sure to stay hydrated!
Along the less busy back canals, there was a lot of mangrove forests with a lot of birds and fish jumping out of the water. We stopped for lunch at a cool little spot here:
We packed up lunch and kept moving along the canals and made our way to Riverside Drive which was a mix of quiet mangroves and a busy neighborhood street lined with more mansions. It’s fun paddling along the canal as cars drive by looking on. We can imagine they wished they were in kayaks checking out the local NSB wildlife on this beautiful day.
We made our way back to the main back canal where we started and took one last out and back trip to the river to see if we could spot any dolphins. They were still hiding from us so we explored more of the neighborhood waterways before heading back.
Just as we were passing under the last bridge before the end, we stopped for a nice cool break under the bridge and got quite a surprise! We heard some young voices on the bridge above us and it sounded like they were going to jump! We aimed our camera at the voices and caught them both jumping from the bridge into the water!
They were a little surprised since they didn’t think anyone was under the bridge but it didn’t stop them from climbing up and launching themselves a few more times into the refreshing water. As we pushed off, they faded behind us and we made our way to the dock.
Life is better on the water and we can’t wait to go again. We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode! Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. It helps us make more videos for you!
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