Haulover Canal Wildlife Refuge: Manatee Kayak Tour

196 Ratings

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Experience the beauty of Haulover Canal Wildlife Refuge on a thrilling manatee kayak tour. Get up close to manatees, dolphins, and Floridian birds while paddling the stunning Florida waterway. Book now!

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Haulover Canal Launch Site - OUR PREMIER WILDLIFE TOUR!
KAYAK OR PADDLEBOARD TOUR! GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH NATURE! (Contact us after booking to select either a kayak or paddleboard.)
If you’re seeking wildlife and a stunning evening sunset view, your search ends here! Paddle through breathtaking scenes featuring bottlenose dolphins,…

What's Included

Provided kayak equipment: Kayak, Lifejacket, Paddle, Dry Bags

What's Not Included

Bottled water

Additional Information

Join Cocoa Kayaking at our Wildlife Sanctuary for a chance to interact with nature! Experience the allure of Wild Life with Manatees, Dolphins, and native Floridian Birds at our protected area, Haulover Canal!
Get ready for an exciting escapade as you kayak through the picturesque Florida water paths of the Indian River and the Mosquito Lagoon in…

Location

Haulover Canal Launch Site

CALL PRIOR TO YOUR TOUR IF NEEDED FOR ASSISTANCE WITH DIRECTIONS. WIFI IS NOT ALWAYS RELIABLE DUE TO WILDLIFE REFUGE HABITAT. (IT'S LIKE A SAFARI!) Copy & past into your GPS and/or Google Maps: (28°43'51.1"N 80°45'41.4"W) Copy and past: https://goo.gl/maps/KEEdfUZhcAsjpjb28

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.9

(196 Ratings)

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Jessicacr2742ax

Nov 19, 2024

Amazing! - I booked the Wildlife Refuge Manatee and Dolphin Kayak or Paddleboard Tour and it amazing! Our tour guide was Cricket who was soooo lovely and accommodating right from the get-go. After the tour I was travelling straight to the airport so I had a big suitcase with me, and was worried about where I could put it as I don’t drive and just got dropped off by an Uber, so couldn’t leave it in my car. Cricket was soo lovely and offered to keep it safe in her car for the duration of the tour. At the end of the tour, she was also extremely helpful & nice with trying to help me book an Uber back as I didn’t have any internet. The actual tour itself was incredible and definitely exceeded all expectations. We got to see dolphins, birds, manatees, and even a rocket launch into space! Cricket was very knowledgeable and knew all of the best spots to go. She also took lots of photos for us during the tour which got emailed to us at the end. I would definitely highly recommend this tour! I booked a tour one week prior with BK adventures and I definitely can’t give them as glowing of a review as this one! And it was all down to Cricket! Having a great tour guide really makes all the difference. Thank you again to Cricket!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Reachelles

Nov 7, 2024

Noah was the best guide ever! - Noah was an incredible guide! He was very knowledgable about about all of the animals we saw and the area in general. We saw dolphins, a small gator, and so many manatees!! It was such a wonderful tour.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

773deliset

Sep 8, 2024

Fantastic morning! - Beautiful morning on the water! Noah is a wonderful guide - so knowledgeable. The manatees were active and plentiful. Highly recommend!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Scocha00

Jul 11, 2024

Amazing Kayaking Experience - My family and I booked onto the 10am kayaking tour with Cocoa Kayaking at Titusville in the hope of seeing some wildlife. We knew the tour couldn’t guarantee wildlife, but we were hopeful. Upon arriving at the launch site, we were greeted by our friendly guide Cricket. After a few safety points and getting everything ready, we were ready to start our adventure. Once all aboard our single kayaks, we set off up a boating lane to head to the manatee observation area. It was evident very quickly that there were Manatees here. After a short period of time of being in the area, the Manatees started to pop up their noses, flippers, etc to get a better look at who we were and what we were doing. There seemed to be a good 6 to 10 Manatees in this area (including a couple of baby Manatees) and they were very friendly and inquisitive. One Manatee actually took a shine to our son’s kayak and started to push his kayak around the area for a little bit. After around 35/40 minutes in this area interacting with the Manatees, we started to kayak off down for the rest of the tour. Cricket was very engaging and was always on hand with some interesting facts and information about the area and the wildlife. She was also happy to engage in general chit chat which definitely made everything feel a little more relaxed. The entire tour was excellent, we didn’t manage to see the Alligator in the area, but did see Manatees, Stingray, Horseshoe Crabs and lots of fish which were jumping out of the Indian River. As the tour was ending, we started to paddle back to the launch area, when we saw some Dolphins quite a distance away. However to our delight, the Dolphins got closer and closer and at one point were within reach of our kayaks. One Dolphin actually put on a show by chasing after some fish in the river which was awesome to see. All in all, this kayaking tour was sensational. It was more than we had expected and whilst it was quite hard work in the searing heat, the 2 hour tour was fantastic. Many thanks again to our wonderful guide Cricket. She helped make the tour be everything that it was and was lead photographer for the tour also. This is definitely something that we will be doing again at a future trip back to Florida.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Burntstore

Jun 26, 2024

Friends visit from previous home! - Very enjoyable slow trip-- love the Dolphins and sights in general -- would def recommend! ECO advisor very knowledgeable and Captain entertaining-- mentioned we were to have an adventure on high sea!😂

Review provided by Tripadvisor

W8891vmomarm

Jun 24, 2024

Great tour - This tour was AMAZING!! I took my girlfriend here as a birthday present and honestly it couldn’t had been better, we had Noah as our guide and he was super informative about every species we found. We encounter manatees, dolphins and a bunch of different birds. Definitely would recomend it, thank you Noah for and amazing experience!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jackiepo7605sc

Jun 18, 2024

Family of 5 - We took the kayaking tour. Our guide was very informative and friendly. During our tour we encountered manatees, dolphins from afar, an alligator, pelicans, and osprey. We enjoyed the whole experience.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Yiwen_j

Jun 14, 2024

Fun family outing!! - Our family really enjoyed the kayak tour with Logan! He was a great tour guide, knowledgeable and kept the entire family entertained. 5 stars!

Review provided by Viator

337lilyb

Aug 28, 2024

Manatees at the rendezvous - Great experience, the manatees were there. Magic moments! Only small flat: rainy temperature and thunderstorms at the end. Our tour had to be shortened for safety reasons and the scrambled water did not allow you to see the manatees underwater. Our Guide to Special Humor was interesting and gave lots of details and information. The material provided was perfect! Remember to bring mosquito hunting and a hat!! We had a booking error via tripadvisor but communication with cocoakayaking was easy and they quickly offered us compensation via the site (We are still waiting for a refund from TripAdvisor who is the matchmaker).

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Hotstuff2016

Oct 7, 2024

Wasn't great - You know how a good teacher versus a bad teacher can make the difference on whether you like a subject? The same goes for kayak guides. Our guide did not make this an enjoyable experience. He talked as if giving a speech and was not very interactive. He told me I got in the boat wrong (I've kayaked for years). He commented on how much bug spray we were applying. He complained incessantly about the new launch site the company sent us to, and kept telling us how much better the other launch site is for wildlife viewing and water clarity. Since cocoa kayaking sent us to this site, (apparently because a bridge was out) it wasn't great to hear him constantly telling us how much better the other site is. He said he was "going" to tell us about the osprey but we were "too far behind him." Ummm...since we were the only boat on the tour, isn't it his job to make sure we can hear him? I felt like I had to try to make consersation-that is when he wasn't going on and on (as if we weren't there) or chewing on mangrove leaves. We saw parts of manatees through the muddy water but nothing that we didn't see from the manatee viewing bridge just down the road. I do not recommend this tour.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

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up to 15 guests

1 Adult