Into The Wild At Wekiva Island

Nothing man-made can compete with the awe-inspiring beauty of nature. That’s even true in Florida, when’ you’re canoeing Wekiva River just 30 miles from Disney World.

Which is why one Sunday morning in November, while canoeing on a river, we were asked by some British folk in a canoe passing by if we thought the alligator sunning itself was real.

It looked too cool to be real.

Alligator sunning itself by Wekiva River in Florida — It was real.

Welcome to Florida!

Disclaimer: A special thanks goes to Seminole County for hosting our Florida adventure. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

We took the kids to Wekiva Island one late morning while exploring Seminole County, because of a picture. I’d come across an image of people swimming at Wekiwa Springs State Park and it looked surreal, and I. Had. To. Go. There. (This is how a lot of adventures start with me. A single picture.)

Exploring Wekiwa Springs

Swimming hole at Wekiva Springs State Park in central Florida — There were quite a few people swimming in the spring water at Wekiwa Springs State Park. Entrance is $2 per canoe.

You can opt to go straight to the state park and get your swimming-in-a-spring on right away, or go the route we did – canoe from Wekiva Island (or if you’ve got all day, standup paddleboard your way there).

Seth from Wekiva Island gave us a primer on the water trail – if we wanted a short trip (yes please), then we’d head left at the fork in the water and head toward Wekiwa Springs State Park. It’d be about 30 minutes of paddling each way. For a longer adventure, we could take a right at the fork and head to Rock Springs.

Since our kids were still small, we fit four of us in a canoe.

So these waters, guys, were beautiful! Serene and shaded – if you time it right.

Canoes from Wekiva Island are large enough to fit a family of four if kids are little enough — In case you’re wondering, not a single photo from Mooch’s camera turned out.

You’ll see plenty of waterfowl.

And, yeah, we saw an alligator.

Paddlers on Wekiva River — And paddlers. You’ll see a lot of paddlers on the river.

Because of my poor planning (we had a flight to catch), we had just enough time to walk around the swimming area, stopping by the nature center to pet a snake and glancing down inviting trails we wouldn’t get to explore.

We still had to pay a park entry fee of $2 per canoe. If you drive, your fee is $6 per vehicle.

Snake at Wekiva Springs State Park — A volunteer at Wekiva Springs State Park was a the nature center, telling kids about native wildlife in the area.

There was no swimming that morning.

There was a lot of whining from the kids.

I wish we had more time there. Two hours to canoe and explore was not enough. It was a setting you can’t find in the Midwest and something that can’t be replicated at any theme park. We’ll be back.

More about Wekiva Island

Chairs set up by Wekiva River at the outfitter Wekiva Island in Florida — The view of the water at Wekiva Island. Yeah, I could spend a day there.

– To get into Wekiva Island, you’ll pay $1 per person (our kids were free). There’s a fun looking bar, sand volleyball court, several lounge chairs and just a general oasis feel to it.

– It’s the kind of place you’d head to with friends for an afternoon of beer and sun. You can swim at Wekiva Island, though we only saw one or two people hanging out in the water, talking to friends sitting in the chairs. The water is a constant 72 degrees there.

The bar at Wekiva Island — Let’s play spot the tourists.

– You can rent cabanas (tents), which would be great since there isn’t a whole lot of shade at the launch site.

– It’s also a prime spot to rent a canoe, like we did, or a kayak or standup paddleboard. They also let people launch their own watercraft from their dock.