Paddling Gandy Beach

Gandy Beach is one of the best paddling locations in the Tampa Bay area, and for many reasons it remains one of my favorite places to paddle. There is plenty of parking, several easy launch spots, a good restaurant right at the launch, and miles of protected backwaters and mangrove trails to explore.

Most paddlers launch near The Getaway restaurant, where sandy openings through the mangrove hedge provide easy access to the water. Several dozen vehicles can usually park along this area, and there is plenty of room for paddlers to unload their boats, gather before a trip, and hang around afterward to talk.

Another possible launch is at the end of Snug Harbor Road. The parking area there is smaller, but it puts paddlers close to Snug Harbor, the anchored sailboats, and several of the mangrove tunnels.

Almost Impossible to Get Lost

One of the best things about paddling Gandy is that it is almost impossible to become seriously lost. You can paddle into the back lagoons, leave the highway noise behind, and within ten or fifteen minutes feel as though you are somewhere deep in the Everglades. The mangroves close around you, the roads disappear, and it can become difficult to tell which direction you are facing.

The difference is that at Gandy it does not really matter.

The paddling area is hemmed in on three sides by roads. Gandy Boulevard and the nearby power lines provide an obvious boundary, while San Martin Boulevard and the roads leading toward Weedon Island and the Bartow Power Plant prevent paddlers from wandering too far inland. The eastern side opens into Tampa Bay, where the Gandy Bridge, large communication towers, power lines, and the Bartow Power Plant provide easy landmarks.

You can feel completely lost while never being very far from an obvious route home.

I still carry a GPS tracker and usually record my trips with the AllTrails app. It is useful for seeing exactly where I have traveled, locating small connecting tunnels, and mapping the trail system. Even without GPS, however, it is normally easy to find a road, tower, bridge, power line, or open stretch of bay and work your way back toward the launch.

Sandy Bottoms, Fish and Wildlife

Much of the area has a sandy or muddy bottom, with fewer oyster beds than many other Tampa Bay paddling locations. There are still oysters, sharp shells, stingrays, and other hazards, so I always recommend wearing some type of protective footwear. Going barefoot in Florida’s coastal waters is asking for trouble.

The amount and variety of fish changes with the season and the tide. When water is slowly moving into or out of the backwaters, schools of fish can often be seen along the mangrove shorelines and in the narrow passages. It may not have quite as many fish as areas around Caladesi Island, but the quiet backwaters could be an excellent place for fishing.

Manatees are also commonly seen, particularly during the cooler months. They often gather around Snug Harbor and among the anchored sailboats. At times we have seen groups of four or five manatees together, occasionally involved in mating activity.

The warm-water discharge near the Bartow Power Plant also attracts manatees. Because of this, a seasonal manatee-protection zone restricts access to part of the area. Paddlers should watch for posted signs and remain outside any closed area.

My First Pinellas Paddlers Trip

I began paddling at Gandy around 2020. When I joined Pinellas Paddlers, Gandy Beach became the location of the first group paddle I ever led.

A surprisingly large number of people showed up. I had never led a group of paddlers I did not know, so I was not entirely sure how everything would go.

My friend Robbie Yarkovic arrived with a group of advanced stand-up paddleboarders who were planning a longer trip past the power plant and toward Weedon Island. Before leaving, Robbie stopped to check on me and make sure my group was doing well. He also thanked me for volunteering to lead a trip and for helping get people out on the water.

That meant a great deal to me.

Robbie took a photograph of the two of us surrounded by the brightly colored red, yellow, and orange boats. It remains one of my favorite photographs of us.

The paddle went well, and over the following years I probably led about twenty trips at Gandy.

Sunset and Full-Moon Paddles

For a long time, Gandy was one of my favorite places to lead full-moon paddles. We often scheduled them for the evening before the official full moon, when the moon rose at a convenient time shortly before or after sunset.

We would spend an hour or more exploring the backwaters near Snug Harbor, watching for manatees and other wildlife while paddling toward the sunset. Near the end of the evening, we would position ourselves so that the rising moon would be directly in front of us during the return trip.

We could watch the sun disappearing on one side of the sky, turn our boats around, and paddle toward the full moon rising on the opposite horizon.

It was absolutely beautiful.

I have always loved seeing a sunset in one direction while a full moon rises in the other. I experienced it many times while hiking and camping in the mountains, and it has the same spiritual quality on the water. Perhaps that appreciation comes from the pagan or pantheistic side of me—the feeling that the natural world and the universe themselves are sacred.

The sailboats anchored near Snug Harbor make the scene even more striking. I have taken many photographs of the boats silhouetted against the moonlit sky.

Discovering the Mangrove Trails

During one of the earliest trips I led at Gandy, sometime around 2021, I had a small group of about five eager paddlers who were willing to try almost anything.

Deep in the backwaters, we noticed an old opening in the mangroves. I told the group that I was going to poke my head into it and see whether it continued.

I paddled in for a short distance, returned, and said that it looked passable if anyone wanted to follow me. Three of the five immediately agreed. A few minutes later, the other two decided to join us.

We worked our way through what were probably old mosquito-control ditches, pushing through narrow branches and shallow water. Somehow, we completed a large square-shaped loop and eventually emerged back into open water.

It was not easy, but it was tremendously exciting. To me, that trip marked the beginning of what eventually became an extensive network of mapped paddling trails in the backwaters of Gandy.

About nine or ten months later, I began returning regularly, often alone and occasionally with my dog. I used the AllTrails app to record my route while exploring every old mangrove opening I could find.

I would follow a passage as far as possible, study the GPS track afterward, and try to determine where each tunnel went and whether it connected with another lagoon or trail.

At first, I widened a few passages simply by snapping off small dead branches. Later, I carried hand clippers and trimmed only enough vegetation to allow a kayak to squeeze through. My goal was never to create large, open waterways. I wanted the trails to remain narrow, natural, and appropriate for kayaks.

Some larger trails were already wide enough for most paddlers. On group trips around 2022, we would explore them until they dead-ended, turn around, and paddle back out. Sometimes we discovered short loops. As more passages were opened and connected, the trips became increasingly interesting.

Mapping and Maintaining the Trail Network

Eventually, locating and mapping the Gandy trails became a major project for me.

I began posting some of my GPS tracks and discoveries in the Pinellas Paddlers group. Three other paddlers eventually joined the effort, and we began meeting regularly to explore and maintain the trail network.

The others performed much of the heavier cutting, while I concentrated on mapping routes and keeping passages just wide enough for kayaks. I did not want the trails opened so widely that motorboats could enter them.

Over time, other people also began maintaining and enlarging the passages. Many of the trails are now tall and wide enough for stand-up paddleboards.

Orange marker flags occasionally appear at important junctions. Some disappear and are later replaced. I have also seen homemade signs with trail names, including one pointing toward something called the Soggy Bottom Trail. Different paddlers appear to have assigned their own names to various passages over the years.

You do not really need to know the names. The fun is simply following the tunnels, seeing where they lead, and discovering which lagoons they connect.

A Typical Route

A good first trip begins near The Getaway.

After launching, paddle across the first open stretch of water and enter the cove on the opposite shoreline. Follow the mangrove shoreline closely until you find a fairly wide opening leading beneath the trees.

That passage enters one of the back lagoons. From there, paddlers can begin exploring the many tunnels, side passages, and connections leading to other lagoons.

It helps to carry one of the trail maps or save a copy to your phone, but the route does not need to be followed precisely. Pick an opening, see where it goes, and turn around if it becomes blocked or uncomfortable.

Because the entire area is surrounded by roads, open water, and major landmarks, most trails eventually return to someplace recognizable.

Snug Harbor and the Boat Graveyard

The anchored sailboats around Snug Harbor are one of the most recognizable features of the Gandy paddling area.

We sometimes jokingly refer to it as the Boat Graveyard. Many of the vessels are older liveaboard boats, and after nearly every major tropical storm or hurricane, one or more ends up sunk, grounded, or blown into the mangroves.

Before storms, I have seen boat owners working frantically to secure their vessels, lashing boats together and putting out eight or ten separate anchor lines in an attempt to hold everything in place.

Despite the occasional wreckage, the boats create a beautiful and unusual paddling scene, particularly at sunrise, sunset, or beneath a rising full moon.

Some boats appear deserted, while others are occupied. A canoe, kayak, or dinghy tied alongside is usually a clue that somebody is living aboard. Many have solar panels, while others rely on small generators.

I have occasionally seen residents returning in the afternoon with groceries or supplies. Everyone I have encountered has seemed friendly, but paddlers should remain courteous, give the boats plenty of room, and never touch or approach someone’s vessel without permission.

There have also long been people camping in isolated areas of the mangroves. I generally leave them alone and respect their space. I have never personally had a problem with anyone living or camping in the area.

Water Quality and Swimming

I generally do not swim around the liveaboard area.

Ideally, wastewater from the boats is stored and pumped out properly, but I do not know what facilities are available or how consistently they are used. I have no evidence that sewage is being dumped overboard, but because the water is enclosed and there are numerous occupied boats, I prefer not to swim there.

Wading while launching or exploring shallow areas is usually unavoidable, but this is not one of my preferred swimming destinations.

A Great Winter and Windy-Day Paddle

For me, Gandy is primarily a cool-weather paddling location.

In the summer, the open lagoons can be intensely hot, especially under direct sun with little breeze. Once the rainy season begins, the mangrove tunnels can also become miserable with mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and other insects.

When there is no wind, some of the passages can be almost unbearably buggy.

Winter is completely different.

When colder weather and strong winds make open-water paddling uncomfortable elsewhere, Gandy is often excellent. The short crossing immediately after the launch may be exposed, but once paddlers enter the first cove and the protected back lagoons, conditions usually become much calmer.

Inside the mangrove tunnels, the wind may be barely noticeable.

For that reason, Gandy is one of my top windy-day paddling destinations. It provides miles of protected exploration at times when many other local launches would be too rough.

Why Gandy Is Special

Gandy Beach offers something unusual: the sensation of paddling deep into an isolated wilderness while remaining only minutes from roads, restaurants, bridges, and the city.

You can explore narrow mangrove tunnels, watch manatees among old sailboats, photograph a full moon rising over the bay, map forgotten mosquito ditches, or simply wander from lagoon to lagoon without following a specific route.

It is accessible enough for a relaxed group paddle, but complicated enough to remain interesting after dozens of visits.

That combination of easy access, protected water, wildlife, history, mystery, and nearly endless exploration is what makes Gandy Beach one of my favorite paddling locations in the Tampa Bay area.