I live in Jupiter, Florida, about 1/4 mile from the Loxahatchee River. There is a popular canoe/kayak trip which runs on the lower stretch of the river, from freshwater until the river turns brackish. This is a nice day trip. The route is serviced by a large outfitter, and typically has several dozen boats, including canoes, sit on top kayaks, and decked kayaks. Alligators are a common sight on this trip, and usually nothing happens. About 8 years ago a large gator took a small boy who was on a canoe trip with his dad. They were portaging over a low spot in the river. The boy was killed in front of his father, who unsucessfully tried to save him. Hunters later killed the gator. My take on gators is they are truly wild animals, and when they see you, they will try to figure out how to eat you. While the concept of protecting gators is charming to people physically removed from them, they are large predators which often reach 8 feet+ in length and are seriously intimidating. They are also quite common. Now that they are protected, there are probably too many of them in the canals and rivers, especially in dry season.

You can canoe or kayak around a gator, but I certainly would not want to wind up in the water with one. Remember - in a boat you look like you are 17 feet long. Once standing (or swimming) you are considerably less imposing. (Like lunch). I would not go into water where gators are common with a kayak until I was pretty confident of my boating skills. Maybe a jon boat or a canoe? Hope this helped - BruceK.