Having lived in Clearwater for a few years and paddled the majority of the waterways between Homosassa and Naples, I would echo Mark N.'s words. As long as you don't do something stupid, the gators will be more anxious to get away from you than you from them.

If you're paddling in FL in the summer, it's tough to paddle on the inland rivers and creeks without seeing gators. If you avoid the rivers because of it, you'll miss out on some beautiful places.

The other critter you want to be conscious of is the manatees. They're more prevalent in the winter/spring than summer, but I've seen paddlers get flipped when they inadvertently startled a cow. Use the same rule as you would for the gators - just respect their space.

A couple groups you might want to check out while you're in Sarasota: 1) the Tampa Bay Sea Kayakers regularly schedule 4-8 group paddles every month, and 2) the Venice Lemon Bay Kayakers generally schedule 2 paddles a week. Both have websites that should be easy to find. Enjoy!