This past weekend, we were able to take a much needed family mini-staycation and ventured eastward towards the beach. We had a nice change of scenery and had a chance to explore New Smyrna beach. Our most funnest adventure of all was our Kayak trip in Mosquito Lagoon.

It was Sunday morning and we decided we all wanted to be on the water. We had done some research about local kayak rentals places and found JB’s Fishcamp. We got up early and noticed it was very windy. Since our girls are young (8 and 3) we decided to go and see how choppy the water was.

It wasn’t too bad, so we went for it. My oldest daughter and husband were in one kayak and I and my youngest daughter were in another. My youngest daughter was in a kayak last summer when she was turning two, so she knew ALL the rules.

As we were launching the kayaks, the kayak guy told us to go to a little cove on the right side of the river. Some manatees were spotted there the day before and he thought the girls would like to see them.

We paddled our way north and went into the cove. There was a gaggle of paddle boarders there pointing in one direction.

As we got closer, I could not believe our eyes. There must have been like 25 manatees in this cove! There were on the banks eating in the mangroves and then just swimming in the middle. We paddled to the middle and then pulled up our oars. It was truly amazing to just sit there and see all the manatees swim up next to you and around you.

We spend most of our time in the cove just sitting and watching! It was like a game of who could spot them faster “Look over there.” “NO, look over there”.

It was truly a great experience and SO much fun! I am trying to convince my husband to go back next weekend