Kayak Touring the Miami River

by kayaks-4u.com
November 2004

Kayaking the Miami River

After deciding to take the kayak out for an afternoon tour it's time to choose where to go from the long list of places in the Miami area that I have been meaning to take the kayak and explore. I decided on the Miami River since I have heard so much about the new construction and revitalization of the river.

I hooked up with a kayaker friend of mine who lives in the Miami area and we decided to start at the Rickenbacker causeway and paddle between Brickle Island and Downtown Miami Entering the river from the south. The wind was strong and the chop was up but that's kayaking.

Kayaking by the Dragon Festival

We made our way to the Brickle Island bridge and noticed the annual Dragon Festival was going on. Miami Dade Police came up to us in there boat and let us pass if we stayed to the left side due to the Dragon Boat Races. We were happy we didn't have to paddle around the island just to get to the mouth of the river on the other side. To see the Dragon Festival from the water was a great we were able to watch the entertainment from the water and not have to deal with the crowds.

Kayaking the Miami River

We continued kayaking passed the festival and entered the Miami River. The construction on the river is incredible. New buildings and new parks are going up fast. Over 7000 residential units are now either under construction or in the final stages of permitting.The river front is being transformed. You still have the old and now the new is being added. When you enter the river on your left side you see the Miami Circle a 2000 year old ancient Native American village, also the heavy demolition of some of the old abandoned buildings. Kayaking up the river there are several bridges to go under and a lot of history on the banks. Old fisheries and lobster and crab distributors line the banks and some are still in business today. Several restaurant are on the waterway but access to them would be difficult due to no floating docks for kayaks. (Hint to restaurant owners..Put in a floating dock for water access to kayakers).

We kayaked up the river to the NW 5th ST bridge and turned around. Coming back you see the downtown area in a different light. The buildings came up fast since we were now with the current. We crossed back along the festival and paddled back to Rickenbacker causeway.

Kayak Tour Summary

The entire kayaking tour was very enjoyable and will only get better with time. The more the Miami Commission does to clean up the river the better the kayaking will be. The commission is in the process of dredging the river and will scoop 900,000 tons of sediment from the waterway and remove a lot of the pollution put there for many years. My hats off to the effort they are putting into the Miami River. I can't wait to Kayak the river when the project is complete!

KAYAKS-4U