Wekiva Island

I have frequented Wekiva for the past 15 years. It has changed a lot over this time. Some good, some bad. After my last visit I won't return. They are now charging $1 to get in...it's a little petty. I'm not too sure what they are trying to create, but usually nightclubs, and theme parks charge admissions, and Wekiva Island is neither. The Staff use to be very personable and friendly, now they are unprofessional, and condescending in general.  It's no longer a good relaxing experience at Wekiva Island. Will use Kings Island or Rock Springs from now on. :)

Awesome experience if you're an outdoors person and love being out on the water. Not only do they have kayaks and canoes to rent but they now have brand new paddle boards to ride. $40 for 4 hours.

Not knowing what to expect, my friend and I who are both beginning paddle boarders, went last week. The wild life we saw was amazing: different species of fish and birds, raccoons, turtles, and gators (primarily babies except for one 6ft one far off to the side of the river bank). After a 30 to 40 minute ride down the river, we reached the island where we were able to beach our boards and swim in the spring. Even though the water was cold, it was so clear that you could see straight down to the bottom.

The island itself was beautiful. Families, couples, and groups of friends were grilling out, swimming in the spring, playing frisbee, and hiking/biking the various nature trails.

After exploring the island, we paddled back to where we began to return the boards. There was a little bar that we were able to grab drinks from and play bag toss along side the river. Music was playing, people had chairs lined up along the water (some were fishing) and dogs were welcome, the entire experience was relaxing and felt like an adventure through the jungle.

I headed over to Wekiva Island on Saturday to do some kayaking. I knew the weather was going to be a bit crappy, but it didn't really rain on my parade... no pun intended. It poured as soon as we got there, but what's a little water when you're going to get wet anyways? Right?!

I rented a tandem kayak and it was only $30. Once you get to the dock, they're very friendly and helpful. They load you into the kayak and push you into the water. Your misfortunes, from that point on, are all on you. There were a lot of people out on the water that day, despite the not-so-great weather. It seems that a lot of kayak/canoe noobs head out to Wekiva, but if you can steer like me, then you should be good because the canals aren't that narrow.

The scenery out by the river and surrounding areas are really nice. There are some interesting birds out on the water. My bf and I decided to take the route that led to the spring. It wasn't too long and too hard to maneuver.  It opened up into a large open area before you had to get off your kayak and do a very short walk over to the spring (you can't bring your kayaks/canoes over to the spring so there's a tiny dock). There were also a lot of people in the spring and the water was cold, but it was really nice to relax a bit before heading back to the main dock on the island.

All in all, my experience at Wekiva was great. Great music, great atmosphere, great crowd. Seems like a fun place to bring a bunch of friends, but it was also a great day date destination. I def want to come back.