Customer Reviews

A Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to Florida (Canoe and Kayak Series)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I own this book and it does a great job covering the entire state's top paddling spots. The book breaks the state down into nine geographic sections and cover the rivers and spring-runs in the area with notes, a sketched map(drawn accurately from topo maps) and other info on the waterway being covered. This is the FIRST EDITION and there is a second edition supposedly coming out in April 2007, but I'm pretty sure both books contain the same info.

There are a lot of rivers in Florida and this book does a good job of letting you know where they are and it also includes a short review on each river. I have paddled many of the rivers in the book and I find their reviews are very accurate.

Maybe if you live in Florida you can make sense of these maps. There are no cities on them. If you're not from Florida, like me, they make no sense at all. Also, the distances he lists are sometimes self-contradictory. One of the maps shows the Pacific ocean. Last time I checked Florida is not near the Pacific. If this were the only fault with this book, it would be one thing, but I think it is just symbolic of the general quality of this book. I have only paddled on one of these rivers, which he lists as good paddling, but it is actually choked with fallen trees - you have to portage about every fifty feet.

If you want to know where you can paddle near some city in Florida this book is useless. You can't figure out what listed rivers are near that city. Even if you can figure out where these rivers are, he doesn't give you enough information to know which one you want to paddle on.

This guide gives the new to Florida kayaker a starting menu of possible trips. Coupled with Google maps, the trip can be previewed from start to finish. These trips are mostly Class I waters and even the scenery is graded. There is an Appendix listing Outfitters but it is somewhat outdated. Use the yellow pages to get a more current list. Don't forget your camera!

A good comprehensive review of paddling waters in Florida. Very useful in planning trips. Lists section distances, and entry/exit points, and some places of interest along the way. Over all a good planning tool.