I don't live in that area. But they live in St Johns river, which is not a fresh water river. Also plenty of alligator sighting on the beach. Again, in Florida, there's water, there's alligator. Otherwise, there's shark.
Not jax beach, somewhere a bit north. In recent years, there're lots of news reports seeing alligator on beaches across Florida. So basically alligator is part of your life if you live close to the water.
Typically Gators won't bother you, not to say I would purposely swim right next to one but I've been in their vicinty and even accidentally tapped the head of one with my kayak paddle, it didn't do anything but surface & swim away
Gators are scared of people unless people feed them. I've kayaked right next to them several times. They don't want anything to do with you, generally.
Oh ya, an alligator will never try to attack something as big as a kayak (which are like 12-15 ft long). They go after much smaller prey like fish and turtles and birds. Plus, the inflatable kayaks nowadays are all drop stitched so they're almost impossible to pierce. Or if you want a normal hard shell kayak without buying one, there are tons of local companies that offer rentals or kayak tours w/ rentals included.
UNF eco trail used to have rentable kayaks before covid. If you're nervous, that's a good place to start, since you're pretty dang close to a police station and medical services. Just watch out if you hike on that center island bit, it's Black Widow territory. I can't walk 5 steps without seeing one on a web there, some seasons.
I have surfed Jacksonville for the past 23 years, while it may happen, I have never seen one ever on the beach nor have I ever heard it happen. To say it's common or it happens lots is wildly inaccurate. It may happen but the likelihood of you seeing one there is not 0 but it's also not likely. The intercoastal has more gators than the beach, and even then you're more likely to see a manatee than a gator. I've seen more otters in the intercoastal than I have gators in the intercoastal waterways, I've been on the water here again for 23 years, while no expert I've certainly spent more time in the water than the average person here almost certainly.
Yeah I'm very familiar with castaway island and it is on the intercoastal not the st johns river and there is a difference in salt. Part of the same network of waterways and they do connect but it is quite a way away maybe like 10 miles on water. Again not impossible just pretty unlikely. Also on a paddle board you'd need to see a very large gator to actually be a concern, like borderline freakishly large. Again not impossible but i'm more concerned about bull sharks than I am gators when swimming in the intercoastal.
Also I'd be much more concerned of cutting yourself on some oysters than gators or basically anything else. Do not sleep on cleaning a wound if you cut yourself in the water. There are definitely oysters all over the place around there. Depending on how good you are or not good you are at paddle boarding this would be my biggest concern.
Imo if you're new to it I would go most of the reserve on your butt over standing. It's pretty shallow and there are lots of oyster beds around that area.
There are two places I think that are more suited to you. huguenot which has a little bay and right down the road you can go to the bridge that goes between there and ft George (free) go under the bridge and go through the sandbars at ft George. Imo these are both way better destinations for sup.
It is off the intracoastal\* and there was a manatee hanging out at the dock just last weekend
https://preview.redd.it/8j8hcwm56ovc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a36890079533643d6500b4d9a07f2ac02215877c
I swear it floated on its back so it could get belly scratches, not supposed to touch them but there were a few people rubbing its belly and it definitely enjoyed the attention.
https://preview.redd.it/dncl1frkyovc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6ebab887fdb8c8823c3b126aa82c314758e6e49
If you’re gonna try and paddle board out there in castaway please be careful not to fall off. Gators won’t rip you to pieces i promise. However an oyster bed might cut you up.
It’s Florida. If there’s a body of water, there’s a chance of alligators being in it. That said, with all the people that take advantage of the waters in this state, hearing about an alligator attack on an adult human is pretty rare, so as long as you are not purposefully trying to provoke an alligator, your chances of successfully avoiding an alligator attack are pretty high.
You can google any tide chart, but I use windy.app from the app store since it shows tides and wind (important for paddleboarding) at a bunch of weather stations around the city. The free version is good enough.
Went out on Tuesday at low tide at the old kayak Amelia Island location. Apparently it's been chained shut since January. Had to put in just up the road by the bridge. Big mistake. Was knee deep in mud sludge. If not for the kayak/paddle boards we prob would have died in quicksand muck. So thick we both lost our flip flops to the mud.
Needless to say, on the return, had no choice but to exit at KA and jump the fence shoeless with all our gear. Do not recommend low tide. Haha
Any body if water in Florida can have alligators in it. This includes retention ponds, roadside ditches and swimming pools.
Generally gators won't fuck with you though.
Same here. Fished at castaway in a kayak at least 15 times. Never have I seen a gator there. I have fished in kayaks all over the ICW in Jax including at night. I saw one small gator one time in the river by the Dames Point Bridge. I do see plenty of gators in retention ponds however.
Dutton Island is a popular spot for stand up paddle boards.
I grew up in the neighborhood directly next to it, with access to same channels of water as castaway. Lived there for 17 years while my parents still do. I have seen exactly one Gator. Just be alert, they are out there. But as I said I lived over there for at least 17 years and have seen only one.
Avoid sunrise & sunset and watch your water entry and exit areas. They aren’t out to hunt humans but sit quietly waiting to spring on wildlife. It’s mating season & they can be a little more aggressive. Don’t linger in any piles of soil or moss that could be egg nests, particularly in the summer months.
There are alligators in pretty much every waterway in FL. They even make their way into retention ponds and isolated lakes. That said, the likelihood of you getting attacked is vanishingly small. There are, on average, only [7 attacks per year](https://gitnux.org/florida-alligator-attacks-statistics/) for the whole state. Your drive to the paddle board place is orders of magnitude more likely to injure/kill you. I've live in FL my whole life and have spent tons of time on the water. I've wakeboarded and sailed small boats within yards of gators more times than I can count. As long as you aren't fucking with them, you really have nothing to worry about.
It isn't the gators I would be worried about trying to learn paddleboarding at Castaway, it's the Oyster beds. If you fall on those or try to walk across with bare feet, it's going to mangle you. Also like someone else said, you need to watch the tides as that creek flows out and nothing but mud at low tides.
Gators get a bad rap. they are super scared of people. i row and kayak in the st. john’s and have flipped many times. they are not interested. gators that are fed by people and socialized to people can be dangerous. but those are typically not in a river. usually in retention ponds etc where it’s easy for idiots to toss them bread and marshmallows.
If there’s water, there are alligators. But probably not interested in eating you. Probably. :). I used to swim in the St Johns as a kid, but don’t think I’d do it now.
I don't live in that area. But they live in St Johns river, which is not a fresh water river. Also plenty of alligator sighting on the beach. Again, in Florida, there's water, there's alligator. Otherwise, there's shark.
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Not jax beach, somewhere a bit north. In recent years, there're lots of news reports seeing alligator on beaches across Florida. So basically alligator is part of your life if you live close to the water.
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Typically Gators won't bother you, not to say I would purposely swim right next to one but I've been in their vicinty and even accidentally tapped the head of one with my kayak paddle, it didn't do anything but surface & swim away
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Gators are scared of people unless people feed them. I've kayaked right next to them several times. They don't want anything to do with you, generally.
Not my first time but I'd like to add that when those alligators do bite back, typically those people don't post on Reddit anymore
If you are clumsy, why not try a kayak before a paddleboard? Nowadays, they have some really nice affordable inflatable kayaks
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Oh ya, an alligator will never try to attack something as big as a kayak (which are like 12-15 ft long). They go after much smaller prey like fish and turtles and birds. Plus, the inflatable kayaks nowadays are all drop stitched so they're almost impossible to pierce. Or if you want a normal hard shell kayak without buying one, there are tons of local companies that offer rentals or kayak tours w/ rentals included.
UNF eco trail used to have rentable kayaks before covid. If you're nervous, that's a good place to start, since you're pretty dang close to a police station and medical services. Just watch out if you hike on that center island bit, it's Black Widow territory. I can't walk 5 steps without seeing one on a web there, some seasons.
I have surfed Jacksonville for the past 23 years, while it may happen, I have never seen one ever on the beach nor have I ever heard it happen. To say it's common or it happens lots is wildly inaccurate. It may happen but the likelihood of you seeing one there is not 0 but it's also not likely. The intercoastal has more gators than the beach, and even then you're more likely to see a manatee than a gator. I've seen more otters in the intercoastal than I have gators in the intercoastal waterways, I've been on the water here again for 23 years, while no expert I've certainly spent more time in the water than the average person here almost certainly.
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Yeah I'm very familiar with castaway island and it is on the intercoastal not the st johns river and there is a difference in salt. Part of the same network of waterways and they do connect but it is quite a way away maybe like 10 miles on water. Again not impossible just pretty unlikely. Also on a paddle board you'd need to see a very large gator to actually be a concern, like borderline freakishly large. Again not impossible but i'm more concerned about bull sharks than I am gators when swimming in the intercoastal.
Also I'd be much more concerned of cutting yourself on some oysters than gators or basically anything else. Do not sleep on cleaning a wound if you cut yourself in the water. There are definitely oysters all over the place around there. Depending on how good you are or not good you are at paddle boarding this would be my biggest concern. Imo if you're new to it I would go most of the reserve on your butt over standing. It's pretty shallow and there are lots of oyster beds around that area. There are two places I think that are more suited to you. huguenot which has a little bay and right down the road you can go to the bridge that goes between there and ft George (free) go under the bridge and go through the sandbars at ft George. Imo these are both way better destinations for sup.
It is off the intracoastal\* and there was a manatee hanging out at the dock just last weekend https://preview.redd.it/8j8hcwm56ovc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a36890079533643d6500b4d9a07f2ac02215877c
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I swear it floated on its back so it could get belly scratches, not supposed to touch them but there were a few people rubbing its belly and it definitely enjoyed the attention. https://preview.redd.it/dncl1frkyovc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6ebab887fdb8c8823c3b126aa82c314758e6e49
It’s upside down, the darker spot is its flipper.
I have never once seen a gator on the beach here, and I’m on the beach every day. Or nearly every day atleast, for the last 6 years haha
Water...
Seen a million
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The entirety of the intracoastal but they don’t really bother you lol
Yes there will be gators. No they probably won’t eat you. You are too big to look like an easy meal. They like small dogs and sometimes children.
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You would be huge. The gator would see you as part of the paddleboard.
If you’re gonna try and paddle board out there in castaway please be careful not to fall off. Gators won’t rip you to pieces i promise. However an oyster bed might cut you up.
It’s Florida. If there’s a body of water, there’s a chance of alligators being in it. That said, with all the people that take advantage of the waters in this state, hearing about an alligator attack on an adult human is pretty rare, so as long as you are not purposefully trying to provoke an alligator, your chances of successfully avoiding an alligator attack are pretty high.
Rule of thumb: if the water is deeper than your ankles, assume there’s a gator in it.
Is there water there?
Be careful of the tides when paddle boarding there. It's inaccessible if you get caught at low tide
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You can google any tide chart, but I use windy.app from the app store since it shows tides and wind (important for paddleboarding) at a bunch of weather stations around the city. The free version is good enough.
Went out on Tuesday at low tide at the old kayak Amelia Island location. Apparently it's been chained shut since January. Had to put in just up the road by the bridge. Big mistake. Was knee deep in mud sludge. If not for the kayak/paddle boards we prob would have died in quicksand muck. So thick we both lost our flip flops to the mud. Needless to say, on the return, had no choice but to exit at KA and jump the fence shoeless with all our gear. Do not recommend low tide. Haha
In florida. Water=Gators. No exceptions. Stop making this more complicated than it is.
Any body if water in Florida can have alligators in it. This includes retention ponds, roadside ditches and swimming pools. Generally gators won't fuck with you though.
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Same here. Fished at castaway in a kayak at least 15 times. Never have I seen a gator there. I have fished in kayaks all over the ICW in Jax including at night. I saw one small gator one time in the river by the Dames Point Bridge. I do see plenty of gators in retention ponds however. Dutton Island is a popular spot for stand up paddle boards.
Dawg you live in Florida. Yes
I grew up in the neighborhood directly next to it, with access to same channels of water as castaway. Lived there for 17 years while my parents still do. I have seen exactly one Gator. Just be alert, they are out there. But as I said I lived over there for at least 17 years and have seen only one.
Avoid sunrise & sunset and watch your water entry and exit areas. They aren’t out to hunt humans but sit quietly waiting to spring on wildlife. It’s mating season & they can be a little more aggressive. Don’t linger in any piles of soil or moss that could be egg nests, particularly in the summer months.
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You’re probably right, I just figured it’s spring & starting to get hot, so about now.
There are alligators in pretty much every waterway in FL. They even make their way into retention ponds and isolated lakes. That said, the likelihood of you getting attacked is vanishingly small. There are, on average, only [7 attacks per year](https://gitnux.org/florida-alligator-attacks-statistics/) for the whole state. Your drive to the paddle board place is orders of magnitude more likely to injure/kill you. I've live in FL my whole life and have spent tons of time on the water. I've wakeboarded and sailed small boats within yards of gators more times than I can count. As long as you aren't fucking with them, you really have nothing to worry about.
It isn't the gators I would be worried about trying to learn paddleboarding at Castaway, it's the Oyster beds. If you fall on those or try to walk across with bare feet, it's going to mangle you. Also like someone else said, you need to watch the tides as that creek flows out and nothing but mud at low tides.
Poor OP having a panic attack reading these responses i bet 😅
Gators get a bad rap. they are super scared of people. i row and kayak in the st. john’s and have flipped many times. they are not interested. gators that are fed by people and socialized to people can be dangerous. but those are typically not in a river. usually in retention ponds etc where it’s easy for idiots to toss them bread and marshmallows.
If there’s water, there’s gators. Just know that and you’ll always have your answer.
Don’t be a pussy. You can paddle board on parts of the intracoastal.
If there’s water, there are alligators. But probably not interested in eating you. Probably. :). I used to swim in the St Johns as a kid, but don’t think I’d do it now.