Kayaking in the Abacos
By Alice Bain - The Abaconian - 15 July 2002

Since 2000 Abaco Outback has offered a variety of kayak and nature adventure tours. From their office next to Wally's Restaurant, Erin and Ron Pagliaro organize tours show tourists and natives alike a side of Abaco that they might not otherwise get to see. One of their most popular tour is a half-day kayak trip to the mangrove creeks of the Angel Cays. This trip is either in the morning or the afternoon depending on the tide schedule and lasts about four hours.

Shoving off from the launch site at Snake Cay after a short paddling tutorial, the kayaks head south along quiet waters in the lee of several small islands. The creek system in the Angel Cays is extensive, and the average depth is not more than a few feet. The water is crystal clear and eagle rays, nurse sharks and schools of small snapper are visible even without a snorkel mask. The mangroves are a nursery for lobster and many different species of fish, and the creek beds are thick with soft corals and gorgonians in the deep spots and turtle grass and Cassiopeia jellyfish in the shallows.

Kayaks are by far the quietest mode of travel available in the creeks, giving paddlers unparalleled chances to experience wildlife of all sorts that would be scared away by the growl of an outboard engine. Cormorants, terns and herons and egrets of all descriptions nest in the tangle of mangroves and the stands of coppice that top the small islands.

After a short paddle, visitors reach an area of tidal current in a cut that leads out into Abaco Sound. Each kayak is provided with a rope leash to hold onto from the water, and the kayakers don snorkel and mask to launch themselves out into the heart of the flow for a drift snorkel over a blue hole entrance. This is by far the most spectacular experience of the day, watching as the creek floor drops away and schools of angelfish and snapper circle the entrance to the underwater cavern. Green moray eels live here as well as pufferfish two feet long or more. The current slacks off after a hundred yards or so, and kayakers have the option of further snorkeling over a shallower portion of the creek bed.

Abaco Outback also offers land tours to South Abaco and birding and parrot tours. A trip to Hole-in-the-Wall is available on request, and an all-day birding experience. Kayak trips are available in full-day or half-day formats.

A full-day kayak trip includes lunch and drift snorkels over a second snorkeling site. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance and a two-person minimum is required for all trips (three-person minimum for full-day kayak trip).