Actually this beach was on Jupiter Island, just like the last post, only we were a bit further north. We have been wanting to take the St. Lucie Inlet Preserve kayak trail, but it is advertised to take about 3 hours to complete. We didn't have that much time, so we just did an introductory paddle to the beach at the south end of the lagoon.
The entrance channel was fun with ibis and night herons hiding in the mangroves. Getting to the opening was challenging with south winds on our nose and an unpredicted rain squall hit us too. It was worth it though.
We came to a crossroads as the channel opened up to a large lagoon. Going left would have taken us to the rest of the trail, which is only accessible at high tide. We went right, and since we were protected from the wind, the reflections on the still water were mesmerizing.
The landing for the beach was small, but opened up to be able to store our yaks out of the water in a clearing.
The ocean beach was secluded and not a soul to be seen in any direction (lots of fishing boats in the distance though. A man did pass us in his Hobie peddling kayak on the Intracoastal, went up the creek, landed, pulled the yak on wheels to the beach and went fishing out in the ocean). We didn't stay long, because we didn't realize that this part of the island requires a $2 per kayak fee, and we had no money with us (however last time we were at the state park, we overpaid, so it evens out 😉).
Heading back through another 'tunnel of love' to our yaks...
After walking the short path, what a surprise we had when we saw about a dozen other kayakers being led by two park rangers. Apparently we were there on the day they do tours. We did time it well though and paddled back, but this time we were able to fly downwind to the launching beach on the ICW. Now we are intrigued and ready to go the rest of the way on this interesting waterway, when tide and weather align.
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