Guided Clear-Kayak Ecotours on the Weeki Wachee River
Get Up And Go Kayaking's Weeki Wachee location runs guided ecotours in 100% transparent kayaks, launching from Mary's Fish Camp on the Weeki Wachee River. The clear hulls let paddlers watch the water below them as they move through a spring-fed estuary where manatees, dolphins, otters, turtles, and fish are a regular part of the scenery, with ospreys and bald eagles often visible overhead. Every public tour is capped at 10 paddlers across 5 kayaks, and a certified guide leads the group the entire way — no paddling experience required.
Tour Options
The daytime Standard Clear Kayak Tour runs April 1 through November 14 and covers the river's wildlife-rich stretches over a two-hour paddle. From November 15 through March 31, the Manatee Season Tour follows the same route during the window when manatee sightings on this river are most reliable. For an evening option, the Sunset + Glow Tour pairs a sunset paddle out with LED-lit kayaks for the return trip after dark. Couples, photographers, and anyone who wants the river without the midday heat tend to gravitate toward this one. Private tours are also available for 1 to 14 people (larger groups by arrangement), with a discount for parties of 10 or more and drone photo packages for those who want the whole outing captured from above. All tours welcome paddlers age 3 and up, with life-jacket and adult-supervision requirements scaled to the group's ages.
A Woman-Owned, Locally Run Operation
The Weeki Wachee location is owned and operated by Taylor Masnjak-Enriquez alongside her husband, who together run three Get Up And Go Kayaking franchise locations on Florida's Gulf Coast. Taylor holds Florida Master Naturalist and Leave No Trace certifications, and the tour follows Leave No Trace practices on the water — kayaks aren't beached, to protect shoreline vegetation and prevent erosion. A portion of every guest's tour goes toward manatee conservation, and guides are certified Guardian Guides through the Save the Manatee Club.
The Estuary and Its Wildlife
The Weeki Wachee estuary is fed by three converging springs — Mud Spring, Salt Spring, and Weeki Wachee Springs — creating the clear, spring-fed water the river is known for. Most wildlife encounters happen in the estuary section near the launch, before the route continues upstream toward Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, which sits just minutes away. The location is about an hour from Tampa International Airport, making it a manageable day trip from the greater Tampa Bay area.
Getting There and Booking
Tours depart from 8092 Marys Fish Camp Rd, and the business is open daily from 8am to 5pm. Because public tours are capped at 10 paddlers, advance online booking is recommended to guarantee a spot.
Our Story
Owner Taylor Masnjak-Enriquez came to running a kayak tour business by way of a career change rather than a lifelong plan. A 2008 journalism graduate of Illinois State University, she grew up drawn to the outdoors, visited Florida on a business trip years later, and set her sights on eventually living there. After a stretch in education-technology sales ended with a layoff during the COVID-19 pandemic, she took a job guiding kayak tours — and saw an opportunity in the business itself. She pitched her husband, a naturalist, on owning a clear-kayak tour franchise together; the couple went on to marry standing in the Weeki Wachee River. Today they operate three Get Up And Go Kayaking locations along Florida's Gulf Coast, including this one. Taylor has since become a visible advocate for the waterway her business depends on, earning recognition as an "ecowarrior" for her environmental work and publicly pushing for a Manatee Protection Zone in Hernando County after sharing drone footage of a boat striking a pod of manatees in the Mud River.
What We Offer
- Standard Clear Kayak Tour — daytime guided paddle, April 1–November 14, ages 3+, from $49.50
- Manatee Season Tour — same route during peak manatee-sighting months, November 15–March 31, from $74
- Sunset + Glow Tour — evening paddle out, LED-lit kayaks for the return, from $49.50
- Private Tours — 1–14 people (larger groups by arrangement), from $292, 10% off for parties of 10+, drone photo packages available
- All tours guided, in transparent clear-hull kayaks, with Leave No Trace practices on the water
Who It's For
Families with young kids (ages 3 and up welcome on public tours), out-of-town visitors and Tampa Bay day-trippers looking for a wildlife-focused outing, manatee-season nature watchers, couples and photographers drawn to the Sunset + Glow Tour, and groups or events wanting a private, guided paddle with room to customize group size.
On the Water
The Weeki Wachee estuary where these tours run is fed by three converging springs — Mud Spring, Salt Spring, and Weeki Wachee Springs — which keep the water clear enough to see fish and manatees from above the surface, let alone through a clear kayak hull. Most wildlife sightings on the tour happen in the estuary near the launch before the route continues upstream. Manatee sightings are most reliable during Florida's cooler months, roughly mid-November through March, when manatees seek out the warmer spring-fed water; outside that window they're still sometimes seen, but less predictably. Guides ask paddlers to keep a respectful distance from manatees and other wildlife and not to touch or feed them, consistent with both Save the Manatee Club guidance and the operator's own conservation focus. The launch point sits minutes from Weeki Wachee Springs State Park and about an hour from Tampa International Airport.
